Never, Never, Land

by

UNKLE

Edit

When one of my former student housemates handed me a copy of 'UNKLE's 1998 debut album 'Psyence Fiction' a few years ago I knew it was going to be special. Not only did I have a lot of faith in this particular friend's recommendations, but the album featured some great cover art by the unmistakable Futura 2000, and the promotional sticker on the front mentioned collaborators like Thom Yorke Ian Brown, and Richard Ashcroft. Of course it was going to be good.

It didn't disappoint, in fact it became one of the most listened to albums of my whole 3 year stay at University.

James Lavelle and DJ Shadow had created something truly original. I even used the library's incredibly slow computers to download the video to 'Rabbit in your headlights' -- which, if you haven't already witnessed, is disturbing, cerebral, and quite brilliant.

The winter of 2004 heralds the return of James Lavelle to American shores, this time teaming up with Richard File to produce ''Never, Never, Land'' -- yet another revelation in modern dance music. Collaborators for this new album include vocals from Ian Brown, Brian Eno, Jarvis Cocker and 'Massive Attack''s inimitable 3D.

After a brief intro, `'Never, Never, Land'' opens with the ominous "Even now in Heaven there were angels carrying savage weapons" -- a track with a not-so-subtle anti-war message, with samplings from the movie 'A thin red line' used to great effect.

The album evolves through many atmospheric channels, from the heavy break beats and stomping baselines of 'Eye for an Eye',

to the thoroughly chilled ambience of 'In a State' or the free-flowing electronica of 'Invasion'. Some tracks like 'Safe in Mind' have obvious rock influences and vocal mixes used in very interesting ways.

Like it's predecessor, ''Never, Never, Land'' is not your average mix of club anthems or dance-floor hits -- you'll not find this at Ibiza this coming summer (except as a Sasha or Digweed remix, perhaps) it is a serious experiment, for fans of originality -- a refreshing alternative to more fashionable and generic sounds.

Which is why I love it, but also why I am a little disappointed. For me, it still holds true that a sequel is hardly ever as inspiring as the original. ''Psyence Fiction'' was such a raucous injection that I think Lavelle will have to work much harder to improve upon it.

I don't know if it can be attributed to the absence of DJ Shadow, or the fact that this time around the collaborators are not so `A-list' -- you can find much discussion of this around the internet and I'm not sure any of it offers conclusive evidence -- but there is definitely something missing.

Overall the album feels much more professional, more 'crafted' than their seminal work, -- this is what I find the least compelling. I just think some of the magic gets lost when all of the raw creative power of the original experiment gets whittled down by too much editing and perfecting. There is also the lack of epic tracks like 'Rabbit in your headlights' and 'Lonely Soul' to really draw me in.

And if anyone is wondering if the McLaren award winning video to 'Eye for an Eye' is included on the CD release -- sadly, no. I think this is another major shortcoming.

But having said all of that, this second installment is still one of the best dance music releases I've experienced in a long long time, and should still get credit for being bold and unusual in a genre that is mostly steeped in uninspiring clubhouse pop with lyrics like

This is not the UNKLE we've grown to love. With that out of the way, we can take a look at this Shadow-less UNKLE release.

The album has a good length to it with some additional remixes at the end. You do get your money's worth though but at the expense of quality. With the exception of Eye for and Eye, In a State, and Reign, there really isn't much there. The remaining tracks are pretty good but nothing definative or memorable. This might be a good album to have as background music to a posh restaurant or lounge.

I can see how this might've turned off people expecting Psyence Fiction 2, but for a lounge album, this isn't bad at all. A solid 3 stars.