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Unkle

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UNKLE is a British musical outfit founded in 1994 by school friends James Lavelle and Tim Goldsworthy. Originally categorized as trip-hop, the group once included producer DJ Shadow and has employed a variety of guest artists and producers.

Unkle

History

The first release was the EP The Time Has Come, created by Lavelle and Goldsworthy with Kudo and T. Nakanishi of the Japanese Hip Hop crew Major Force (later Major Force West). At this point, UNKLE consisted of Lavelle, Goldsworthy and Kudo, who surrounded themselves with various guest artists, including Money Mark (former keyboard player for the Beastie Boys), the Scratch Perverts and Japanese clothes designer Nigo and Takagi Kan (both also of Major Force).

In 1995, whilst working on their debut album, Goldsworty and Lavelle disagreed over the direction the music was taking. Goldsworthy wanted to continue with the Mo Wax house style of earlier tracks, while Lavelle wanted to bring in singers and Hip Hop and rock artists. Goldsworthy left the group and went on to work with Belfast DJ and producer David Holmes.

Lavelle drafted in DJ Shadow and essentially discarded all previously recorded material. "Berry Meditation" and several tracks with Money Mark and Beastie Boys producer Mario Caldatto Jr, recorded at the house of singer Meat Loaf, were released as singles, and several without Lavelle surfaced on the album Major Force West in 1997. In early 1998 three exclusive Japanese EPs were released, the last of the earlier UNKLE sessions to surface.

Lavelle and Shadow released the more commercial Psyence Fiction in 1998, on which they collaborated with an all-star lineup including Thom Yorke (Radiohead), Mike D (Beastie Boys), Kool G. Rap, Jason Newsted (Metallica), Badly Drawn Boy and Richard Ashcroft (The Verve).

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. Just prior to this, Forme producer Richard File remixed the track "Be There", adding vocals by Ian Brown.

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 the new, more electronic direction the group had taken, and featured a number of tracks from Psyence Fiction, remixed in an ambient style.

File co-produced, played and sang on 2003's Never, Never, Land. The album featured another stellar lineup which included Ian Brown, Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age), Robert Del Naja (Massive Attack) and Mani (The Stone Roses, Primal Scream) among others.

This album was less hyped than its predecessor, and also worked as a more coherent whole. Unfortunately, due to label changes and Lavelle's trademark insistence on multiple formats, it was not a major success. It is currently available in several forms from Global Underground, for whom Lavelle has provided several DJ mixes.

In the meantime, Lavelle and File continued releasing mixes as UNKLEsounds, and several earlier mixes appeared as bootlegs. The bootlegs are generally live recordings featuring DJ Shadow or The Psychonauts.

The mix album Edit Music for a Film: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Reconstruction, featuring tracks and songs from movie soundtracks as well as movie samples, was created for the After Dark 2004 event at the ICA London. A single CD version was handed out at the event. It was released somewhat officially as an extended two disc set in 2005.

In September 2006, Global Underground released Self Defence: Never, Never, Land Reconstructed and Bonus Beats, a CD box set of remixes and bonus tracks related to Never, Never, Land, including tracks previously only available on the original DVD release of the album. It also contains remixes of a track mooted from the forthcoming album, featuring Ian Astbury of The Cult, titled "Burn My Shadow". This track has been performed live at UNKLE shows in the last year.

UNKLE's new album War Stories will feature guest appearances by Josh Homme (Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age), Brody Dalle (The Distillers), The Duke Spirit, Chris Goss (Masters of Reality), Psycho Pab and Autolux. [1]. It is due July 9th(UK/Europe/Australia), July 24(US), June 20(Japan) with the single 'Burn my Shadow', featuring Ian Astbury out June 25th(UK).

In May 2007, their track "Lonely Soul" was used as part of the game trailer for the upcoming game Assassin's Creed.

Discography

Albums

Singles and EPs

  • "The Time has Come EP: A Tribute to Sun Ra and All Things Fucked Up" (1994)
  • "Berry Meditation" (1997)
  • "Rock On" (1998)
  • "Ape Shall Never Kill Ape" (1998)
  • "Last Orgy 3" (1998)
  • "Rabbit In Your Headlights" (featuring Thom Yorke) (1998)
  • "Be There" (featuring Ian Brown) (1999)
  • "Eye For An Eye" (2003)
  • "In A State" (2003)
  • "Reign" (featuring Ian Brown) (2004)
  • "Burn My Shadow (featuring Ian Astbury)" (expected 2007)

