''The Hard Sell'' is a live

DJ mix A DJ mix or DJ mixset is a sequence of musical tracks typically beatmixing, mixed together by a Disc jockey, DJ to appear as one continuous track. DJ mixes are usually performed using a DJ mixer and multiple sounds sources, such as Phonograph, tur ...

album by American

music producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

s and

turntablist Turntablism is the art of manipulating sounds and creating new music, sound effects, mixes and other creative sounds and beats, typically by using two or more turntables and a cross fader-equipped DJ mixer. The mixer is plugged into a PA syste ...

DJ Shadow Joshua Paul Davis (born June 29, 1972 in San Jose, California, San Jose, California), better known by his stage name DJ Shadow, is an American DJ and record producer. His debut studio album, ''Endtroducing.....,'' was released in 1996. He uses l ...

and

Cut Chemist Lucas MacFadden (born October 4, 1972), better known as Cut Chemist, is an American DJ and record producer. He is a former member of Jurassic 5 and Ozomatli. He has collaborated with DJ Shadow on a number of projects. Early life Cut Chemist gr ...

, released in January 2007. The album is a recording of a rehearsal by the two producers for a June 2007 show at the

Hollywood Bowl The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre and Urban park, public park in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles, California. It was named one of the 10 best live music venues in the United States by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 2018 and was listed on ...

Background and recording

In 2007, DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist were invited to perform at the

amphitheater in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. With the opportunity to be the first headlining turntablists in the history of the venue, they accepted the invitation. ''The Hard Sell'' was recorded during rehearsals for their June 2007 Hollywood Bowl show. The album is primarily a

of various 7-inch vinyl singles, similar in nature to the previous DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist albums '' Brainfreeze'' (1999) and ''

Product Placement Product placement, also known as embedded marketing, is a marketing technique where references to specific brands or products are incorporated into another work, such as a film or television program, with specific promotional intent. Much of t ...

'' (2001). Before recording, the two spent several days listening to potential candidates for inclusion on the set; during the process, they eventually started to "narrow down a theme and feel based on

heir Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Offi ...

feelings about music at the time." According to DJ Shadow, the two sought to "push the boundaries of good taste" by putting together a set "that would alternatively make people smile and nod their head, and the next moment throw them off their balance and think 'Whoa, I'm not sure if I'm down with this.'" Eight

turntables A phonograph, later called a gramophone, and since the 1940s a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogue reproduction of sound. The sound vibration Waveform, waveforms are recorded as correspond ...

, four mixers, and two

guitar pedal An effects unit, effects processor, or effects pedal is an electronic device that alters the sound of a musical instrument or other audio source through audio signal processing. Common effects include distortion/overdrive, often used with el ...

s were utilized in creating the mix.

Track listing

# "The Hard Sell (Part I)" – 42:27 # "The Hard Sell (Part II)" – 27:13

Samples

"The Hard Sell (Part I)" * "

Rock Around the Clock "Rock Around the Clock" is a rock and roll song in the 12-bar blues format written by Max C. Freedman and James E. Myers (the latter being under the pseudonym "Jimmy De Knight") in 1952. The best-known and most successful rendition was reco ...

" by Telex * Spoken words from the film ''

Casablanca Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...

'' * "This Can't Be True" by

Eddie Holman Eddie Holman (born June 3, 1946) is an American singer, musician, minister, and recording artist, best known for his distinctively high singing voice and his 1969 hit song " Hey There Lonely Girl", an adaptation of "Hey There Lonely Boy" by Ru ...

and the Larks * "Eye of the Tiger" by Big Daddy * "

I Only Have Eyes for You "I Only Have Eyes for You" is a song by composer Harry Warren and lyricist Al Dubin. The song was written for the 1934 film ''Dames (film), Dames'', in which it was performed by Dick Powell. Several other successful recordings of the song were m ...

