What else is there besides 'Dead Ringer'?

November 8, 2005 10:42 PM

What other albums out there by other acts are similar to the RJD2 album 'Dead Ringer'?

I really really really really like this album. I don't know much about the genre of hip hop (stupid white guy), and would be hard pressed to find something that I like. I mainly like the sound of this, and don't really like the sound of RJD2's last one, 'Since we last spoke.' This one is where it's at.

I'd prefer something as instrumental as this, but it's not a do or die thing.

posted by angry modem to media & arts (27 comments total)

DJ Shadow's "Endtroducing" (recently reissued) is the place to start.
posted by disarray at 10:46 PM on November 8, 2005

I have pretty indiscriminate musical taste, particularly when it comes to hip-hop, but here are a few suggestions. YMMV.

Lovage - Music to Make Love to Your Old Lady By
Soul Position - 8 Million Stories (a collaboration by RJD2 and Blueprint, if you liked their track on Deadringer)
anything by DJ Shadow
anything by Kid Koala
MF Doom's "Special Herbs" discs (just compilations of beats he's made, in case you're not interested in the rhyming)

Most of these are almost all "instrumental" (not counting vocal samples), save the Soul Position album (included for RJD2 relevance). Hopefully you can find something you like.
posted by ckolderup at 11:34 PM on November 8, 2005

Prefuse 73 makes good music, as does Squarepusher, though he's maybe less accessible. (Note: I'm most familiar with "One Word Extinguisher" from the former and "Big Loada" from the latter, and only know a few tracks from "Dead Ringer".)
posted by gorillawarfare at 11:57 PM on November 8, 2005

Try Malcom Kipe - Breakspiracy Theories or Lit. Also on Merck is Deceptikon

Anticon is another label to check out - I particularly love Alias's album The Other Side of the Looking Glass. His later stuff is more ambienty and IDM-y - see this excellent video [direct QT link] from his album Muted.

The only Dr. Octagon album I've heard is Instrumentalyst, which is an instrumental version of his "Dr. Octagonecologyst" I also recommend as being a bit similar.
posted by aubilenon at 11:58 PM on November 8, 2005

Dammit, I've got the Malcom Kipe CD right here, why am I still listening to these 1 minute preview clips?
posted by aubilenon at 12:00 AM on November 9, 2005

Dead Ringer sounds, to me, like it was...ahem, "inspired" by Endtroducing, but Entroducing is almost matchless in the instrumental hip hop genre, so that's OK.

Other things you may well like:

Animal Magic - Bonobo
Dial M For Monkey - Bonobo

Both lovely, melodic and very accomplished sample-based downtempo/hip hop

Music Has The Right To Children - Boards Of Canada.
The Campfire Headphase - Boards Of Canada

A similar sense of melancholy to Endtroducing - "Aquarius" and "Happy Cycling" on MHTRTC are the most straightforwardly hip-hop influenced, but the whole album is a gem. "The Campfire Headphase" is more upbeat and traditional in structure - you might even be better off starting there.

"Man With A Movie Camera" - The Cinematic Orchestra.

Very soundtrack-esque, lots of live instrumentation and crisp, snappy, funky drumming. Gorgeous.

Prefuse 73 - Vocal Studies and Uprock Narratives - glitchy, more experimental instrumental hip hop, with heavily cut up MC ing used purely for rhythmical effect, but still packed with dusty vinyl samples after the fashion of DJ Shadow and RJD2.

As above, YMMV, but enjoy!
posted by Jon Mitchell at 12:03 AM on November 9, 2005

Also, most of my recommendations are available to preview, and buy, in DRM free MP3 format, from the very excellent Bleep, Warp Records' download site.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 12:05 AM on November 9, 2005

Another vote for Prefuse 73, Bonobo (more downbeat/chill but superb), BOC is really ambient though. Dj Cam for some hiphop influenced stuff from France but on the laidback smokey French bar tip. Mr Scruff (bit jazzy) as well, Kid Loco, damn there's too many! Depends on how cutup/swirling samples you want it, or whether it's just the hiphop influence you like? RJD2 does have that distinctive sound which isn't necessarily in common with some of the previous suggestions, but definitely similar to what's found on Endtroducing (a classic). Coldcut is on that tip as well, along with The Avalanches' (Since I Left You), a bit more poppy but fantastic, mixed from over 900 individual samples! Lastly, I'll highly recommend anything by Amon Tobin, more psychedelic but one of the best electronic breaks artists going round.
posted by Onanist at 1:36 AM on November 9, 2005

You can find lots of the above and more on the Ninja Tunes label
posted by patricio at 1:53 AM on November 9, 2005

If you set up an account on Last.fm (it's free) and download the player, you can type in band/s you like and it will play other bands in the same groove.

It's not perfect, but it's good.

