Deconstructing DJ Shadow - 'Blood On The Motorway'

[@stephenschaffenberger6765]

What I love about Shadow's early work is just how clever he was with his sampling. He changes it just enough so that it isn't just a simple cut, paste and loop job. Much like Mutual Slump (one of my favorite Shadow tracks), there's a lot of pitch shifting and meshing of completely esoteric samples in "Blood on the Motorway". It often feels like no one in their right mind would ever listen to these samples individually and think, "There is a connective tissue amongst all these and I will show you." He builds his compositions out of these completely disparate parts and the outcome here is just jaw dropping. How did he think of this?

[@natix_643]

Cheese or not, I still think this is DJ Shadow's most emotional track. Probably not the most original nor technically impressive, but it's really beautiful. Thanks for doing this series, showing the sample sources and how they were actually used to create something completely different. There's never enough videos about Mr. Shadow on KZbin.

[@KarlBoltzmann]

Especially knowing the back story to Blood on the Motorway (life/afterlife), I would agree with you. I personally feel like the cheese was just about perfect in this one.

[@jennyl309]

Private Press is such an underrated album. "You Can't Go Home Again" and "Giving Up The Ghost" are somewhere in my top 10 DJ Shadow songs for sure.

[@KarlBoltzmann]

Very underrated! Great choices. Love the main instrument sampled in 'Giving Up The Ghost'.

[@DangerBay]

played this as my last song last night, super emotional, defintely some tears in the crowd

[@DD_Franks]

Such a good track. On almost all of my playlists I created throughout the years. Masterful! Respect Karl for this deconstruction. Such an insight we're rarely given.

[@KarlBoltzmann]

Thank you!

[@cliffsnyder3620]

An epic track deserves an epic deconstruction video, and you did just that! Well done! Favourite Private Press tracks: 1. Blood on the Motorway (among my all time top Shadow tracks) 2. You Can't Go Home Again (the album ends pretty strong imo) 3. Mongrel... ...Meets His Maker (it's technically two songs and all a bit of a mess, but I love the vibe of the 4/4 drums over 6/8 track) Hat tip to Mashin' on the Motorway for being my favourite song when I'm driving and angry, which fortunately doesn't happen that often.

[@KarlBoltzmann]

Mongrel/Meets His Maker are probably my second and third. Mashin' On The Motorway is a great choice too.

[@cometoviddy]

Also love the live version from ‘In Tune & On Time’ where Shadow layered Thom Yorke’s vocal from ‘Rabbit in your Headlights’.

[@tjoeptjoep5832]

Man , you must have been hours through research en fitting these samples ! Really enjoying your deconstructing videos .

[@mikeglavin7200]

Amazing! My favourite dj shadow track!

[@RedBeardinVR]

I'm currently producing my own album inspired by a few including DJ Shadow. This is my all time favorite track he's done. Considering you uploaded this 5 days ago, this deconstruction couldn't have come at a better time for me. You did a fantastic job tracking down all the samples you could and did a wonderful presentation. Thank you!!

[@KarlBoltzmann]

It's one of my favourites too. Such a solid track start to finish. Are you sampling as well or recording instruments? Best of luck with the compositions!

[@RedBeardinVR]

@@KarlBoltzmann a bit of both. Mostly samples, but "crate digging" is different. Back in the day access to records was tough for me. Now days there is so much out there it's a volume issue. I figure I'll do base lines or melodies to glue samples together.

[@KarlBoltzmann]

@@RedBeardinVR It's true, there's a lot to sift through. Much easier than it used to be though! Enjoy it.

[@JamesOversteer]

One of my favourite tracks ever made. I didn't know the references to life and death, makes sense now. Very strange how this was played at my father's funeral 11 years ago. Thank you for this video.

[@JamesOversteer]

The piano sample by Thomas F Browne is haunting.

[@JamesOversteer]

15:20. Was really hoping to find the bells sample.

