Endtroducing.....

Endtroducing..... was built entirely from other people's records, and it turned crate-digging into a form of authorship instrumental hip-hop has never stopped exploring. Sequence, juxtaposition and atmosphere make construction feel like writing, even when every source comes from somewhere else. DJ Shadow stands slightly outside rave's center, but shares its faith in what recorded material can become when cut apart and rebuilt. A purist would cut it from this list entirely. Keeping it and taxing it for the distance is the honest call.

An entire emotional world built from other people's records. Josh Davis turned crate-digging into composition and produced something considerably sadder and stranger than the technique-first reputation suggests.