"Midnight in a Perfect World" | ||||
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Single by DJ Shadow | ||||
from the album Endtroducing..... | ||||
B-side |
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Released | September 2, 1996 | |||
Recorded | 1996 | |||
Studio | The Glue Factory (San Francisco) | |||
Genre | ||||
Length |
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Label | ||||
Songwriter(s) |
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Producer(s) | DJ Shadow | |||
DJ Shadow singles chronology | ||||
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"Midnight in a Perfect World" is a song by American DJ and music producer DJ Shadow. It was released as the lead single from his debut studio album, Endtroducing..... , on September 2, 1996. The song peaked at number 52 on the Scottish Singles Chart and number 54 on the UK Singles Chart.
Featuring a soulful vocal line and a slow drum beat, [3] [4] "Midnight in a Perfect World" is based around mournful piano sampled from the 1969 song "The Human Abstract" by David Axelrod. [5] Aside from the Axelrod sample, the track also samples "Sower of Seeds" by Baraka, [6] "Sekoilu Seestyy" by Pekka Pohjola, [6] "Releasing Hypnotical Gases" by Organized Konfusion, [7] "Dolmen Music" by Meredith Monk, [4] and "California Soul" by Marlena Shaw. [8]
"Midnight in a Perfect World" was released as both a 12-inch single and CD single on September 2, 1996 in England, [9] and later in America too. [10] In January 1997, the song was released to American college and modern rock radio stations. [11]
Both releases have different artwork, with the American release featuring a photo of John Hillyard, who owned a record store where DJ Shadow found many of the records he sampled on his album. [12] The photograph was taken by B Plus, [12] who also directed a music video for the song that was also released and gained much airplay on the MTV program Amp . [13]
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Midnight in a Perfect World" (Radio Vision) | 5:02 |
2. | "Midnight in a Perfect World" (Gab Mix) | 5:21 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Midnight in a Perfect World" (Extended Vision) | 9:53 |
2. | "Mutual Slump" | 4:03 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Midnight in a Perfect World" | 4:57 |
2. | "The Number Song" | 4:40 |
3. | "Red Bus Needs to Leave" | 2:41 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Midnight in a Perfect World" (Gab Mix) | 5:20 |
2. | "The Number Song" (Cut Chemist Party Mix) | 5:09 |
Chart (1996) | Peak position |
---|---|
Scotland (OCC) [18] | 52 |
UK Singles (OCC) [19] | 54 |
Region | Date | Label | Format | Catalogue no. |
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United Kingdom | September 2, 1996 | Mo' Wax | MW057 [14] [15] | |
United States | January 1997 |
|
| 162-531 084 [16] [17] |
" Midnight in a Perfect World " at Discogs (list of releases)
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