The Shadow knows...

Tracks from "The Outsider" that I like:

DJ Shadow feat. Keak Da Sneak, Turf Talk- 3 Freaks
DJ Shadow feat. Phonte - Backstage Girl
DJ Shadow feat. E-40 - Dat's My Part

Tracks that I think are OK:

DJ Shadow feat. Q-Tip, Lateef - Enuff
DJ Shadow feat. the Federation - Turf Dancing

A lot of people are accusing Josh Davis of jumping on some sort of trend or bandwagon with his new album and its large Bay Area rap presence. This shouldn't really matter. I know for a fact that Traxxamillion used to make self-described "backpacker" beats until he picked up a Korg. The only thing in question should be the quality of the beats. And Shadow can make a beat. True fanboys knew of Shadow's affinity for Mannie Fresh, and astute listeners could already hear on "The Private Press" that Shadow had begun accenting his dusty breaks with a bag of electronic tricks more suited for the likes of Aphex Twin. "The Outsider" is just logical progression.

While Shadow can craft a more complex, intricate and dense beat than anyone in the game today, not all the "hyphy" tracks are winners. And almost none of the other weird sing-songy tracks (on Soulstrut someone described the album as "half hyphy, half Coldplay") are good. His schizophrenic album should've been split into two, and then the shitty one just thrown away or released on Koch. The songs I haven't provided for you, you can or have been able to find elsewhere on the internets.