This article needs additional citations for verification .(March 2019) |
Unkle | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Also known as |
|
Origin | London, England |
Genres | |
Years active | 1992–present |
Labels |
|
Members | James Lavelle |
Past members |
|
Website | unkle |
Unkle (often stylised as U.N.K.L.E. or UNKLE, occasionally known as UNKLE Sounds) is a British musical outfit founded in 1992 by James Lavelle. Originally categorised as trip hop, the group once included producer DJ Shadow and have employed a variety of guest artists and producers.
The first release credited to the 'Men from U.N.K.L.E' was a remix for United Future Organization, included on their 1992 Loud Minority single. [1] Lavelle and Goldsworthy were joined by Masayuki Kudo and Toshio Nakanishi of the Japanese hip hop crew Major Force (later Major Force West).
Lavelle drafted in DJ Shadow to work on the debut album, and essentially discarded all previously recorded material. Lavelle and Shadow released Psyence Fiction in 1998 to a mixed critical response. 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.
On 1 February 1999, Lavelle and the Scratch Perverts appeared on the Radio 1 program The Breezeblock, utilising "5 turntables". The set was largely based on tracks from Psyence Fiction, with some of them reworked live by Lavelle for the live performance. The Scratch Perverts' contribution consisted of scratching over the top of the Unkle tracks, a deconstructed version of "Be There", and some solo interludes. [2]
In 2001, Lavelle and File resurfaced as Unklesounds, with a DJ mix created for Japanese radio entitled Do Androids Dream of Electric Beats? This highlighted a new, more electronic direction the group had taken, and featured a number of tracks from Psyence Fiction, remixed in a techy breakbeat style.
Rich File co-produced, played and sang on the second album, Never, Never, Land , released in 2003. The album again featured a number of high-profile contributors, including Ian Brown, Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age), Robert Del Naja (Massive Attack) and Mani (The Stone Roses, Primal Scream) among others.
Lavelle and File continued releasing mixes as Unklesounds. The mix album Edit Music for a Film: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Reconstruction , featuring movie samples and tracks from film soundtracks, was created for the After Dark 2004 event at the ICA London. A single CD version was handed out at the event, and it was released officially as an extended two disc set in 2005. The group recorded music for a short film titled The Seed directed by Joe Hahn alongside John Debney and Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park. [3]
In September 2006, Global Underground released Self Defence: Never, Never, Land Reconstructed and Bonus Beats , a 4-CD box set of remixes and bonus tracks from the Never, Never, Land sessions, including tracks previously only available on the original DVD release of the album. It also contained remixes of a track mooted for their next album, featuring Ian Astbury of The Cult, titled "Burn My Shadow".
War Stories , the third album from Unkle, was released in summer 2007. The album again featured a number of guests including Josh Homme, Gavin Clark, Robert Del Naja, Ian Astbury, The Duke Spirit, Autolux and Neil Davidge. Following the release of the single "Hold My Hand", Pablo Clements (of The Psychonauts) became an Unkle member.
In January 2008 Unkle released More Stories, containing a mix of B-sides, remixes, unreleased War Stories session tracks, and music composed for the film Odyssey in Rome. The same month, Rich File announced he was leaving Unkle after 10 years' collaboration to pursue work with his new band, We Fell to Earth. [4] In March the Lazarides Gallery in London showcased War Paint, an exhibition of artworks inspired by the recent Unkle album War Stories, with works from Robert Del Naja, Warren du Preez, Nick Thornton Jones, Will Bankhead and Ben Drury. [5] Unkle began touring the UK with Zoot Woman and Sebastian and Mr. Flash from the French electro record label Ed Banger Records. The concert, set across four acts, featured live performances from past Unkle contributors including Badly Drawn Boy, Liela Moss from The Duke Spirit, Gavin Clark and Joel Cadbury from South.
Unkle's fourth full album titled End Titles... Stories for Film was released in July 2008. [6] It includes collaborations with Chris Goss, Black Mountain, Philip Sheppard, Dave Bateman, Joel Cadbury, and James Griffith (Lake Trout). The album is described in the sleeve notes by Lavelle as "not a new album in the usual sense, but new music that has been inspired by the moving image." As such, it can be considered a companion piece both to War Stories but also to the earlier Unklesounds mix, Edit Music for a Film.
