Rjd2 – Deadringer

One of the finest first album ever from a hip hop producer. Rjd2 gives here what has become a cult album. No small track on this disk. Every single song is a journey. A journey into soul, hip hop, funk, or even turntablism (cut out to fl). Each track on this album has it's own personality.
Many people have said that this album is the follow up to dj shadow's "endtroducing". That's a real mistake. Because this lp is a sample oriented "abstract hip hop" one that doesn't mean that the sound or the mood are related to the great work indeed of dj shadow.
Anyway, to cut a long story short, I'll suggest you buy this album. You'll find that it'll turn to be one of the best enjoyable expense you'll make in your life!
Juan
(and sorry for the loosy english)

I like that story idea, but i think he just made some amazing music and then gave it a natural order. The music evokes immense happiness, longing, memories, regrets, and just pure joy. As such it can be about anything, and most things. But it seems to be of recollections, reflections and then their reconsilliation.

RJD2 hits the spot with this album. It seems to weave a story with its haunting beats, and its reference to retro music. In a word, this is haunting music. I'm also pretty sure the CD might be setting a story out for us that we can interperet by the scattered tracks. Whenever I listen to this CD, a series of images play out in my mind, playing a story to the music.

Here's a little chart of the story that I imagine when I listen to this CD:

"Salud" is the intro to the story.
"Work" introduces the first two characters I see. A man and his wife, and the love between them two.
"Silver Fox" tells us the job that the man must undertake. He is to kill someone.
"The Horror" is the chase through the city, the job for the man to kill another.
"Take The Picture Off" is the death. This is the murder.
"Shot In The Dark" is when the murderer is arrested.
"Ghostwriter" is the time spent in jail, pending the trial.
"Cut Out To FL" is the interchange between the murderer and his wife, making the plans to cut out to Florida.
"The Proxy" is the flight, but someone catches up with them to murder them.
"Chicken-Bone Circuit" is the death. The couple look back at their lives.
"2 More Dead" is self-explanatory.
"Smoke & Mirrors" is the lament over the deaths.
"Good Times Roll Pt. 2" is the end of the story.

Is this little story plausible? Well, it's open to interpretation. Did RJD2 have this story in mind when making this CD? Maybe, and maybe not. But the fact that this music can evoke such emotion and such images s the fact that this music is just really damn good. Try this album out. Maybe you can come up with your own story that you see when you listen to this.

A brilliant album mixing both instrumental tracks and origial rap tunes featuring Def Jux artists. Completly different to DJ Shadow, yet similar, RJD2 makes use of samples and original material to create every track on Deadriger. Tracks such as 'Chicken-Bone Circuit' sample Lovage, whom Dan The Automator is a part of, possibly my favourite track on the album, as the drum breaks are quite complex.

Great album. If you're in search of something similar to DJ Shadow, check this out.

Early copies of <i>Deadringer</i> included a "hidden" song on the same track as "Work," titled "Here's What's Left." A slow, wistful track making use of sampled vocals (much like "Smoke and Mirrors"), it was one of the best songs on the album, if not the best. Unfortunately, Def Jux were forced to drop it from later pressings due to a sample clearance problem. If you have an early pressing, hang on to it! "Here's What's Left" can be gotten with a bit of searching on P2P networks- it's worth it.

Juggling solo ventures, producing rappers, and Djing, the man is certainly in the hot seat at the moment. It has been said by many legendary producers that the ultimate goal is to move a crowd-not just to dance, but sometimes also to feel and think. In this vein, RJD2 is only continuing a time-honored tradition