hey, so uh, i'm interviewing lavelle on assignment. tell me where to start-- i know little about any of this, breaks and trip-hop ain't my deal.
― the table is the table, Tuesday, 5 June 2007 03:14 (seventeen years ago) link
well you could ask him about his approach to remixing the Boredoms, I thought that was a fairly intersting matchup that doesn't get enough love.
Lavelle really opened my eyes some 8 years ago at Apolo Nitsa in Barcelona - taking me with him from Young MC to Incredible Bongo Band to aicd house to thundering techno in the space of 6 hours. I realize that's not so out of the ordinary these days, but at least for me, at that time, it was relevatory.
― DJ Logan5, Tuesday, 5 June 2007 03:42 (seventeen years ago) link
yeah, he seems to get a lot of hate, but he at least seems to DO a lot of different things, some of which are pretty cool..
― the table is the table, Tuesday, 5 June 2007 04:28 (seventeen years ago) link
I heard "Lonely Souls" for the first time by accident (shuffle) yesterday, and despite Ashcroft it's absolutely superb :-/
i mean that second half just killed me :--/
― REMOVE THEIR EARS (country matters), Friday, 2 January 2009 20:16 (fifteen years ago) link
"psyence fiction" > "third"
discus
― moonship journey to baja, Friday, 2 January 2009 20:39 (fifteen years ago) link
Both have pretty great production, Third has much better vocals and lyrics.
― Neil S, Friday, 2 January 2009 20:43 (fifteen years ago) link
BITCH NIGGA WITH THE AUDACITY TO BLASPHEME ME
― moonship journey to baja, Friday, 2 January 2009 20:45 (fifteen years ago) link
James Lavelle was pretty upset at being called that.
― Neil S, Friday, 2 January 2009 20:45 (fifteen years ago) link
i've listened to third maybe ... 50 times this year? or more? and i don't remember any lyrics except the portugese bit about the rule of three.
― moonship journey to baja, Friday, 2 January 2009 20:46 (fifteen years ago) link
I kind of agree, but Portishead lyrics are helped by not being at least in part written by Mad Rick. I would take Gibbons on Third over any of the vocal performances on Psyence Fiction, personally.
― Neil S, Friday, 2 January 2009 20:49 (fifteen years ago) link
kool g rap > your life
― choom gangsta (deej), Friday, 2 January 2009 20:54 (fifteen years ago) link
"i'ma break it down in the unkle style / drums of death that are worth your while" - mike d
― moonship journey to baja, Friday, 2 January 2009 20:56 (fifteen years ago) link
gibbons' foetal mewling is way overrated
― moonship journey to baja, Friday, 2 January 2009 20:57 (fifteen years ago) link
xpost That track also featuring Jason Newsted :-)
― Neil S, Friday, 2 January 2009 20:58 (fifteen years ago) link
http://www.metallicaworld.co.uk/images/logos/12.gif
― moonship journey to baja, Friday, 2 January 2009 21:02 (fifteen years ago) link
http://www.mowaxplease.com/dear-james-lavelle/
― groovypanda, Friday, 10 July 2015 19:52 (nine years ago) link
I have a friend with nearly every Mo'Wax release. Most of what's there is actually worth owning, but it's sad because if you lay them out in a line it makes an arrow that points to Lavelle's ongoing wankery.― mike h. (mike h.)
missed this at the time. LOL!
i am only at like 75% of the catalogue
― the late great, Saturday, 11 July 2015 00:00 (nine years ago) link
i really like the early unkle EPs / remixes and psyence fiction. and some of the dj mixes are great too. but i stopped paying attention awhile ago
― the late great, Saturday, 11 July 2015 00:02 (nine years ago) link
hearing this for the first time now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVM_a785e_o
― scott seward, Wednesday, 30 March 2016 13:45 (eight years ago) link
http://www.theverge.com/2016/3/29/11320786/artist-and-repertoire-dj-shadow-documentary-interview-unkle-sxsw-2016
Psyence Fiction was in constant rotation in my high school car, but I could never really get into anything that unkle or dj shadow put out after that. not sure if they got worse or if i just moved on or something
― Karl Malone, Wednesday, 30 March 2016 13:48 (eight years ago) link
the world passed them by a bit. there is so much 90's stuff that nobody listens to anymore. it will take future generations to unearth it.
