Our Pathetic Age

Our Pathetic Age is the sixth studio album by American music producer DJ Shadow, released through Mass Appeal Records on November 15, 2019.[13] It features the singles "Rocket Fuel" (featuring De La Soul) and "Rosie". It also features collaborations with Run the Jewels, Ghostface Killah, Nas, and Raekwon, among others.

Our Pathetic Age
Studio album by
DJ Shadow
ReleasedNovember 15, 2019 (2019-11-15)
Length81:37
LabelMass Appeal
ProducerDJ Shadow
DJ Shadow chronology
The Mountain Will Fall
(2016)		 Our Pathetic Age
(2019)		 Action Adventure
(2023)
Singles from Our Pathetic Age
  1. "Rocket Fuel"
    Released: July 24, 2019
  2. "Rosie"
    Released: September 20, 2019
  3. "Urgent, Important, Please Read"
    Released: October 8, 2019
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?6.8/10[1]
Metacritic69/100[2]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
The A.V. ClubB+[4]
Clash7/10[5]
Exclaim!8/10[6]
The Irish Times[7]
NME[8]
Pitchfork6.1/10[9]
Q[10]
Rolling Stone[11]
Slant Magazine[12]

Background

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."[14]

Composition

The album contains two sections: the first (tracks 1–11) contains instrumental tracks, while the second (tracks 12–26) features songs with guest vocalists.[15]

Critical reception

On Metacritic, 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".[2]

Thomas Hobbs of Pitchfork wrote, "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."[9]

Track listing
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" (featuring Nas and Pharoahe Monch)3:42
2."Rain on Snow" (featuring Inspectah Deck, Ghostface Killah and Raekwon)3:39
3."Rocket Fuel" (featuring De La Soul)3:15
4."C.O.N.F.O.R.M." (featuring Gift of Gab, Lateef the Truthspeaker and Infamous Taz)2:51
5."Small Colleges (Stay with Me)" (featuring Wiki and Paul Banks)3:01
6."JoJo's Words" (featuring Stro)4:04
7."Kings & Queens" (featuring Run the Jewels)3:53
8."Taxin'" (featuring Dave East)1:51
9."Dark Side of the Heart" (featuring Fantastic Negrito and Jumbo Is Dr.ama)3:49
10."I Am Not a Robot" (interlude)1:21
11."Urgent, Important, Please Read" (featuring Rockwell Knuckles, Tef Poe and Daemon)5:34
12."Our Pathetic Age" (featuring Samuel T. Herring)4:37
CD bonus track
No.TitleLength
13."Systematic" (featuring Nas)3:25
Total length:85:14
Digital bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
24."Been Use Ta" (featuring Pusha 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
Chart (2019–2020) Peak
position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[16] 143
Scottish Albums (OCC)[17] 25
UK Albums (OCC)[18] 53
US Top Album Sales (Billboard)[19] 44
US Top Tastemaker Albums (Billboard)[20] 10

References
  1. "Our Pathetic Age by DJ Shadow reviews". AnyDecentMusic?.
  2. "Reviews for Our Pathetic Age by DJ Shadow". Metacritic. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
  3. Kellman, Andy. "DJ Shadow – Our Pathetic Age". AllMusic. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
  4. McLevy, Alex (November 14, 2019). "DJ Shadow's triumphant new LP is part evolution, part class reunion". The A.V. Club. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
  5. Walker-Smart, Sam (November 11, 2019). "DJ Shadow - Our Pathetic Age". Clash. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
  6. Barnabe, Dylan (November 19, 2019). "DJ Shadow – Our Pathetic Age". Exclaim!. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
  7. Kane, Siobhan (November 15, 2019). "DJ Shadow: Our Pathetic Age review – Epic album with exceptional collaborations". The Irish Times. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
  8. Clarke, Patrick (November 6, 2019). "DJ Shadow – 'Our Pathetic Age' review: a muddled concept album rescued by powerhouse guests". NME. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
  9. Hobbs, Thomas (November 25, 2019). "DJ Shadow: Our Pathetic Age Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
  10. 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]
  11. Browne, David (November 14, 2019). "DJ Shadow Throws an Epic Pity Party on 'Our Pathetic Age'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved November 14, 2019.
  12. Wilson, Seth (November 14, 2019). "MUSIC Review: DJ Shadow's Our Pathetic Age Paints a Grim Picture of Modern Life". Slant Magazine. Retrieved November 14, 2019.
  13. Bloom, Madison (September 20, 2019). "DJ Shadow Enlists Run the Jewels, Nas, More for New Double Album, Shares Song: Listen". Pitchfork. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
  14. Pearis, Bill (September 20, 2019). "DJ Shadow announces new LP ft. Run the Jewels, Nas, Wiki, more (stream "Rosie")". BrooklynVegan. Retrieved September 21, 2019.
  15. Blistein, Jon (September 20, 2019). "DJ Shadow Previews New Album 'Our Pathetic Age' With Hard-Hitting 'Rosie'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved September 21, 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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