I'm listening to it now, so I'll give you a bigger list later, but the first track, like Onanist says, looks, smells and sounds very Avalanches.
posted by NinjaPirate at 1:59 AM on November 9, 2005

Drums: DJ Shadow, Unkle

Song samples: Moby - "Play" (bizarrely)

Weird "ripped from some TV show in the 70's" samples: Lemon Jelly - "KY"

Scratching, more weird samples: The Avalanches - "Since I Left You"

Rap levelled with the music loops: Handsome Boy Modelling School - "So...How's Your Girl"

Shout samples and club Jazz influences: Peshay - "Miles From Home"

Mellow/lounge Jazz: Quantic/Quantic Soul Orchestra (although they get all vocal)

General hip-hop: Madvillain, Madlib
posted by NinjaPirate at 3:03 AM on November 9, 2005

Blockhead and Diplo are two more instrumental hip hop guys - both released their first solo albums around the same time that RJD2 did.

Also check out some of the other artists on Def Jux - RJD2 has produced lots of folks on that label, and I really love a lot of their stuff, especially any of el-P's work.

In Rare Form and Gettin' Jukie With It are two other very similar RJD2 albums I have; you might be able to find them at RJD2's site or some other spots.
posted by sluggo at 3:59 AM on November 9, 2005

RJD2 has done some collaborations with Blueprint as Soul Position. I'd also suggest Blockhead and Boom Bip. As well as almost everything mentioned above.
posted by matildaben at 6:07 AM on November 9, 2005

I would certainly explore Madlib's catalog, including Yesterday's New Quintet.

Other artists to explore: Four Tet, Daedelus, the aforementioned Prefuse 73, the aforementioned Amon Tobin, and the aforementioned Avalanches.
posted by selfnoise at 6:18 AM on November 9, 2005

I would just like to second the Avalanches. They are AMAZING, I would chance to say that Since I Left You is a perfect album.
posted by Mach5 at 6:41 AM on November 9, 2005

Just going through my itunes...

Alias - All Things Fixable & Muted (thats two different albums there)

Amon Tobin might be a good one to look at. The older stuff is really nice and jazzy/cinemeatic, then new stuff is more futuristic sounding. I prefer the old stuff, but they both have their merits. A good one to start on is Supermodified.

Boom Bip - Blue Eyed in the Red Room, and Corymb

Buck 65- Square (vocals, but they're great, and the production is stellar)

Dabrye - one/three (stripped down techy hip hop. really nice.)

Daedelus - Exquisite Corpse (this album is probably the closest to RJD2 I can think of. Really nice stuff. can be heard on bleep.com, as can a lot of these)

Diplo - Florida (very Shadow-esque, much better than his poppy mix sets that he's known for. Theres a cool Diplo V Shadow mix floating around on the net, shouldn't be hard to find. Pretty nice)

DJ Krush (Japanese intrumental hip hop, very restrained and low key, good rainy day stuff. Fav album is Kakusei)

Diverse - One AM (vocal, but produced by RJD2)

EdiT - Crying over Pros for No Reason (a little more glitchy than RJD2, but a very full rich sound, and steady beats)

Jackson and His Computer Band - Smash (this is a new one, but its great. French producer, wierd mix between dancefloor stuff, hip hop, glitch. The track TV Dogs with Mike Ladd is so epic. Love this album)

Jamie Liddell - Multiply (Warps gone crazy, but its got a nice funk soul thing going for it)

Jel - Greenball (a producer for anticon, an album full of low key intrsumental tracks. good stuff, though not quite as polished as RJD2)

King Geedorah - Take me to your leader (has vocals, but this is a favorite. MF Doom does a lot of the production and vocals)

Lootpack - Da Antidote (vocal again, this is the group Madlib produced for before he went to Stones Throw. Great beats, and a lot of great rhymes)

Machine Drum - Urban Biology (Prefuse 73 type stuff)

Madlib - Shades of Blue (Madlib goes through the Blue Note catalog and goes crazy. This album was huge for me after it came out.)

One Self - Children of Possibility (Vocals, two mcs actually, produced by DJ Vadim from Ninja Tune. The backing tracks are really nice, and the rapping impecable. One of my favorite hip hop albums this year)

Wagon Christ - Sorry I make you Lush (more break beat than hip hop, but fun as hell and makes me laugh)

That should keep you pretty busy, about 75% of them can be found on bleep.com if you want to give them a listen.
posted by atom128 at 9:46 AM on November 9, 2005 [1 favorite]

Oh, Alias is the music behind that really great video at 1st Ave Machine that had the plants with wierd plastic fungi (it's hard to explain). Click projects, it's the first one.
posted by atom128 at 9:54 AM on November 9, 2005