[@KarlBoltzmann]

It's a beautiful track imo! I wish I could have found the original bell sample as well, but as I learned, it was a from a highschool/University recital record, so unlikely ever to be unearthed.

[@TheMysticShaman7]

I love your recreations man ! Personally my favorites tracks from this album would be : Mongrel/Meet his maker is definitely my favorite Six Days and Giving up the ghost Do you think we can have a Napalm Brain/Scatter Brain for a next remake ? It would be awesome :)

[@KarlBoltzmann]

Thanks! Great choices. NapalmBrain/Scatter is on the list so keep an eye out sometime in the early new year.

[@quibster]

Gotta bring in the new year with a return to one of my favourite series. Great work!

[@KarlBoltzmann]

I appreciate that! Thanks

[@edjwise]

Private Press is so underrated... maybe my favorite Shadow release so far.

[@jimtaylor431]

Searching for Szoo-o on Discogs brings up the record and it can be acquired pretty cheaply. Marc Z's full name is Marc Zimmerman but.. again no real information out there on Google. The LP is so cheap I'm almost tempted to buy it just to read the inlay just to see if it gives you any more information as the pictures on Discogs are too grainy / low res to read. This is a superb deconstruction.. really well researched and a brilliant recreation. Blood on the Motorway is one of my favourite tracks of all time, let alone just off The Private Press! Thanks for such excellent content.

[@KarlBoltzmann]

I'm surprised that it's so cheap considering how rare the record is and its connection with this amazing track. If you do buy it, please follow up with info from the inlay. I still can't believe how hard it was to find more information about Mark Z (Zimmerman).

[@misterwardle]

Unreal! Thank you for this and the Psyence Fiction breakdowns.

[@markostanley]

Just came across your channel. Your deconstructions of classic Shadow tracks are excellent. I've been listening to him since the beginning and hadn't realised until now that his music was so heavily sampled. That he did it all on old school samplers makes it all the more impressive. Thanks for shining a light on how all this was done. As someone who's picked up Ableton in the last few years, it's inspiring stuff and encourages experimenting and throwing caution to the wind. Keep it up!

[@KarlBoltzmann]

It is amazing what Shadow was making on his MPC. His talent for finding new breaks is close to unmatched. It's so much easier these days with Ableton and the like, but part of what makes music making interesting and fulfilling is the learning curve and the difficulty when creating music. Don't be afraid to experiment in Ableton with your creations and as far as I"m concerned, it's creatively beneficial to use the hard way to get something done, especially when sampling, rather than the easy way.

[@HenryMcGuinnessGuitar]

"Breathe in the healing love of the universe" sounds like a pretty standard relaxation/meditation/hypnosis tape. Nowadays we just look on KZbin for a thousand channels for help with meditation, and there's generally a voice saying this sort of thing*, telling you to control your breathing/helping people to sleep etc. A few decades ago people were paying out plenty of cash for a tape to be sent through the post. * put "meditation for healing" into the search and you get tonnes of this kind of thing

[@KarlBoltzmann]

I think you're on to something there. I don't know what he used, but it was probably something along those lines.

[@Etcher]

This was really entertaining, thank you!

[@snowghosts1144]

If you haven't seen it there's a turntablism doc called Scratch that has a whole section on DJ Shadow and the store he went digging for records. Amazing process.

[@KarlBoltzmann]

Love that doc! So many details stick out to me, but the record shop basement where he went digging for all of these samples is its own universe. I love that he had to get in the record shop owner's good graces in order to gain access to the basement too. The effort Shadow put in, making those early records, can't be overstated.

[@jamesreid8840]

Karl well done again sir 👏👏👏 loads of good info on the samples etc and what Shadow did with them 👍. Happy Christmas to you and your family and hopefully more videos to come in the new year 🙏

[@KarlBoltzmann]

Thanks James! Have a great Christmas!

