Juxtapoz | 76 May 2007

Tea Time With London-Based Artist and DJ Shadow Abum Cover Designer Paul Insect

Paul Insect (From the Juxtapoz article p.54 issue #76):
"I love pop art- the graphics, the feel, the colors. And there have been certain raised levels of it in recent British art history. Peter Blake and his Sgt Pepper album cover was one. Then Jamie Reed with his Sex Pistols work. Now there's a new rise, a sgnificant body of British artists who've soaked it all up and are now coming out with something new. It's a street art, grittier angle. This is the new pop era, and I've never been in a better place artistically than I am now."
Understandable then, that innovative music maestro DJ Shadow has taken such a fancy to the fresh approach. Having designed all of the artwork for Shadow's 2006 album The Outsider, Paul and the DJ get on like a gallery on fire, with plans afoot for more hybrid adventures....

SF Weekly | vo.25 #33 September 2006

Out of the Shadow

The DJ who works out of S.F. has crafted both exquisite beats and a carefully cultivated mystique. Find out from him why the lush trip hop is being replaced by a local hyphy sound.

URB | Vol. 16, No. 138 | July 2006

Instrumental Growth

• Photography: Chris Anthony

"People assume a lot of things about me," he [Shadow] says. "But hip-hop is what I grew up on. People need to realize that. I liked rap before Public Enemy. I liked rap during Public Enemy. And I liked rap after Public Enemy. But back then I didn't have to explain why I liked it. It was just, well, this is what's happening. It's hot, it's fresh, it gives you that adrenaline rush. I like music that does that."

..."The album is called 'The Outsider' because I don't fit in anywhere," Davis says, swerving his chair toward the monitor. "I don't dabble in all these different types of music, I love all these different types of music. There's too much good stuff out there to limit yourself."

Mojo | April 2006

Last Night A Record Saved My Life

I'd heard scratching and obviously I'd heard Grandmaster Flash On The Wheels Of Steel, but I'd never heard it orchestrated this way, with the scratches being used almost like a chorus. It was monumental. I wondered about the sounds Jay was scratching. There's one in particular; I know now that it's Rocket In The Pocket by Cerrone, but at the time I was like, "What is that?" That's when I started to realise there's a whole culture that I didn't know anything about, and it would take years to reveal itself to mel the secrecy of the break. That intrigued me, and I started putting it all together in my mind.

Mojo | April 2006

Mojos Top Albums

Endtroducing was voted the 19th best album since Mojo started back in '93.