Jan 20, 2019

Sundaze 1903

Hello,


Today's Artist  a British musical outfit founded in 1992 by James Lavelle. Originally categorized as trip hop, the group once included producer DJ Shadow and have employed a variety of guest artists and producers. . .......N'Joy

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Experimental hip-hop outfit UNKLE were one of the original artists releasing material through noted U.K. label Mo' Wax, which helped launch the mid-'90s instrumental downtempo breakbeat revival eventually termed trip-hop. Though hardly the label's highest-profile group (at least until the long-delayed release of their debut LP in 1998), UNKLE's members included label head James Lavelle, who formed Mo' Wax while still in his teens as an antidote to the increasingly stale acid jazz/Northern soul scene. Stripping the music down to its barest of essentials -- bass, percussion, minimal samples, and heavy effects -- the Mo' Wax sound (best exemplified by the second Mo' Wax label comp, Headz, as well as its sequel, the two-part Headz II) quickly gained respectability and a large audience. Although not as prolific as other Mo' Wax artists such as DJs Shadow and Krush, UNKLE nonetheless played a crucial role in cementing Mo' Wax's early sound through their Time Has Come double EP, which featured remixes of the title track by Plaid, Portishead, and U2 producer Howie B.

The UNKLE trio was comprised of Lavelle, Tim Goldsworthy (a mate of Lavelle's since childhood), and producer Kudo, of seminal Japanese label Major Force. Prior to his entry into production, Lavelle, along with Goldsworthy, was deep into New York hip-hop and electro, the emerging late-'80s Sheffield bleep scene, the English acid jazz scene (which he covered as a columnist for Straight No Chaser magazine), and of course the acid house and techno explosions that were redefining English counterculture at the time. The pair hooked up with third member Kudo through the growing rep of the latter's Love T.K.O. project, whose outbound interpretations of breakbeat and acid jazz drew Lavelle's ear. While Goldsworthy and Kudo remained more heavily involved in nuts 'n' bolts production (especially given the success of Mo' Wax, with the penning of an expansive partial ownership deal with A&M Records in 1996), Lavelle was heavily involved in the conceptual and organizational end, crafting beats and laying out vague sketches his partners then expanded into full-blown tracks.

Despite the scarcity of released material, UNKLE grew to wider acclaim during 1996 through remix projects for Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and Tortoise. After Goldsworthy and Kudo were effectively replaced by Mo' Wax bill-payer DJ Shadow, the all-star LP Psyence Fiction finally appeared in 1998. Lavelle replaced Goldsworthy and Kudo by Mo' Wax bill-payer DJ Shadow drafted him in to work on the debut album, and essentially discarded all previously recorded material. Lavelle and Shadow released Psyence Fiction in 1998 to critical acclaim. The album included collaborations with an all-star lineup including Thom Yorke (Radiohead), Mark Hollis (Talk Talk), Mike D (Beastie Boys), Kool G Rap, Jason Newsted (Metallica), Badly Drawn Boy and Richard Ashcroft (The Verve). The album was mixed by Shadow's long-time collaborator, producer Jim Abbiss.
Shadow left the group after touring Psyence Fiction and was replaced by turntablist group the Scratch Perverts, who deconstructed the album and performed it live on turntables in 1999. Also in 1999, former producer Rich File remixed the track "Unreal", adding vocals by Ian Brown, and the resulting track was released as the single "Be There". .

Lavelle, amid much work as a DJ, recruited singer/songwriter Richard File for the second UNKLE full-length, 2003's Never, Never, Land. Four years later, Lavelle and File returned with War Stories, including collaborators from the past (Josh Homme) and new associates (Ian Astbury, Chris Goss) to contribute to the heaviest-sounding UNKLE release to date. File departed and was replaced with writer, producer, and longtime Mo' Wax associate Pablo Clements (of Psychonauts). A pair of odds 'n' ends collections, More Stories and End Titles...Stories for Film (both released in 2008), featured old and new material, including music from UNKLE's soundtrack to the documentary Odyssey in Rome. In 2009, the "Heavy Drug" single announced the coming of their organic, band-oriented 2010 album Where Did the Night Fall (Another Night Out). The duo's release schedule picked up once more with the 2013 release of an EP titled Trance Film. UNKLE returned in 2017 with their sixth studio effort, The Road, Vol. 1. The record once again featured a whole host of collaborators such as Mark Lanegan, ESKA, Keaton Henson, and Andrew Innes of Primal Scream.