[@Steaker28]

Just found your channel and these deconstructing videos are really nice, you definitely deserve more views! I'm also a music enthusiast and find Shadow's work truly inspiring

[@KarlBoltzmann]

Hey, thank you! His tracks have meant a lot to me over the years. It's cool to be able to discover how he made them.

[@ucrazykid]

Fantastic job. Thanks for

[@gypsumfantastic23]

I've loved this series of videos. Thank you very much Karl

[@KarlBoltzmann]

That's very kind, thank you!

[@pjmueller5244]

Ahh I never knew that Blood on the Motorway is meant to guide us into the afterlife. No coincidence that it follows Mashin' on the Motorway, perhaps the greatest insanely aggressive (and, as it turns out, foreboding) driving song ever made. Well get out the way then!

[@KarlBoltzmann]

That's a great connection! Mashin' is a great tune. Those two tracks pretty well represent the two sides of Shadow - serious life/death/melancholy and funny/laid back/not too serious

[@adamwallacefineart3407]

In the UK when 'Blood On The Motorway' first came out it as synonymous with O2. One of our biggest cell-phone providers. As it as part of a massive add campaign that ran for years and years. I always felt that add campaign tarnished the track and pushed it into to the "Cheese" you described. But when I heard 'Fixed Income' in a club I thought it was the coolest thing I'd heard from Shadow up until that point and definitely my favourite on the album. The album is definitely better when it's being playful rather than being serious which is why I prefer tunes like 'Walkie Talkie' to the god awful 'Six Days'. I always also really loved 'Right Thing' as a kind of chapter 2 to 'The Numbers Song' Anyway Karl, always look forward to your video's. Cheers.

[@KarlBoltzmann]

That's a great look into the experience you had with this track in the UK. I had no idea that was the case. We managed to avoid that here in NA, but the cheese has always struck me with this track. I also appreciate the playfulness and humour he seemed to have on this album. I guess to some degree that has always been there with Shadow, but he definitely took it to another place with Private Press. Also never considered Right Thing as a sort of second chapter to The Number Song, but that's a great thought! Thanks for your insight!

[@adamwallacefineart3407]

@@KarlBoltzmann Just imagine GOT's very own Shaun Bean talking about O2"s very reasonable tariffs and WAP capabilities. (remember WAP?) over the main riff of 'Blood On The Motorway'' and 1000's of teenagers flocking to connect their Nokia 180's to O2... I did!

[@KarlBoltzmann]

Sounds like a well made ad campaign then. NA isn't cool enough to get Shadow in our ads. Maybe for the best.

[@the_listamin]

This needs more attention.

[@Cameron-c2p]

Did u make other mashups with this song?

[@KarlBoltzmann]

I do all sorts of Shadow mashups, usually for the intros and outros of these videos. I posted a few of them here. soundcloud.com/user-524898025/sets/dj-shadow-mashups-and-re-imaginations

[@hughchapman5319]

Nice Organ Donor / Blood on the Motorway mashup 👌

[@KarlBoltzmann]

Good ear! You're the first to pick up on that

[@jullienne74]

Thanks! Great video. And yes. This is my personal fave off this album. This video was incredible. Thx!

[@claytonkrauss]

Great videos Karl. Have you tried to interview Shadow? I would love to see you and him talk.

[@KarlBoltzmann]

I'd love to interview Shadow! I don't really have a channel to reach him at, so it's not likely to happen any time soon, but I am always open to chatting with any of these amazing producers.

[@hybridgarden]

i can't believe he sampled Offenbach, such an underrated band

[@fernanadasilva6291]

Ouvindo aqui do Brasil ❤❤❤

[@tjoeptjoep5832]

Is there any way you could do more trip hop classics from portishead , massive attack and prodigy

[@KarlBoltzmann]

I have a number of these on the go, but there is a limited amount of knowledge out there on the samples used on a lot of these tracks. I'll see what I can do!

