Never Never Land Revisited [Limited Edition]

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

Atleast that's what i hear, but not in the way the cover might suggest. It's not scary, its meditative. The odd lyrics from "the thin red line" bring a tone of solemn to the album. Regardless, of my early impressions the album is brilliant- and even more so, because i havn't heard sasha's remixes off of his Involver for quite some time. I wish I had bought this before i heard those monster tracks. The space has allowed me to be honest with this review, this is an incredible album- not a dance album though. This is an infusion of definate massive attack legend-- it's more easily relatable to mezzanine. but there are stints of acoustic guitar a current trend in beat music, along with vocals that mimic Beck at times. Arguably, its a failure to try and draw comparisons, this an experiment, a project for lavelle- and a success. maybe james lavelle should stick with this concept in general, leave the clubs behind- its not a bad way to hear your tracks remixed by sasha and hear him bending the ground with them.

I really like discs that push the limits or try to do somthing different than your standard mix CD. Don't get me wrong I love a great mix, most of my favorite CD's are mixed (my current favorite being Armin's Universal Religion Live in Ibiza). This CD is different - don't expect to DANCE to it - this is dark and melancholy and a good disc to think or write to or whatever you may do while listening to music. This disc is great from begining to end, and make sure to buy the special 2 disc edition becuase the second disc of remixes is outstanding as well. This is not for the everday run of the mill electronic listener, but if you are brave, willing to expand your music horizon, and care to take a slightly dark journey into UNCKLE, welcome aboard.

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