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Not quite the fourth proper UNKLE full-length, End Titles...Stories for Film is a collection of tracks taken from the shelf (or elsewhere) after the completion of War Stories in 2007. Since UNKLE were abundantly busy during that short span of time, the album certainly has the potential for greatness. It includes several pieces of soundtrack work from Odyssey in Rome (a documentary that focused on director Abel Ferrara and the making of his film Mary) as well as UNKLE's BMW advert hit "Trouble in Paradise (Variations on a Theme)." But End Titles...Stories for Film wears the signs of its creation poorly, unlike the quite-good odds'n'sods collection More Stories, which despite its high quality was released only in Australia. (To make matters more difficult, several tracks appear on both collections.) The film music is best, including the atmospheric "Heaven," with a lovely vocal from Gavin Clark that calls into question why it wasn't included higher up in the track listing. "Trouble in Paradise (Variations on a Theme)" is also solid, along with the track "Chemical," featuring Josh Homme. UNKLE flooding the marketplace with confusing and overlapping product has happened before, so it's just another problem to lay at the feet of James Lavelle and wonder why a project that once seemed so promising appears to torpedo itself at every turn.



UNKLE - End Titles... Stories For Film (flac  407mb)

01 End Titles (Taken From The Film Odyssey In Rome) 0:35
02 Cut Me Loose 5:24
03 Ghosts 4:57
04 Ghosts (String Reprise) 0:39
05 Kaned And Abel (Taken From The Film Odyssey In Rome) 1:04
06 Blade In The Back (Taken From The Film Odyssey In Rome) 5:12
07 Synthetic Water (Taken From The Film Odyssey In Rome) 1:06
08 Chemical 2:48
09 Nocturnal 5:01
10 Cut Me Loose (String Reprise) 0:59
11 Against The Grain 5:22
12 Even Balance (Part Two) (Taken From The Film Odyssey In Rome) 0:45
13 Trouble In Paradise (Variation On A Theme) 5:01
14 Can't Hurt 4:13
15 24 Frames 4:45
16 In A Broken Dream (Taken From The Film Odyssey In Rome) 1:24
17 Clouds 4:07
18 Black Mass 3:08
19 Open Up Your Eyes (Taken From The Film Odyssey In Rome) 2:43
20 Romeo Void (Taken From The Film Odyssey In Rome) 2:11
21 Heaven (Taken From The Film Odyssey In Rome) 6:58
22 The Piano Echoes (Taken From The Film Odyssey In Rome) 5:24

UNKLE - End Titles... Stories For Film   (ogg  160mb)

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It would be easy to take a short glance at More Stories and decide that it's just a remix album, or an odds'n'sods collection, or an instrumentals disc -- at any rate, simply a companion piece to 2007's War Stories (and, therefore, recommended only if you liked War Stories). But when UNKLE and James Lavelle are involved, everything is high concept. Granted, this usually does more harm than good, but More Stories is a very good collection. (And, for the record, it includes remixes and instrumentals and odds'n'sodds, the latter, specifically, comprising the music for Odyssey in Rome, a documentary that focused on director Abel Ferrara and the making of his film Mary.) The film music is hardly incidental, including the atmospheric "Heaven," with a lovely vocal from Gavin Clark that calls into question why it wasn't included on a proper UNKLE full-length. War Stories collaborators Autolux and Layo & Bushwacka! are given their own tracks, and Autolux turn in a solid version of their original, "Turnstile Blues."



 UNKLE - More Stories    (flac 472mb)

01 Serene 1:04
02 Heaven 7:00
03 Turnstile Blues (Autolux Surrender Sounds Session #4) 7:55
04 Opened Dreams 0:46
05 Blade In The Back 5:16
06 Can't Stop 4:03
07 Synthetic Water 0:49
08 A Wash Of Black 9:39
09 Burn My Shadow (Radio Slave Remix) 11:15
10 Hold My Hand (Buckley Boland "Even Better Days" Remix) 8:17
11 Burn My Shadow (UNKLE Remix (Surrender Sounds Session #5)) 10:02

 UNKLE - More Stories     (ogg  128mb)