[@deanhagerman6843]

Karl, I love your breakdowns of DJ Shadow songs, I bought Endtroducing back in 1996 as a Senior in High School, I bought The Private Press when it came out at Easy Street Records in West Seattle. Could you please do a deconstruction of Fixed Income? My favorite song off Private Press. Thanks for all your hard work, I really enjoy your channel.

[@KarlBoltzmann]

Love that track! Yes, I will gladly do a deconstruction in the near future. Good suggestion.

[@deanhagerman6843]

@@KarlBoltzmann Awesome, look forward to it!

[@youssef6281]

Hello Karl, would you be able deconstruct the medley version from the live album, there is a sample that I can never seem to find..

[@KarlBoltzmann]

Which sample is it? I'm hearing the strings from UNKLE's Celestial Annihilation at the beginning, but that's probably not the one you're talking about.

[@youssef6281]

from the album In Tune And On Time

[@KarlBoltzmann]

Which sample are you having trouble finding?

[@Lastman737]

I'd love to see a video on how to find the sample's key and how to match it to other samples to make sure the key is complimentary and doesn't clash

[@KarlBoltzmann]

I like the idea but I'm not sure I am the right person for the job because all of my music theory is self taught and not exactly by the books. It's mostly a listening exercise though. Just changing the semitones of a sample up and down while playing back the original sample, you'll usually find something that works.

[@Nome_utente_generico]

Dj Shadow must be a fan of italian prog

[@KarlBoltzmann]

It seems like it. He definitely had a period of time where he was finding samples from prog albums.

[@jonathanrandall4140]

Hey, awesome deconstruction. So glad to have found your channel. I've always been a huge DJ Shadow fan. Could you deconstruct Napalm Brain / Scatter Brain?

[@KarlBoltzmann]

Definitely! It is on the list. Keep an eye out.

[@jonathanrandall4140]

@@KarlBoltzmann Awesome, I can't wait.

[@jonathanrandall4140]

@@KarlBoltzmann PS A live reconstruction would be really cool too...😁

[@Saaspden]

This video is a treat and masterpiece. Can anyone tell me where this is from: Be still now I am with you I am deep within you You are at peace You cannot be harmed You will not suffer Breathe deeply Breathe in the healing love of the Universe And breathe out the sickness which has taken you I am with you I've searched high and low. You've referenced it in the Distant track saying that sample comes in over the voice. But where are those words from? It's driving me bonkers…

[@KarlBoltzmann]

Thank you! As far as I know the origin of that voice is still unknown. It is possible that it's a studio recording made by Shadow rather than a sample. I would bet that it's an obscure sample that will be found at some point, but who knows.

[@Saaspden]

Thanks for the response, Karl. I have a feeling that its a sample. The search continues! Keep up the awesome work.

[@NoTourists29666]

could you possibly release this ableton project file as a download please ?

[@KarlBoltzmann]

At some point I plan to make all of these available, but it might not be until next year.

[@chrisrenoir]

are you sure? Pretty sure the piano sample is from Pissing in a River by Patti Smith.

[@KarlBoltzmann]

Hey Chris. Yeah, I am 100% sure that the sample isn't from Patti Smith's Pissing in a River. You've got a good ear though because they do share a lot of similarities with the notes and even the tone of the piano, but after re-sampling everything, I can say with absolute certainty that Shadow sampled this Thomas F. Browne's - It's Coming kzbin.info/www/bejne/jJq3e614eNN-gZI

[@jullienne74]

I have the same Patti Smith record and initially thought the same…cool song, cool chord progression but not the sample used. Seriously loved this video!

[@Ian-ky5hf]

But those strings are beautiful.

[@jonathanrandall4140]

Blood On The Motorway Giving Up The Ghost Fixed Income

[@transamination]

I actually prefer your analog keyboard sound.

[@KarlBoltzmann]

That synth always jumped out in this track as an odd choice. I'd love to know where he got that sample from.