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- Artist: Z-Trip
- Rating:
- Release Date: April 19, 2005
- Type: Contains explicit content, Mix-album, Enhanced CD-ROM
- Genre: Rap
Review
Live, DJ Z-Trip infringes copyrights like nobody's business. He's won over turntable heads and jam band fans with his genre-jumping mash-ups, and his most influential moments have come in the form of MP3s that are traded well below the RIAA's radar. So how does a swashbuckling bootlegger of a DJ release an album on a major label? By declaring himself a "producer" and brewing up new tracks. But Z-Trip has a secret up his sleeve -- he's a great producer and able to celebrate the music he usually bites by capturing the spirit rather than just copying it. Shifting Gears is a reminiscing album that is in love with a time when breakdancers and b-boys ruled and living without your Adidas was just impossible. There's plenty of breakbeats, vocoders, and "to the beat y'all"s, but there's also a bunch of up-to-date rapping from the alternative rappers and a wealth of furious scratching that is more concerned with tearing it up than nostalgia. Z-Trip is a monster behind the decks, so much so that it's easy to ignore Shifting Gears' rock-solid base. Firm infectious beats fill the album, supporting both the DJ's own scratch-fests and complementing the style of every rapper who stops by. A phat, quirky beat supports Murs' uplifting and innocent ode to Saturday morning cartoons and sugary cereals, while Lyrics Born gets some tasty bongo loops and Gap Band-style synth to anchor down his party chant. Giving Chuck D a Rick Rubin-y crunch behind him seems like a cop-out, but it's still a serviceable track. On the other hand, Z-Trip's team-up with Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington falls flat with forced angst from the vocalist and surprisingly drab, faux-noir backing from the Z man. Of course, one monkey don't stop no show, and the rest of Shifting Gears is more than you'd expect from a turntablist full-length and a great argument for Z-Trip as producer. ~ David Jeffries, All Music GuideTracks
| Track Title | Composers | Performers | Time |
| Intro | (0:27) | ||
| Listen to the DJ | (4:16) | ||
| All About the Music | (3:22) | ||
| The Get Down | (3:45) | ||
| About Face | (2:51) | ||
| Furious | (4:03) | ||
| Take Two Copies | (4:24) | ||
| For My People | (4:10) | ||
| Bury Me Standing | (4:27) | ||
| Breakfast Club | (4:53) | ||
| 3rd Gear | (3:52) | ||
| Everything Changes | Aceyalone | Aceyalone, |
(5:22) |
| Walking Dead | (4:33) | ||
| Shock and Awe | Chuck D, |
(4:38) | |
| Revolution (STR Pts. 1-2) | (17:53) | ||
| The Grandmaster [CD-ROM Track] |
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