Action Adventure

『Action Adventure』は、DJシャドウの7枚目のソロ作品。クラシックな80年代のR&Bのようなパーカッションとシンセを持つビートを感じることができる。本作は、コラボレーターを導入せずにDJシャドウひとりで制作され、シャドウのコレクター/キュレーターとしての人生、そしてレコードとテープのすべてが反映された、自身と向き合ったプロジェクトである。

Ever since he produced UNKLEs Psyence Fiction in 1998, DJ Shadow has made eclectic, collaboration-heavy studio albums that generally bear little resemblance to the instrumental hip-hop he helped define with his work for Mo Wax during the 90s. His 2023 effort Action Adventure features no guests or co-producers, and is meant to conjure memories of browsing through video stores, not unlike the way his classic debut album, Endtroducing....., was a love letter to cratedigging. This time, obscure soul and acid rock LPs share space with low-budget car chase thrillers and forgotten fantasy epics. Opening track "Ozone Scraper" is a surprising pivot to synthwave, with racing drums and a dramatic title-sequence melody that wastes no time getting stuck in your head. "All My" cuts up a sample of Loudon Wainwright III singing "All my records and tapes" over stuttering, footwork-style kick drums and trap hi-hats, making one of the albums clearest (and most successful) nods to contemporary music. Trap beats resurface on several other selections, but Shadow seems interested in updating 80s electro on many others, including the eight-minute "Time and Space," which incorporates orchestra stabs near the end. "You Played Me" is even more of a retro exercise, slowing down the vocals from an obscure new jack swing single from 1990 ("Baby, Got Me Goin" by Jan Jerome) and improving it with a tough, punchy 80s-style R&B rhythm. "Free for All" is the albums wildest diversion, chopping up a rockabilly-inspired guitar riff from a record by Marky Ramones early-70s hard rock band Dust, and plunking trap beats and silly sound effects (breaking glass, a crowing rooster) on top. "A Narrow Escape" is a decent drumnbass chase scene, and "Friend or Foe" has some intriguing interplay between the tripping beats and starry synth melodies. Action Adventure doesnt sound like DJ Shadows other records, but its exactly the type of expectation-bucking album he would make. ~ Paul Simpson

全編がインストで固められた4年ぶりの新作。2枚組だった前作『Our Pathetic Age』も1枚はインスト集だったが、今回はよりダイナミックかつ雄弁なトラックが組み上げられており、シンセウェイヴやエレクトロなどのネタ使いが目立つこともあって、ドラムンベースやジュークにまで及ぶ全体の印象はとにかくダンサブルだ。趣味丸出しなジャケも含めて独自の道を突き進む様が清々しい傑作!
bounce (C)狛犬