― scott seward, Wednesday, 30 March 2016 14:02 (eight years ago) link
that sounds good, i love frustrated musician movies.
― sam jax sax jam (Jordan), Wednesday, 30 March 2016 14:02 (eight years ago) link
no trailer for the movie. i think for a lot of those guys the answer would have been to reinvent themselves as celebrity DJs and play obscure library funk tracks and garage rock or something. be the venerable legend. people pay money for that. trying to stay current is hard when you got famous for your dusty beats and samples. (maybe those guys did DJ a lot in the 2000s, i have no idea...)
― scott seward, Wednesday, 30 March 2016 14:11 (eight years ago) link
I feel kinda bad for DJ Shadow. He can't really do the thing he used to do that he was amazing at (although I feel like the climate around samples has relaxed again, unless you're making Kanye/Jay-Z money? But he's still done it many times over already, and doesn't want to be retro.). He's released recent tracks without samples that are really well produced, but that sort of make him just another Soundcloud trap/EDM producer.
He did do a big DJ tour a couple of years ago where he was playing all current music (beat scene, footwork, etc), that was cool.
― sam jax sax jam (Jordan), Wednesday, 30 March 2016 15:43 (eight years ago) link
too future
http://pitchfork.com/news/49027-listen-dj-shadow-shares-the-too-future-mix-that-got-him-kicked-offstage-in-miami/
― the late great, Wednesday, 30 March 2016 15:56 (eight years ago) link
lol damn that sounds horrible
― r|t|c, Wednesday, 30 March 2016 16:46 (eight years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSVeqb6-NWU
miami bass mix shadow did for the bbc as unkle promo in 98 is still great if anyone's never heard
― r|t|c, Wednesday, 30 March 2016 16:49 (eight years ago) link
I saw James Lavelle DJ back in 01/02ish. He was a prick and the set was horrible. Basically he played really obvious progressive house and tech house. That night instantly ended any concern I had for him or his music.
― brotherlovesdub, Thursday, 31 March 2016 01:34 (eight years ago) link
Psyence Fiction has really grown on me over the years, i like the songs i didn't use to like. i think maybe my estimation of it is higher since shadow's output got less and less good after it came out.
― lute bro (brimstead), Thursday, 31 March 2016 02:14 (eight years ago) link
i'm a disgusting richard ashcroft stan, however.
did anybody listen to that multi-disc "the four track years" set of pre-endtroducing stuff?
― lute bro (brimstead), Thursday, 31 March 2016 02:15 (eight years ago) link
jeez there's this thing too:
https://www.discogs.com/DJ-Shadow-Total-Breakdown-Hidden-Transmissions-From-The-MPC-Era-1992-1996/master/463345
(maybe those guys did DJ a lot in the 2000s, i have no idea...)
Shadow continued to tour a lot, alternating live-ish shows playing his own stuff with high concept four-deck DJ sets in collaboration with Cut Chemist. 2014-15 they were touring with [selections from] Afrika Bambaata's own record collection, so you could hear the same skips and pops that a 1981 audience did, but mixed and scratched elaborately.
Lavelle's DJ sets used to be him smoking while between 1 and 3 of the Psychonauts mixed records; he started mixing himself in the '00s to universally terrible reviews. And formed a semi-consistent lineup of UNKLE for the first time, that played doomy rock music, and toured with that. Presumably smoking while someone else played keyboards.
― glandular lansbury (sic), Thursday, 31 March 2016 05:02 (eight years ago) link
I actually really liked the last (?) "doomy rock" album they put out.
― licorice oratorio (baaderonixx), Thursday, 31 March 2016 08:38 (eight years ago) link
I bought the first Unkle album because of the hype, but it turned out to be indie rock instead of the sort of instrumental rap/blunted beats Mo' Wax had put out before. (The only good track was the first one with actual rapping.) Didn't fall for that trap again.