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Doing away with any preconceived notions, UNKLE changed things up drastically for their fourth official album. With Richard File out of the picture and Pablo Clements picking up the reins as James Lavelle's sideman, the duo leaves trip-hop and digitally skewed breakbeats at the wayside. As a substitute, the new incarnation goes the band route, using primarily live instrumentation and a garage rock/psych pop sonic palette. Those who followed UNKLE after the breakout success of Psyence Fiction will be familiar with Lavelle's inclinations to try to rock in a post-Spooky world, which usually led him down a road of mediocre results, but where War Stories fused electronic aspects with saturated stoner rock, Where Did the Night Fall is a focused production of thick, heavily orchestrated Brit-rock, along the lines of Clinic and Muse. Per usual, vocalists take turns, phoning in from their respective area codes, and Autolux, Mark Lanegan, Elle. J, Big in Japan, Sleepy Sun, and the Black Angels turn in excellent performances. Even so, the studio band of Joel Cadbury, James Griffith, Matthew Pierce, and drummers Graham Fox and White Denim's Josh Block (among others, including the Heritage Orchestra) steal the show. The songs feel less flawed than previous experiments, with a unified vibe due to the eerie cement-wall production that overlays everything. No hip-hop MC detours. No dodgy instrumentals. Just groovy fuzz basslines, wayward drumming, chugging guitars, pulsing organs, and echoey vocals sung over minor chords that give way to tense, white-hot hooks. It’s an explicit leap into new territory for the band, and though the second half may drag a bit, songs like “Natural Selection,” “Joy Factory,” "The Answer," and “On a Wire” make for some of UNKLE’s all-time best singles, ones that rank right up there with “Rabbit in Your Headlights” and “Lonely Soul.”



UNKLE - Where Did The Night Fall (flac  369mb)

01 Nowhere 0:42
02 Follow Me Down 4:24
03 Natural Selection 4:12
04 Joy Factory 4:00
05 The Answer 4:41
06 On A Wire 4:54
07 Falling Stars 5:50
08 Heavy Drug 1:14
09 Caged Bird 5:09
10 Ablivion 4:30
11 The Runaway 3:47
12 Ever Rest 4:22
13 The Healing 4:28
14 Another Night Out 5:13

UNKLE - Where Did The Night Fall    (ogg 129mb)

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UNKLE - Where Did The Night Fall (Surrender Sounds Def Mix) (flac  440mb)

01 Where Did The Night Fall (Surrender Sounds Def Mix) 1:10:19

Heavy Drug
Nowhere (Instrumental)
The Answer (Edit)
Follow Me Down (Dave Sitek Remix)
The Runaway
Close Your Eyes
Natural Selection (Tom Furs The Horrors Remix)
Heavy Drug (Instrumental)
Heavy Drug (King Unique Smoke Nest Mix)
Heavy Drug (Surrender Sounds Mix)
Heavy Drug (Future Beat Alliance Mix)
Natural Selection (Future Beat Alliance Remix)
Natural Selection (Psycatron Black Angels Retake Mix)
Another Night Out

UNKLE - Where Did The Night Fall (Surrender Sounds Def Mix) (ogg  167mb)

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This just feels like the continuation of that with even more great uplifting mellow ambient beauty.
UNKLE is combining elements of electro-pop, indie rock, neo-psychedelic, eurodisco 'flirtings' and even classical chamber music; plus mixing such diverse instruments as drums, percussion, bass, guitar, organ, keyboards, synths, Moog, Fender Rhodes, brass and strings ensembles as well as a myriad of male and female guest singers and still making it stick together is a triumph in itself.Very attractive , warm and strange atmosphere; pleasant contacts with inner delicate entities; thought heart - felt brain sort of expression. Strong but/and velvety melodies.



 UNKLE - Another Night Out (flac   383mb)

01 Somewhere 1:13
02 In My Mind (Feat Gavin Clark) 4:45
03 Money And Run (Feat Nick Cave) 5:17
04 The Dog Is Black (Feat Liela Moss) 5:04
05 Only The Lonely (Over-Dub) 4:27
06 Wash The Love Away (Feat Gavin Clark) 5:13
07 Sunday Song (Feat Rachel Fannan) 6:47
08 With You In My Head (Feat The Black Angels) 5:12
09 Country Tune (Feat Gavin Clark) 5:17
10 Not A Sound 5:16
11 When The Lights Go Out/We Own The Night 5:37
12 Every Single Prayer (Feat Gavin Clark) 5:14

 UNKLE - Another Night Out  (ogg  134mb)

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