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Our Pathetic Age

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Our Pathetic Age
Studio albumby
DJ Shadow
ReleasedNovember 15, 2019(2019-11-15)
Length81:37
LabelMass Appeal
ProducerDJ Shadow
DJ Shadowchronology
The Mountain Will Fall
(2016) 		Our Pathetic Age
(2019) 		Action Adventure
(2023)
SinglesfromOur Pathetic Age
  1. "Rocket Fuel"
    Released: July 24, 2019
  2. "Rosie"
    Released: September 20, 2019
  3. "Urgent, Important, Please Read"
    Released: October 8, 2019

Our Pathetic Ageis the sixth studio album by American music producerDJ Shadow,released throughMass Appeal Recordson November 15, 2019.[1]It features the singles "Rocket Fuel" (featuringDe La Soul) and "Rosie". It also features collaborations withRun the Jewels,Ghostface Killah,Nas,andRaekwon,among others.

Background

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DJ Shadow said that "despite the title, it's a hopeful, vibrant album", elaborating that "People are addicted to, and addled by, distraction; they're angry and confused, and disaffected by their own governmental institutions. There's songs that are inspired by this energy and seek to harness it, to make sense of it. In some cases, there's attempts to salve the wound; in others, the songs merely observe but don't offer solutions."[2]

Composition

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The album contains two sections: the first (tracks 1–11) contains instrumental tracks, while the second (tracks 12–26) features songs with guest vocalists.[3]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?6.8/10[4]
Metacritic69/100[5]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[6]
The A.V. ClubB+[7]
Clash7/10[8]
Exclaim!8/10[9]
The Irish Times[10]
NME[11]
Pitchfork6.1/10[12]
Q[13]
Rolling Stone[14]
Slant Magazine[15]

OnMetacritic,which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 69, based on 13 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[5]

Thomas Hobbs ofPitchforkwrote, "Shadow deserves credit for spotlighting so many enigmatic underground characters, something he has done throughout his career, but the overabundance of ideas and conflicting styles quickly becomes jarring."[12]

Track listing

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Part 1: Instrumental Suite
No.TitleLength
1."Nature Always Wins"1:20
2."Slingblade"3:58
3."Intersectionality"4:08
4."Beauty, Power, Motion, Life, Work, Chaos, Law"2:06
5."Juggernaut"5:31
6."Firestorm"3:59
7."Weightless"2:55
8."Rosie"4:15
9."If I Died Today"2:24
10."My Lonely Room"5:37
11."We Are Always Alone" (omitted from vinyl release)3:47
Part 2: Vocal Suite
No.TitleLength
1."Drone Warfare" (featuringNasandPharoahe Monch)3:42
2."Rain on Snow" (featuringInspectah Deck,Ghostface KillahandRaekwon)3:39
3."Rocket Fuel" (featuringDe La Soul)3:15
4."C.O.N.F.O.R.M." (featuringGift of Gab,Lateef the Truthspeakerand Infamous Taz)2:51
5."Small Colleges (Stay with Me)" (featuringWikiandPaul Banks)3:01
6."JoJo's Words" (featuringStro)4:04
7."Kings & Queens" (featuringRun the Jewels)3:53
8."Taxin'" (featuringDave East)1:51
9."Dark Side of the Heart" (featuringFantastic Negritoand Jumbo Is Dr.ama)3:49
10."I Am Not a Robot" (interlude)1:21
11."Urgent, Important, Please Read" (featuringRockwell Knuckles,Tef Poeand Daemon)5:34
12."Our Pathetic Age" (featuringSamuel T. Herring)4:37
CD bonus track
No.TitleLength
13."Systematic" (featuringNas)3:25
Total length:85:14
Digital bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
24."Been Use Ta" (featuringPusha T)2:24
25."Taxin'" (featuring Dave East &Loyle Carner) (long version)3:47
26."Two Notes" (featuring Barny Fletcher)3:39
Total length:91:27

Charts

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Chart (2019–2020) Peak
position
Belgian Albums (UltratopFlanders)[16] 143
Scottish Albums(OCC)[17] 25
UK Albums(OCC)[18] 53
USTop Album Sales(Billboard)[19] 44
USTop Tastemaker Albums(Billboard)[20] 10

References

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  1. ^Bloom, Madison (September 20, 2019)."DJ Shadow Enlists Run the Jewels, Nas, More for New Double Album, Shares Song: Listen".Pitchfork.RetrievedSeptember 20,2019.
  2. ^Pearis, Bill (September 20, 2019)."DJ Shadow announces new LP ft. Run the Jewels, Nas, Wiki, more (stream" Rosie ")".BrooklynVegan.RetrievedSeptember 21,2019.
  3. ^Blistein, Jon (September 20, 2019)."DJ Shadow Previews New Album 'Our Pathetic Age' With Hard-Hitting 'Rosie'".Rolling Stone.RetrievedSeptember 21,2019.
  4. ^"Our Pathetic Age by DJ Shadow reviews".AnyDecentMusic?.
  5. ^ab"Reviews for Our Pathetic Age by DJ Shadow".Metacritic.RetrievedNovember 25,2019.
  6. ^Kellman, Andy."DJ Shadow – Our Pathetic Age".AllMusic.RetrievedNovember 23,2019.
  7. ^McLevy, Alex (November 14, 2019)."DJ Shadow's triumphant new LP is part evolution, part class reunion".The A.V. Club.RetrievedNovember 15,2019.
  8. ^Walker-Smart, Sam (November 11, 2019)."DJ Shadow - Our Pathetic Age".Clash.RetrievedNovember 15,2019.
  9. ^Barnabe, Dylan (November 19, 2019)."DJ Shadow – Our Pathetic Age".Exclaim!.RetrievedNovember 19,2019.
  10. ^Kane, Siobhan (November 15, 2019)."DJ Shadow: Our Pathetic Age review – Epic album with exceptional collaborations".The Irish Times.RetrievedNovember 15,2019.
  11. ^Clarke, Patrick (November 6, 2019)."DJ Shadow – 'Our Pathetic Age' review: a muddled concept album rescued by powerhouse guests".NME.RetrievedNovember 15,2019.
  12. ^abHobbs, Thomas (November 25, 2019)."DJ Shadow: Our Pathetic Age Album Review".Pitchfork.RetrievedNovember 25,2019.
  13. ^He remains a maestro at the mixing desk, even as the album's split-down-the-middle concept undermines his genre-splicing strengths. [Jan 2020, p.106]
  14. ^Browne, David (November 14, 2019)."DJ Shadow Throws an Epic Pity Party on 'Our Pathetic Age'".Rolling Stone.RetrievedNovember 14,2019.
  15. ^Wilson, Seth (November 14, 2019)."MUSIC Review: DJ Shadow's Our Pathetic Age Paints a Grim Picture of Modern Life".Slant Magazine.RetrievedNovember 14,2019.
  16. ^"Ultratop.be – DJ Shadow – Our Pathetic Age"(in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  17. ^"Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100".Official Charts Company.Retrieved November 23, 2019.
  18. ^"Official Albums Chart Top 100".Official Charts Company.Retrieved November 23, 2019.
  19. ^"DJ Shadow Chart History (Top Album Sales)".Billboard.Retrieved March 15, 2020.
  20. ^"DJ Shadow Chart History (Top Tastemaker Albums)".Billboard.Retrieved March 15, 2020.
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