― Tuomas, Thursday, 31 March 2016 11:06 (eight years ago) link
That doc sounds like it could be genuinely interesting. Saw Lavelle DJ about 2005 under protest, it was crap, but he managed to pack out a normally quiet venue.
― Chewshabadoo, Thursday, 31 March 2016 14:02 (eight years ago) link
i will never be able to thank that guy enough for the major force vinyl box that he put out. it's one of my prized possessions and i will be buried with it in my tomb. such an inspiration to me to this day. also, i had no idea he was 18 when he started the label! that impressed me.
― scott seward, Thursday, 31 March 2016 15:15 (eight years ago) link
Yeah, that Major Force box is one of the top 10 compilations of all time.
― Tuomas, Thursday, 31 March 2016 15:39 (eight years ago) link
the 'Superstar DJs' book reminded me what a kicking the first Unkle album got in some places. from the book; ".. he was crestfallen. those reviews hurt. worse, deep down he knew they were right.. then everything started to go wrong.." good book all told. cautionary tales left right and centre.
― piscesx, Thursday, 31 March 2016 15:58 (eight years ago) link
Ah, I'd forgotten about Psychonauts:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJXcO9h5zH4
― djh, Thursday, 31 March 2016 19:22 (eight years ago) link
i think for a lot of those guys the answer would have been to reinvent themselves as celebrity DJs and play obscure library funk tracks and garage rock or something.
i would suggest that shadow, along with cut chemist, actually kickstarted the lost library/funk/garage mixtape groove thing off with the (still brilliant) brainfreeze releases.
oh, and for the record, i really like the doom goth grooves of war stories/where did the night fall/another night out.if its a guilty pleasure for nick cave, then it is good for me.the mix of electronics, guitars, bad moods, ian astbury, and bowie samples is always going to tickle my sweet spot.in fact, i listen to the instrumental versions of the albums more than the guest stuffed versions - they sound amazing.i care not that james supposedly does sweet fa in the studio/live.he is the person putting it all together and using his address book to get to the end result.
all that said, as someone who has followed the story for a long time, its clear that he has struggled, and the current state of the kickstarter campaign, comes as no shock.i was very tempted to join in, but was worried it would end up like this.
tl:dr = i would like to see this film.
― mark e, Thursday, 31 March 2016 19:59 (eight years ago) link
wonder if i still have dj shadow-era unkle live sets somewhere. lots of interpolation of album tracks, the samples, scratching, some of his own material
i mean, with a couple exceptions, that first unkle album was basically endtroducing 2 plus vocals with james lavelle sitting around telling shadow which samples to use. after he bailed, it was lavelle standing around behind different dudes, like sic said
I really liked this mix at the time, no idea how it holds up: https://www.discogs.com/Psychonauts-The-Time-Machine-A-MoWax-Restrospective-Mix/master/33010
― μpright mammal (mh), Thursday, 31 March 2016 19:59 (eight years ago) link
even after all this time i have never seen a cd copy of that mix in a shop.
― mark e, Thursday, 31 March 2016 20:08 (eight years ago) link
Musically, I always considered Psyence Fiction to be right there with Endtroducing.
― Austin, Thursday, 31 March 2016 20:13 (eight years ago) link
oh, and while everyone thinks that others did all the work, other than that mix, the psychonauts didn't exactly score big with their own material.the same could be said for richard file.so, yes, james was the wired or fugged to max studio layabout, but it seems he knew how to get the good stuff out of his collaborators.
― mark e, Thursday, 31 March 2016 20:15 (eight years ago) link
I think that cd is pretty rare? my friend was one of those mo'wax beardo types who owns nearly every one of the releases
― μpright mammal (mh), Thursday, 31 March 2016 20:27 (eight years ago) link
its very rare.
― mark e, Thursday, 31 March 2016 20:35 (eight years ago) link
the mo'wax aftermarket must be in a slump, on discogs:13 For Sale from $11.31
― μpright mammal (mh), Thursday, 31 March 2016 20:39 (eight years ago) link
oh wait, that's on vinyl (?!)£15.00 for cd
― μpright mammal (mh), Thursday, 31 March 2016 20:40 (eight years ago) link