We don’t need to tell you who DJ Shadow is, so we won’t. But what we will tell you is that the legendary Bay Area DJ/producer has a couple of new tunes right now, and he’s offering them up for free download. The two tracks, “Def Surrounds Us” and “I’ve Been Trying,” come from a recent limited-edition 12″ DJ Shadow strategically dropped in select stores around the US and UK with hand-drawn artwork by himself. These records were placed in stores with an idea the producer calls “shop-placing.” Elaborating, Shadow says, “You go into a store, and leave your record in the racks to be discovered later. It’s not about being cute, it’s about passing the music along in the most unobtrusive way possible. No hype, no shouting, no shot-in-the-void online campaign. Just, ‘Here you go. I’m glad you found it, and I hope you enjoy it.’ All of the covers are different. Some are intricate, some are simple, but the theme is ‘don’t think, just draw.’ Almost like a stream-of-conscious, ongoing series of cartoon doodles.” That’s an interesting idea, for sure, but for this download, things are a bit less permanent: the songs are only available for 24 hours. So, hurry up and download them here. (via FACT)

Update: DJShadow.com has had some issues due to the overwhelming amount of traffic on the site. If that link doesn’t work for you, you can also find the tracks here.

Update: According to DJ Shadow’s Twitter account, the download will be available on his website for another 24 hours.