* En anglais uniquement
Since its 1992 inception,
UNKLE has been the primary musical outlet of
James Lavelle. The co-founder of Mo' Wax, one of the most consequential English independent labels of the '90s,
Lavelle has been joined by a carousel of primary collaborators and an ever-changing array of guest contributors who have helped him indulge in styles ranging from sample-based hip-hop to downcast stoner rock. The Top Five U.K. hit
Psyence Fiction (1998), the debut
UNKLE album, was shaped by temporary partner
DJ Shadow, but its diversions pointed the way toward the progressively band-oriented albums that have followed through the late 2010s. Co-piloted by the likes of
Richard File and
Pablo Clements, and involving recurring roles for subterranean rockers such as
Josh Homme,
Chris Goss, and
Mark Lanegan, sprawling albums such as
Never, Never Land (2003) and
Where Did the Night Fall (2010) have ensured that
Lavelle won't be known simply as a trip-hop catalyst. After a seven-year break from recording albums,
Lavelle and company returned in bleak, cinematic style with the related
The Road: Part I (2017) and
The Road: Part II (Lost Highway) (2019).
Childhood friends
James Lavelle and
Tim Goldsworthy co-founded Mo' Wax in 1992 and established the label with releases by the likes of Repurcussions,
Palm Skin Productions, and
DJ Shadow. When Mo' Wax launched,
Lavelle was still a teenager, motivated by U.S. underground movements such as hip-hop and electro, as well as U.K. scenes and developments including rare groove, acid house, Sheffield bleep, and acid jazz, the latter of which he had covered as a columnist for Straight No Chaser magazine. After
Lavelle and
Goldsworthy remixed tracks by
United Future Organization and
Mondo Grosso under the guise Men from U.N.K.L.E., they added
Kudo of Major Force,
Skylab, and Love T.K.O. The trio made their Mo' Wax debut as
UNKLE in 1994 with The Time Has Come EP, featuring "If You Find Earth Boring" -- a leisurely 14-minute suite of sample-based instrumental hip-hop -- and remixes from
Portishead,
Howie B, and
Plaid. Despite the rapidly increasing popularity of Mo' Wax, including a partial-ownership deal with A&M and a Top 20 U.K. hit with
DJ Shadow's
Endtroducing.....,
UNKLE released the
Money Mark-assisted Berry Meditation EP and were among the most sought-after remixers of the era with clients including
Radiohead,
Massive Attack,
the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion,
Beck, and
Tortoise.
Goldsworthy and
Kudo had remained more heavily involved in nuts-and-bolts production, while
Lavelle engaged in the conceptual, organizational, and A&R end, crafting beats, laying out vague sketches, and using his connections for extra assistance. The first two, however, were effectively replaced by
DJ Shadow for
Psyence Fiction,
UNKLE's 1998 debut album. It set a standard for all future
UNKLE albums with its stylistic diversions and unlikely assortment of guests, this time involving
Radiohead's
Thom Yorke,
the Verve's
Richard Ashcroft,
Talk Talk's
Mark Hollis, and
Metallica's Jason Newstead, plus legendary hardcore rapper
Kool G Rap. The album reached number four in the U.K., topped the independent chart, and in the U.S. almost managed to crack the upper half of the Billboard 200.
Shadow subsequently left to concentrate on his own work.
Amid much work as a DJ,
Lavelle recruited
Richard File, a singer, songwriter, and producer who had participated in an
UNKLE remix and contributed to Mo' Wax releases under the aliases Forme and DJ Aura (alternately Aura).
File figured prominently in
Never, Never, Land,
UNKLE's second album, released in 2003. More expansive and less rooted in hip-hop, its samples were derived more frequently from films and well-known hard rock and post-punk recordings than from obscure jazz, soul, and funk sources, and emphasized
File's songwriting.
Graham Gouldman,
Queens of the Stone Age's
Josh Homme,
Brian Eno,
Jarvis Cocker, and
Massive Attack's
3D comprised a fraction of the guest list. The set reached number 24 in the U.K. and the Top Ten of Billboard's dance/electronic chart in the U.S.
Lavelle and
File returned four years later with War Stories, including previous and new associates such as
Alice Temple,
the Cult's
Ian Astbury,
Masters of Reality's
Chris Goss, and
Homme, the latter two of whom factored in the album's stoner rock/alternate metal edge.
File departed and was replaced with yet another longtime Mo' Wax associate,
Pablo Clements -- a writer and producer known for his work as part of
Psychonauts. A pair of odds 'n' ends collections, More Stories and
End Titles...Stories for Film, both released in 2008, contained old and new material, including music from
UNKLE's soundtrack to the documentary Odyssey in Rome.
Where Did the Night Fall, the fourth proper
UNKLE album, arrived in 2010 with a band-oriented approach assisted by three-fifths of
Lake Trout (aka Big in Japan),
the Black Angels,
Nick Cave, and
Mark Lanegan.
UNKLE didn't release another album for seven years, but the interim was filled with live performances and numerous smaller-scale projects including soundtrack contributions, plus
Lavelle's production of
Queens of Stone Age's "...Like Clockwork" and "curation" of the 2014 Meltdown Festival, which featured an
UNKLE set. A documentary on
Lavelle, The Man from Mo' Wax, was released in 2016.
UNKLE soon returned with
The Road: Part I and
The Road: Part II (Lost Highway), labyrinthine and frequently grim albums released in 2017 and 2019, respectively. An extensive roster of figures both old and new to
UNKLE recordings, including
Lanegan and
Goss, as well as
Mick Jones and Eska, made contributions. ~ Andy Kellman & John Bush