UNKLE

Where Did the Night Fall

(Surrender All)

Record Review by Marcel Feldmar

UNKLE is the brainchild, baby, musical project that slipped out of the mind of James Lavelle and quickly found a life of its own. Moving through albums and moods since 1998, UNKLE had attracted attention and demand before that debut release thanks to some remixes and connections with the early world of trip-hop. There were a few changes between the main core of the group, DJ Shadow appearing for the Psyence Fiction LP and then leaving as Richard File joined the ranks for the next album which came out in 2003, Never, Never, Land.

I will get to the current release, but bear with me, as I think that this particular band, or shifting collaboration, needs to be seen as an almost living organism. This is not a band that gets together and releases a series of albums that move and build upon the previous releases. This is not a brilliant debut and then a slow fade into obscurity. This is a shifting sonic animal that breathes and changes its mind and shifts moods and directions. UNKLE is not moving in a straight line, but wandering a musical forest, and sometimes getting lost.

Each album is a different story, a different breath, a different heartbeat. Beauty is in the ear of the listener, and we all have different songs, different chords, different rhythms that connect us to that which is UNKLE. The guest vocalists, the musicians, the styles of the songs; they all play into the world that each album becomes. This is the window that I look through, when I listen.

1998 was Thom Yorke and Richard Ashcroft. Pushing the Psyence Fiction towards a Radiohead slipstream that crashed somewhere between a harder rock edge and a trip-hop melodic flow. 2003, Never, Never, Land moved along the same lines, but a little more cohesive. Richard File took up the vocals dropped by Thom Yorke, and Ian Brown stepped in to replace Richard Ashcroft. Here though, we get a new beat going as Josh Homme steps in as well. We also see a little Jarvis Cocker and a little Brian Eno. The rock is there, the tripped hop is moving, and the dramatic effect is on. Then we get suddenly hit, in 2007, with War Stories. This is the one for me. Taking on the production style of Chris Goss, who’s worked with Masters of Reality and Kyuss, as well as keeping Josh Homme on and adding Ian Astbury into the mix, War Stories is a desert rock stoner trip hop tribal bong hit of wonder. Sure, there are some tracks that falter, but the breath and style here just hits a lot more than it misses.

Then there were two releases that collected some odds and ends, some remixes, some film work, some instrumental tracks. More Stories and End Titles… Stories For Film. Mostly tied to the War Stories album, so I’ll leave you with that, and move on to later, which is right now.

2010. Where Did The Night Fall. An album that takes a sudden step in a different direction, and if you were hoping for more of the same, or dreading, you’re not getting it. We’ve moved through the jungle, wandered around in the desert, and now we’re slipping and tripping into some grass filled fields at dusk. The stoner rock moves up into the atmosphere and hits upon a little more psychedelic Britpop. Trip-Brit-Hop-Pop?

A little Syd Barrett Pink Floydy, a little light and airy electroHippie LSD in the park breakdown, but the daylight is gone, and the night is falling. Richard File is gone now, which puts the whole project in a new place. Stepping in as James Lavelle’s right-hand man is Pablo Clements. Pablo was in the Psychonauts and, a long time ago, signed to Lavelle’s Mo’ Wax label. Along with doing some solid remix work for bands like Massive Attack, Muse, and Queens of the Stone Age, his influences hit upon bands like Can and Neu, and other Krautrock journeys. This plays a major part in the shifting sounds of this album, which is solid, and flowing, and while not as drum heavy rocking out as the previous album, it moves in a much more structured cycle from beginning to end. Guest spots from the Black Angels help solidify that big night shooting star psychedelia, and the band fills in the spaces left by absent electronic with grooving bass lines and shifting sliding steady drums. Fuzzy guitar and pedal pushing power.

Some beautiful vocals from Katrina Ford and Gavin Clark, plus appearances from Autolux and Big In Japan. There are moments that hit with some tribal beats and Bjork reminiscent vocals (“Follow Me Down”) and there are moments that make you want to pull out your Charlatans records or that Stereolab album, but on the whole, this album is a solid listen. It gets a little slower near the end, but then, so does the night.

Then the album ends with Mark Lanegan stepping in to pull the shades down, tuck you in, and watch you fall asleep as the night has finally fallen.