14 December 2008 saw the digital release of End Titles... Redux, an album that was released the following day in a limited pressing of 3000 CDs available from official Unkle stores. This release features seven re-interpreted tracks from the album End Titles... Stories for Film plus 2 never-before-released tracks, "When Once It Was" and "A Perfect Storm". The exclusive package is a 6-panel soft-pack with a 12-page booklet with images by Robert Del Naja.
Upon the release of the single "Heavy Drug (Surrender Sounds Mix)" in August 2009, Unkle disclosed they had already begun recording their next studio album, Where Did the Night Fall , which was released in May 2010. This also included an all-star cast of performers including: Mark Lanegan, Nick Cave, The Black Angels, Sleepy Sun, and Katrina Ford, as well as ELLE J and Gavin Clark. The album is also available as a digital download from Unkle's site.
It was announced on 18 April 2011 that Unkle would headline the Dance Stage at the Reading and Leeds Festivals. [7] They would be performing a world-exclusive audio-visual DJ set at the festivals, playing songs from their back catalogue alongside remixes of other artists' songs as well as Unkle's own material. They would be performing under the name Unkle Sounds. [8]
On 27 February 2014, the "God of Light (Original Game Soundtrack)" single was published on iTunes, with two songs from the God of Light game by Playmous and EON. [9] The in-game credits list "Music composed by: UNKLE / James Lavelle / Charlie May."
On 15 July 2016 Unkle released the single "Cowboys or Indians", which featured artists Ysée, Mink, and Elliott Power. Pitchfork reported Unkle would release an album that same year. In January 2017, Unkle announced the pending release of the album The Road: Part I , which will be preceded by the single "Sick Lullaby" to be released in mid February 2017. [10] It coincides with an exhibition at the Lazarides gallery in London. [11]
Unkle collaborated with Michael Kiwanuka for the track "On My Knees" for a companion album to the 2018 Netflix film Roma and a new mix of this track later appeared on the 2021 album Rōnin I.
Albums | Appearances in media |
---|---|
| |
| |
Songs | Appearances in media |
Sunna - "I'm Not Trading (UNKLE - In Utero)" |
|
"Lonely Soul" |
|
"The Healing" |
|
"Reign" |
|
"Glow" |
|
"Safe in Mind (Please Take This Gun from Out My Face)" |
|
"Eye for an Eye" |
|
Queens of the Stone Age – "No One Knows (UNKLE Remix)" |
|
"Leap of Faith" |
|
"Chemistry" |
|
"Keys to the Kingdom" |
|
"Price You Pay" |
|
"Restless" |
|
"Burn My Shadow" |
|
"Hold My Hand" | |
"Mayday (featuring The Duke Spirit)" |
|
"Broken (featuring Gavin Clark)" |
|
"Awake the Unkind" |
|
"Heaven" |
|
"Trouble in Paradise (Variation on a Theme)" | |
"With You in My Head (featuring The Black Angels)" |
|
"Ian Brown - F.E.A.R. (UNKLE Remix)" |
|
"Heavy Drug (Surrender Sounds Mix)" |
|
"The Answer" |
|
"Synthetic Water" |
|
"Unreal" |
|
"When Things Explode" |
|
"Money and Run (featuring Nick Cave)" |
|
"Lawless" |
|
"Into the Light" |
|
"Out of the Light" | |
"The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face (feat. Keaton Henson)" |
|
"Looking for the Rain (feat. Mark Lanegan, ESKA)" |
|
Robert Plant - "The Enchanter (Unkle Reconstruction)" | Appears in Mighty ReArranger remastered version |
Mo' Wax was a British record label founded by James Lavelle in 1992. The label was not co-founded by Tim Goldsworthy, as is often reported. Steve Finan became co-owner shortly after.
Killa Kela is a British beatboxer and rapper from West Sussex. He is considered to have been the first beatboxer from the UK.
Timo Maas is a German DJ/producer and remixer. His remix of Azzido Da Bass's single "Dooms Night" helped launch his career in 2000.
Psyence Fiction is the debut studio album by English electronic music act Unkle, released on 24 August 1998 by Mo' Wax. The album was produced by Unkle, at the time consisting of James Lavelle and DJ Shadow. The music on Psyence Fiction was primarily composed by DJ Shadow, while Lavelle recruited numerous guest musicians to contribute to the album's recording.
Alice Temple is an English musician, singer and songwriter, born in London. She collaborated with Eg White in the band Eg and Alice. She was also the first female UK and European BMX champion.
