Albums to watch

The Less You Know The Better

DJ Shadow

The Less You Know The Better

Fourth full album proper from Josh Davis, regarded as a pioneer in instrumental hip hop

ADM rating[?]

6.0

Label
Island
UK Release date
03/10/2011
US Release date
04/09/2011
  1. 8.0 |   Daily Telegraph

    A guest spot for Little Dragon’s Yukimi Nagano adds spice to this unexpected feast
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  2. 8.0 |   The Irish Times

    Shadow is back in business
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  3. 8.0 |   Mojo

    Eclectic, ambitious and expertly executed. Print edition only

  4. 7.0 |   BBC

    Like The Private Press, it could be one the listener returns to down the line and wonders how it didn’t initially click
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  5. 7.0 |   The AU Review

    The album is doubtlessly a work of art, and it should be applauded for that
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  6. 6.7 |   A.V. Club

    Feels inconsequential, sounding like the work of a man who has run out of ideas and is coasting along on craft
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  7. 6.0 |   The Guardian

    Uses longer samples and more conventional song structures to make The Less You Know, the Better feel like a genre-hopping mixtape
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  8. 6.0 |   Evening Standard

    An album full of inventiveness and humour
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  9. 6.0 |   BBC

    A heartily enjoyable trip about the genres
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  10. 6.0 |   The Skinny

    Tt times it’s a frustrating listen – almost every cut is a success in isolation, but the running order makes for a disjointed combination
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  11. 6.0 |   PopMatters

    If you liked where Shadow went on The Private Press, give this one a shot with an open heart because he returns to that sound often, expands on it in ways, and provides a pretty enjoyable collection of tunes on their own merits
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  12. 6.0 |   Spin

    Equal parts frustrating and admirable
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  13. 6.0 |   Drowned In Sound

    A highly schizophrenic collection. There’s metal riffing, acoustic-tinged balladry, industrial post-apocalyptic soundscapes, floaty funk, jazzy funk, poetry excerpts...
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  14. 6.0 |   The Independent

    There's a pronounced shortfall of his usual joyous eclecticism here, with many pieces settling for basic repetitive sequences
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  15. 6.0 |   Q

    Print edition only

  16. 6.0 |   State

    The finished record favours repetition over innovation and to quote the title of Shadow’s 2003 DJ mix, The Less You Know The Better is a disappointing case of diminishing returns
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  17. 6.0 |   Uncut

    A cautious affair. Print edition only

  18. 5.0 |   NME

    Sounds like the work of a man struggling to recall his motivations for making music in the first place
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  19. 5.0 |   Consequence Of Sound

    For an artist who lets as much time pass between albums as DJ Shadow does, his ideas shouldn’t feel as undercooked as they do here
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  20. 5.0 |   Entertainment.ie

    What some hardcore fans may perceive as progressive and revolutionary comes across as inconsistent and disjointed
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  21. 5.0 |   Prefix

    What's it all add up to? A kind of mix tape of DJ Shadow's lesser stylings. Not awful, bot not exactly vital either
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  22. 4.5 |   Pitchfork

    Whether The Less You Know was intended to reestablish Shadow as a musician, as a producer, or even as someone with decent taste, he misfires on all counts
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  23. 4.0 |   No Ripcord

    One heck of a mixed bag
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