UNKLE’s Psyence Fiction was released in 1998, two years after DJ Shadow released his ground breaking album Endtroducing….. The crazy part is that I didn’t know UNKLE existed until the summer of 2018, a full 20 years later.

So, DJ Shadow is Joshua Paul Davis, and UNKLE is James Lavelle. At the time that Psyence Fiction was made, Davis and Lavelle were UNKLE, and Davis’s DJ Shadow is credited with virtually all of the music on it. You can hear his trademark style all over that record. Davis and Lavelle parted ways after that album.
Critics seem to have largely relegated Lavelle to the halls of mediocrity, but Davis has been treated far better. I don’t know. I think they’re both fantastic — and very different. This list doesn’t highlight their differences very well, since the only UNKLE track on it is essentially DJ Shadow, but what can I say. I like them both.
Track List
UNKLE – Lonely Soul
Sneaker Pimps – 6 Underground
Hooverphonic – Inhaler
DJ Shadow – Stem / Long Stem / Transmission 2
DJ Krush – The Beginning
Massive Attack – Protection
Archive – Fuck U
Tricky – Piano
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