" by

The Flamingos The Flamingos are an American doo-wop group formed in Chicago in 1953. The band became popular in mid-to-late 1950s and are best known for their 1959 cover version of "I Only Have Eyes for You". They have since been hailed as being one of the f ...

* Spoken words from

Robert Plant Robert Anthony Plant (born 20 August 1948) is an English singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band Led Zeppelin from its founding in 1968 until their breakup in 1980. Since then, he has had a successful solo ca ...

* " Summer in the City" by

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (March 14, 1933 – November 3, 2024) was an American record producer, composer, arranger, conductor, trumpeter, and bandleader. Over the course of his seven-decade career, he received List of awards and nominations re ...

* "

Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat) "Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)" is a song by American hip hop trio Digable Planets, released as the first single from their debut album, ''Reachin' (A New Refutation of Time and Space)'', in November 1992. The black-and-white music video was d ...

" by

Digable Planets Digable Planets () is an American hip hop trio formed in 1987. The trio is composed of rappers Ishmael "Butterfly" Butler, Mariana "Ladybug Mecca" Vieira, and Craig "Doodlebug" Irving. The group is notable for their contributions to the subgen ...

* " Magic Mountain" by

Eric Burdon Eric Victor Burdon (born 11 May 1941) is an English singer and songwriter. He was previously the lead vocalist of the rhythm and blues, R&B and Rock music, rock band The Animals and the funk band War (band), War. He is regarded as one of the Br ...

and

War War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

* "Synthetic Substitution" by Melvin Bliss * "Soupy" by Maggie Thrett * A version of "

España cañí "España cañí" (meaning "Gypsy Spain" in Spanish) is a famous instrumental Spanish piece of pasodoble music by Pascual Marquina Narro (1873–1948). The song was written around 1923 and first recorded in 1926. In English it is also known as the ...

" "The Hard Sell (Part II)" * "

The Way You Move "The Way You Move" is a hip-hop and soul song by the American hip hop duo Outkast, performed by its member Big Boi. The song features Outkast mentor Sleepy Brown on guest vocals. Along with " Hey Ya!", recorded by Outkast's other member André 3 ...

" by

OutKast Outkast (sometimes written as OutKast) was an American hip-hop duo formed in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1992, consisting of Big Boi (Antwan Patton) and André 3000 (André Benjamin, formerly known as Dré). Widely regarded as one of the greatest an ...

* "

Everlong "Everlong" is a song by American rock band Foo Fighters, released in August 1997 as the second single from their second studio album, '' The Colour and the Shape'' (1997). The song reached number three on the US ''Billboard'' Alternative Songs ...

" by the

Foo Fighters The Foo Fighters are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Seattle in 1994. Initially founded as a one-man project by former Nirvana (band), Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl, the band comprises vocalist/guitarist Grohl, bassist Nate Mendel, gu ...

* " Somebody to Love" by

Jefferson Airplane Jefferson Airplane was an American Rock music, rock band formed in San Francisco, California, in 1965. One of the pioneering bands of psychedelic rock, the group defined the San Francisco Sound and was the first from the San Francisco Bay Area, ...

* "

Break on Through (To the Other Side) "Break On Through (To the Other Side)" is a song by the American Rock music, rock band the Doors. It is the opening track of their debut album, ''The Doors (album), The Doors'' (1967). Elektra Records issued the song as the group's first single, ...

" by

The Doors The Doors were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, comprising vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most influential and controversial rock acts ...

* A cover of "Whoa Back Buck" (originally by

Lead Belly Huddie William Ledbetter ( ; January 1888 or 1889 – December 6, 1949), better known by the stage name Lead Belly, was an American folk music, folk and blues singer notable for his strong vocals, virtuosity on the twelve-string guitar, and the ...

) * Spoken words about

cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...

* "We've Got a File on You" by Blur

References

External links

* *
The Hard Sell CD

Soul Sides review

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hard Sell (Album) Cut Chemist albums DJ Shadow albums DJing 2007 live albums Albums recorded at the Hollywood Bowl