RJD2 is quite the purist - all the beats, arrangement and samples on it come from old 70s soul and funk records, which really is quite an acheivement. Unfortunately, it really makes it a one-of-a-kind.
So I'll just repeat the calls for Amon Tobin, Prefuse 73 and FourTet, while adding Cannibal Ox (not quite as laid back; I think they did an instrumental version of "The Cold Vein"), Wagon Christ, Company Flow ("Little Johnny From the Hospitul" is awesome! I'd say this album is the closest thing to "Deadringer" I can think of), DJ Vadim, possibly Techno Animal, Anti-Pop Consortium (although not instrumental), DJ Spooky.
posted by hellbient at 10:06 AM on November 9, 2005

oh, forgot one - Push Button Objects - Dirty Dozen is great.
posted by hellbient at 10:15 AM on November 9, 2005

There are instrumental versions available of the Soul Position album, the Deltron 3030 album, some of Madlib's stuff (e.g., the first Quasimoto album) and the second Handsome Boy Modeling School album (and probably some things I'm forgetting). And you've already listened to RJ's The Horror, right?

Besides those, you might check out the more hip-hop entries in Thirsty Ear's Blue Series. I really love Mike Ladd, but his work may not be what you've got in mind.

More broadly, hip-hop, much like jazz and electronic music, is a fairly collaborative genre. If you start with the folks that RJ has remixed, toured with, DJ'd for, etc., things branch out pretty naturally, and it's easy to figure out which branches you're feeling and which ones you're not.

(I'm going to skip the I-second-soandso part, because almost everything people have mentioned is stuff I like, and because I'm not sure which aspects of Deadringer you're responding to. NinjaPirate does a good job of trying to address it, though.)
posted by box at 10:20 AM on November 9, 2005

Nobody has mentioned Four Tet yet. Love them.

More mainstream and lyrics oriented, but definitely something a "stupid white guy" would find accessible is Jurassic 5, and on that same note, both DJ Format albums own (and dont forget to watch any and all of his videos found around the net).

All the others mentioned too are great, I love anything by DJ Shadow, Endtroducing is classic obvs, but I also find myself listening to the the Private Press a lot, and especially some of the remixes from the Private Repress. The UNKLE remix of GDMSOB with Roots Manuva is a must, as well as the Six Days version with Mos Def.

And all the others, Kid Koala, the Avalanches, Lemon Jelly, Prefuse 73, Handsome Boy Modeling School, Blackalicious, M.I.A.
posted by skrike at 11:07 AM on November 9, 2005

took too long to write that, four tet was mentioned twice. So yeah.... go get them.
posted by skrike at 11:09 AM on November 9, 2005

The first thing that you should look for, not to discount the many other excellend suggestions in this thread (and some that are still good, but rather far afield), is a collaboration of Cut Chemist and DJ Shadow called "Brainfreeze." It's one long track, all from 70s funk and crate digging, and is in total about 45 minutes long. There are some truncated versions out there on file sharing that cut in and out, so avoid them (especially the 13 minute one that was up on slsk). Cut Chemist is the DJ for Jurrassic 5 (and as an aside, you should find his extended Alphabet Acrobatics mix— it kills).

The other one to look for is the Peanutbutterwolf 45 jukebox. It's not thru-mixed, but it has a lot in common with the source material. If Dead Ringer is what you like, these are much, much closer than suggestions for Wagon Christ or even DJ Spooky. A lot of people here just kinda blurted out their favorite hip hop, and a lot of it's good, but if you want something similar, go with Brainfreeze.
posted by klangklangston at 11:27 AM on November 9, 2005

klang - I'd like to just clarify that i didn't just blurt out my favorite hip hop. I realize the somewhat large differences between RJD2 and Wagon Christ (specifically "Throbbing Pouch") and DJ Spooky (specifically "Songs of a Dead Dreamer"). I picked them because they are hip hop (or at least contain elements of hip hop), instrumental, and share the same excellent production values as RJD2.

That said, Peanutbutterwolf is a great suggestion...
posted by hellbient at 2:11 PM on November 9, 2005

I can't believe nobody has mentioned Dan the Automator yet. He produced Deltron 3030 (mentioned above) but my all time favorite is The Octagonycologyst by Dr. Octagon (it's actually Kool Keith). The instrumental version of the record is called the Instrumentalyst, and pretty much everything the guy has touched is worth listening to. He has producer credits all over the place.
posted by mike_bling at 7:31 PM on November 9, 2005

atom128: I don't know about starting angry modem on Amon Tobin with Supermodified -- I had that album for many, many years without really developing an appreciation for Amon Tobin. It wasn't until I listened to his soundtrack to Spinter Cell: Chaos Theory and then moved to Bricolage that I realized how brilliant his music is.
posted by The Bishop of Turkey at 7:44 PM on November 9, 2005

Oh, and to everybody -- I realize that I wasn't the one that asked the question, but still, I thought that I was caught up and through finding new music for the time being.

Thanks a lot, you jerks.
posted by The Bishop of Turkey at 7:47 PM on November 9, 2005