Instinct was the parent label of Shadow. At the time Instinct was doing more
CD compilations and wasn't as "street" as it used to be. Shadow was an
attempt to do more vinyl, appeal more to deejays and such and be more
underground (some cynics might also say it was an attempt to cash in on DJ
Shadow's name too).
I'd like to think I had a little bit to do with Shadow coming about as I had
a long discussion with Jared (one of Instinct's owners) at a NMS Giant Step
party about 6 months before Shadow launched about how Instinct had lost
touch with the underground and they needed to start a new label
concentrating on releasing more vinyl and more artist projects...I guess
only Jared knows for sure if that conversation had any impact (he sure as
hell never called me to acknowledge any).
On a related note a lot of people like to beat up on Instinct these days
(and in some cases rightfully so), but one thing definitely needs to be
remembered-- a lot of people got their first exposure to this music via
Instinct's releases and they did a great service in spreading this music to
the public. And while they might have sold out a bit (or a lot depending on
where you stand), they were also one of the first and very, very few in
America who gave a damn about this music (i.e. "acid jazz") in the beginning
(some of the others being Giant Step, Cargo Records Dance Dept--which I used
to run, DJ Smash and New Breed, and some others that I probably should
remember but don't right now). I wish they didn't do some of the things they
do (one of the many reasons we don't deal with them), but they did do some
very important things in the early days for this music (IMHO).
Dirk van den Heuvel
President/GM, Groove Distribution
"Your Guide To The Underground"
http://www.groovedis.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Scott A Hunt [mailto:scott@kendev.com]
Sent: Friday, January 12, 2001 12:52 PM
To: Steve Silvers; Nathaniel Rahav; Joe Rice
Cc: acid-jazz@ucsd.edu
Subject: Re: Ninja Tune/Shadow records cash-in controversy
this brings up another good point....
Instinct, which I believe was a completely separate entity from Shadow,
introduced me to Compost Records (ala their domestically releasing of
Compost's Future Sound of Jazz comps). This opened the floodgates to so
much great music from that label (Beanfield being another personal fav)
Scotty
----- Original Message -----
From: "Steve Silvers" <steve@seattlegroove.com>
To: "Scott A Hunt" <scott@kendev.com>; "Nathaniel Rahav"
<nat@rhythmlove.com>; "Joe Rice" <joe@justiceleague.com>
Cc: <acid-jazz@ucsd.edu>
Sent: Friday, January 12, 2001 1:28 PM
Subject: Re: Ninja Tune/Shadow records cash-in controversy
> True enough, though they did introduce me to Ninja Tune and DJ Krush, so I
> can't hate them
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Scott A Hunt" <scott@kendev.com>
> To: "Nathaniel Rahav" <nat@rhythmlove.com>; "Joe Rice"
> <joe@justiceleague.com>
> Cc: <acid-jazz@ucsd.edu>
> Sent: Friday, January 12, 2001 8:50 AM
> Subject: Re: Ninja Tune/Shadow records cash-in controversy
>
>
> > Shadow records only shining moment was Sharpshooters "Choked Up." a
> > personal all time jazz hip hop fav. and still well worth pickin up.....
> >
> > cheers,
> >
> > scotty
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Nathaniel Rahav" <nat@rhythmlove.com>
> > To: "Joe Rice" <joe@justiceleague.com>
> > Cc: <acid-jazz@ucsd.edu>
> > Sent: Friday, January 12, 2001 11:02 AM
> > Subject: Re: Ninja Tune/Shadow records cash-in controversy
> >
> >
> > >
> > > Shadow records always seemed to be operating under shady
circumstances,
> > > even from the get go.
> > > This was apparent from their super cheezy acid jazz compilations....
> > > Weren't they Instinct Records before that?
> > > Or is that just another sketchy label that put out mediocre comps?
> > >
> > > anyway, thanks for the info, it's good to know.
> > >
> > > Nat
> > >
> > > P.s. Re: jazz beginnings - I had a drumming teacher who used to make
me
> > > play along to old Buddy Rich records, and I would do it half
heartedly,
> > > until one day I heard some jazz on WKCR 89.9 and it 'clicked'. I dont
> > > remember who it was that I heard, but I suddenly understood the
> > > significance of swinging...
> > > anyway my first jazz album was Kind Of Blue, by far one of the
greatest
> > > works of music of the 20th century....
> > >
> > >
> > > On Thu, 11 Jan 2001, Joe Rice wrote:
> > >
> > > > FYI...
> > > >
> > > > Joe
> > > > ------
> > > >
> > > > 1/11/00
> > > > FROM NINJA TUNE BY WAY OF MOTORMOUTH
> > > > Contact: Brock Phillips (bmotor@pacbell.net), Judy Miller
> > > > (wigbox@pacbell.net) or Jeff Waye (jeff@ninjatune.net)
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > URGENT PRESS RELEASE
> > > >
> > > > It has come to our attention that Instinct/Shadow Records is
currently
> > > > soliciting a compilation entitled "Ninja Tune : The Shadow Years"
for
> > > > release on January 23rd. This release is in no way approved by Ninja
> > Tune.
> > > > Shadow Records acted as a licensee of Ninja Tune material in the US
> many
> > > > years ago. In the short-time of the deal they released a few of our
> > early
> > > > titles. This deal ended in 1996 and since then they've felt the need
> to
> > > > continue repackaging what little amount of our catalog they still
own.
> > We
> > > > feel this is nothing more than a shameless way to cash in on our
10th
> > > > Anniversary Campaign of late last year, and the subsequent
> > release/success
> > > > of the 3CD "Xen Cuts" box set we released. In their onesheet/press
> > release
> > > > for this record they state "This incredibly low-priced double CD set
> is
> > the
> > > > best way for new Ninja fans to be introduced to the label". We feel
> this
> > is
> > > > untrue and that our 3CD box-set (also "incredibly low priced") is in
> > fact
> > > > the best way to introduce people to the label. "Ninja Tune : The
> Shadow
> > > > Years" offers absolutely nothing new, nothing exclusive, and nothing
> > that
> > > > even a passing Ninja fan hasn't already heard on our early releases
or
> > the
> > > > endless stream of compilations put out by Shadow Records. Simply put
> we
> > feel
> > > > this cheapens the Ninja name, makes us look like a "compilation
> label",
> > and
> > > > it should not be considered a proper Ninja Tune release in any way.
> Stay
> > > > tuned for more great "new" records on Ninja Tune.
> > > >
> > > > More info, gripes, etc... contact Jeff Waye at jeff@ninjatune.net
> > > >
> > >
> >
>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Fri Jan 12 2001 - 20:54:26 CET