You think you know someone and then they turn the tables. Once revered as the pre-eminent purveyor of instrumental hip hop, with The Less You Know The Better, DJ Shadow – aka Joshua Paul Davis – continues the odyssey of musical self-redefinition, which he started in earnest on his previous album The Outsider.
From poignant piano ballad ‘Sad And Lonely’, heavy metal-inspired track ‘Border Crossing’, to blues rock anthem ‘I Gotta Rock’, the 17 tracks here build on the foundations established for The Outsider, which featured elements of indie rock, spoken word and punk rock. The Less You Know, The Better further underlines his taste for eclectic sounds, employing a greater variety of sonic samples than he has ever used before. DJ Shadow has not entirely abandoned his hip hop roots – why should he? – and they shine through effectively in the old school rapping of ‘Stay The Course’ and the soulful R&B of ‘Scale It Back’.

His interest in psychedelia, meanwhile, has taken on a much darker edge especially on bass-heavy tracks like ‘Give Me The Night’, with its film noir vibe, and the dark dance-rock of ‘Warning Call’.
While it doesn’t scale the dizzy heights of his standout debut, the seminal Endtroducing, The Less You Know, nonetheless he Less You Know,The Better is still a very fine record indeed from the sorcerer of sampling.