Well, I got in early and was able to download both tracks. I know, call me a fucking sell out but I really dug them.  The first track called "Def Surrounds Us" is an epic 7:38 piece that harkens back to the moody & cinematic bits that made millions of people fall in love with Entroducing & The Private Press, but relies on beats & synths that are more common in today's Deadmau5 & Diplo-esque electro.  Well, I fucking love it!  It has movement unlike so much of today's music.  Shadow never disappoints because he uses the ideas of tension & release in his compositions.  Build up the drums and buold anticipation in the listener then release and change the entire mood of what they are experiencing.  This is what always made Shadow great and I can't wait to hear more.

The second track is really quick and maybe thats on purpose.  It's called "I've Been Trying" and features a singer playing the guitar and its virtually uneditied.  Shadow comes in he background and starts teasing beats and elemental pieces that accentuate and change the original performance.  I'll be honest, on the one hand I think its really cool and takes the original ideas of resampling music and adding beats to create someting new and flips it on it's own head.  DON'T resample the original material, just add to it.  This could be an amazing start to a whole new movement in DJ based production.  But the track is too short to get a sense of whats really going on.

Well Internet.  Get on with it.  I'm a fucking sell out because I like the new direction DJ Shadow has started on.  Go ahead and tell me all about it in the comments.  Don't worry, I won't censor you.  I will respond though.  I guess that's one of the reasons I like Shadow so much.  He just keeps going his way no matter what the critics and haters say. 

Click Here to try and get into the site and download them.  They are only available for 24 hours.  The site was down last time I checked.

I met Cates a couple of years back in Boston with my friend Ryan Kick.  I guess their sound could be considered Progresive Tech Breaks, but this one tune is a real standout on their new album from OM "Through The Weekend".

Its a great spacey, deep tech house jam.  It moves very nicely and has the kind of chug that keeps you head noddin.  The synths and pads slowly build and some of them use refreshing time signatures that keep you guessing.  Anyway, check it out on Soundcloud and enjoy!