Song of the Day: UNKLE “Unreal”

Conceived as a team-up between two prominent DJ/ producers, DJ Shadow and James Lavelle, right out of the gate, a lot of people expected big things from UNKLE. Fortunately, the project lived up to its initial hype and the duo’s debut LP, Psyence Fiction remains a classic of trip-hop and turntablism. The project was developed for Lavelle‘s highly regarded Mo Wax label and proved to be such a hit, the duo have gone on to make another 5 records together with another apparently in the pipeline.

UNKLE combined a science fiction theme, elements of the dark sample-driven work, string orchestras and a number of high-profile guests an collaborators including Thom Yorke, Mike D, Richard Ashcroft, Badly Drawn Boy, Alice Temple, an unaccredited Mark Hollis and others. Psyence Fiction was released two years after DJ Shadow‘s highly regarded debut LP, Entroducing and continues many of the musical themes and ideas found there.

“Unreal” is built around dark, minor key string, a heavy drum sample, chanted background vocals, some absolutely great keyboard work and an eerie phlanged guitar. The song has a spacey, downtempo feel but stays interesting throughout. A great song to drive to at night!