DJ Mixes

Remixes

  • "Vibe P.M." (Stranger Things Have Happened - Brazil on a Jimmy Hill mix) for Mondo Grosso, on Marble (99 Records 1993)
  • "Bellbottoms" (Old Rascal mix) for Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, on Experimental Remixes (Matador 1995)
  • "Planet Telex" (Karma Sunra mix) for Radiohead, on "Just" (Parlophone 1995)
  • "Karmacoma" (UNKLE Situation) for Massive Attack, on "Karmacoma" (Wild Bunch 1995)
  • "Shounen" (UNKLE's remix) for Geisha Girls, on The Geisha "Remix" Girls Show (For Life 1995)
  • "DJed" (Bruise Blood mix) for Tortoise, on "DJed" (City Slang 1996)
  • "Natural One" (UNKLE mix), (Instrumental mix) and (UNKLE No Skratch mix) for Folk Implosion, on "Natural One" (London 1996)
  • "Pepper" (Short Shot mix) for the Butthole Surfers, on "Pepper" (promo) (Capitol 1996)
  • "Where It's At" (UNKLE remix) for Beck, on "Where It's At" (Geffen 1996)
  • "Agent Dan" (UNKLE remix) for Agent Provocateur, on "Agent Dan" (Epic 1997)
  • "New Walk" (UNKLE remix) for Liquid Liquid, on "Cavern" (Mo' Wax 1997)
  • "Vitamin C" (UNKLE mix) for Can, on Sacrilege (Mute 1997)
  • "Li303ve" (Suzuki Dekard San) for Buffalo Daughter, on Socks, Drugs and Rock and Roll (Grand Royal 1997)
  • "Free Fall" (remix by UNKLE) for Cornelius, on FM - Fantasma Remixes (Trittoria 1998)
  • "Nishiehigashie" (West Remix) for Mr. Children, on "Nishiehigashie" (Toy's Factory 1998)
  • "People are Strange" (UNKLE mix) for Stina Nordenstam, on "People are Strange" (EastWest 1998)
  • "Bullitproof" (UNKLE remix) for Breakbeat Era, on "Bullitproof" (XL 1999)
  • "Dolphins Were Monkeys" (UNKLE vs. South remix) for Ian Brown, on Golden Greats (Interscope 1999)
  • "Battle" (UNKLE remix) for Blur, on "No Distance Left to Run" (Food 1999)
  • "Overused" (UNKLE remix) for South, on Overused (Toy's Factory 1999)
  • "Leaders and Believers" (UNKLE remix) for Emperor's New Clothes, on the compilation The New Testament of Funk (Unique 1999)
  • "The World is Not Enough" (UNKLE remix) for Garbage, on "The World is Not Enough" (MCA 1999)
  • "Without You I'm Nothing" (UNKLE remix) for Placebo (feat. David Bowie), on "Without You I'm Nothing" (single) (Virgin 1999)
  • "Paint the Silence" (UNKLE Variation) for South, on "Paint the Silence" (Mo' Wax 2000)
  • "Hey Jack" (UNKLE Metamorphosis mix) for Howie B., on Folk. (Polydor 2001)
  • "I'm Not Trading" (UNKLE - In Utero) and (In Utero Instrumental) for Sunna, on "I'm Not Trading" (Melankolic 2001)
  • "Narco Tourists" (UNKLE remix) for Slam, on Alien Radio Remixed (Soma 2002)
  • "F.E.A.R." (UNKLE mix) and (UNKLE Instrumental) for Ian Brown, on Remixes of the Spheres (Polydor 2002)
  • "GDMFSOB" (UNKLE Uncensored feat Roots Manuva) for DJ Shadow, on The Private Press (Tour Edition) and The Private Repress (Universal 2002)
  • "Frantic" (UNKLE remix) for Metallica, on "Frantic" (Vertigo 2003)
  • "No One Knows" (UNKLE Reconstruction) for Queens of the Stone Age, on "Go with the Flow" and "No One Knows" (UNKLE Reconstructions) (Interscope 2003)
  • "The Incredibles Theme" (UNKLE Reconstruction) for Michael Giacchino, on The Incredibles - The Remix EP (Walt Disney 2004)
  • "Time is My Everything" (UNKLE Reconstruction) for Ian Brown, on "Time is My Everything" (Polydor 2005)
  • "Cast No Shadow" (UNKLE Beachhead mix) for Oasis, on Goal!: Music from the Motion Picture (Big Brother 2005)
  • "Burn the Witch" (UNKLE Variation) for Queens of the Stone Age, on Saw II: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Image 2005)
  • "The Enchanter" (UNKLE Reconstruction) and (UNKLE Reconstruction Dub) for Robert Plant and the Strange Sensation, on "The Enchanter" (UNKLE Reconstruction) (Sanctuary 2005)
  • "False Flags" (UNKLE Surrender Sounds Session #2) for Massive Attack, on "False Flags" (promo) (Virgin 2006)
  • "John the Revelator" (UNKLE Reconstruction) for Depeche Mode, on "John the Revelator / Lilian" (Mute 2006)
  • "Today" (UNKLE vs. Mode Showdown remix) for Junkie XL, on "Today" (Ultra 2006)
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