Foreign Beggars were an English hip hop and dubstep group. Since their formation in 2002, the group's trajectory had seen them evolve from an underground hip hop group to an electronic crossover act. The group consisted of four artists individually known as Orifice Vulgatron, Metropolis Graham, DJ Nonames, and Dag Nabbit. Vulgatron and Metropolis combined with Noisia to make the side project and supergroup "I Am Legion". They released their collaborative album I Am Legion on 2 September 2013.
James Lavelle is an English electronic musician, record label owner and curator. He founded the Mo'Wax record label in 1992, and has been the only constant member of UNKLE. He directed the 2014 edition of the Meltdown festival on London's South Bank, and curated the 2016 exhibition "Daydreaming with Stanley Kubrick" at Somerset House. He is the subject of 2016 documentary film The Man from Mo'Wax.
Global Underground 023: James Lavelle, Barcelona is a DJ mix album in the Global Underground series, compiled and mixed by James Lavelle. The album is mainly breaks and trip hop, which is far different from the progressive house of other albums in the Global Underground series. The album reached #19 on the Billboard Top Electronic Albums chart.
Global Underground 026: James Lavelle, Romania is a DJ mix album in the Global Underground series, compiled and mixed by James Lavelle of UNKLE. The album peaked at #14 on the Billboard Top Electronic Albums.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Beats? is an UNKLE soundscape DJ mix, originally recorded for Radio Ape in Japan, Do Androids Dream Of Electric Beats was the first in a line of a series of UNKLESounds mixes. Due to its huge success it was bootlegged and can now be found in most record stores.
Self Defence: Never, Never, Land Reconstructed and Bonus Beats is a remix album by Unkle, released in 2006 by Global Underground. Spanning four discs, it is a compilation of remixes of tracks from the album Never, Never, Land, and also contains remixes of a track featuring Ian Astbury from the then-upcoming UNKLE album War Stories.
Stateless are an English electronic band, founded in 2002 and based in Leeds and London. The group comprises Chris James, kidkanevil, Justin Percival and David Levin (drums).
"Be There" is a song by British electronic group Unkle. It was produced by member DJ Shadow and written by him along with British musician Ian Brown, who is also featured on the song on vocals. The song is featured on 1999 bonus tracks editions of Psyence Fiction, and was released as the second single from the album. The track is, essentially, a vocal version of the instrumental track "Unreal" from Psyence Fiction.
Jim Abbiss is a British music producer, best known for his work on records including the debut album of Editors, Arctic Monkeys' Mercury Music Prize winning debut album, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, Kasabian's Kasabian and Empire, Ladytron's Witching Hour and Ladytron, Sneaker Pimps' debut Becoming X, and Adele's 19, and 21.
More Stories is an album by English electronic music group UNKLE, released in Japan on 16 January 2008, and in Australia on 31 January 2008. The album is a selection of works and remixes created during the War Stories era. The Japan exclusive release comes in a cardboard sleeve and the CD is wrapped in a cloth sleeve. It also includes a booklet and obi-strip.
Richard File is a British composer, music producer, and vocalist best known for his work with James Lavelle as part of Unkle. He has also released singles under the alias Forme.
End Titles... Stories for Film is a compilation album by British electronic music act Unkle, inspired by feature films created since Unkle's previous 2007 album War Stories, released on 7 July 2008. Unlike their previous album, the 2005 mix Edit Music for a Film: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Reconstruction, "End Titles..." is composed of original material. It features collaborators: Josh Homme, Black Mountain, Gavin Clark, Joel Cadbury, James Petralli, War Stories producer Chris Goss, Dave Bateman, and James Griffith of Lake Trout/Unkle's touring band.
DJ Hero is a 2009 rhythm game developed by FreeStyleGames and published by Activision. It is the first spin-off of the Guitar Hero series. It was released on October 27, 2009, in North America and on October 29, 2009, in Europe. The game is based on turntablism, the act of creating a new musical work from one or more previously recorded songs using record players and sound effect generators, and features 94 remixes of two different songs across numerous genres.
WWIII – Unklesounds vs. U.N.K.L.E is a 2004 compilation DJ remix album by U.N.K.L.E.
Joshua Paul Davis, 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 is known for layered production that uses numerous samples, often from obscure sources, to create new compositions and whose music was described in Allmusic as having "revolutionized hip-hop".