Few things fill the URB reader with more joy than word of a new DJ Shadow album. Even as early singles indicated a new, more radio-friendly direction, it was hard to imagine that Shadow would completely abandon the cinematic instrumentals and sampledelic precision that made him a hero to the hip-hop underground. Well, we're impressed to say that Shadow does just that. And on The Outsider, he dumps his long-honed sound in favor of local flavor hyphy as well as dabbling in sounds from indie rap to britpop to ...

First things first: DJ Shadow's delayed and long-awaited new LP is not the awful detour into hyphy hip-hop some have claimed (Ed note: Ok, we get it!). In fact, the rap cuts on it are some of the strongest. As opposed to complete crap like this Coldplay-lite iTunes single featuring Chris James of the UK band Stateless. While the well-produced'many would say overproduced'affair could land Shadow on modern rock radio easily, it'll do nothing but frustrate his faithful fans with strings that soar ever so slightly and a vibe ...