Sounds Mag'

Duman - Inspiring Turkish rock

Paul Kirkness — 2008-06-08T22:13:29Z

Assiduous readers will have noticed your reviewer's sudden obsession with Turkey. I work in bursts and after my interest in Greek pop-rock, I decided I should enter the world of Turkish rock. After falling in love (almost literally) with singers like Sevval Sam and Sezen Aksu - who possess truly unique voices - I decided to examine the world of rock n' roll a little more closely... It was my greatest pleasure to discover a really great band: Duman.

Let us start with the beginning... What does ‘Duman' even mean? Well, it in fact means ‘smoke' which tells you exactly about Duman's beginning. The band's first record was heavily inspired by the likes of Nirvana and Pearl Jam. Videos of the band at the time are almost confusing - were it not for the Turkish lyrics, you might even confuse the band members with an early 1990's grunge band of your choice. There is one pretty good reason for this. Kaan Tangöze, the band's singer and lead guitarist, lived in the town of Seattle during the early nineties... Meanwhile his friends Ari and Batuhan lived in Turkey and fed upon all the music produced in the USA's West coast. And this explains in large part the seemingly smoked induced compositions - mellow music that often breaks into trance-like intensities.

The first album, Eski Köprünün Altında (Under the old bridge) was released almost ten years ago and has since been followed by... almost shockingly, only two albums! However, the low number of releases is easily explained by some difficulties that were experienced along the way by the band. One good example is the fact that Kaan was pulled out for almost a year to do his military service (perhaps he should have stayed in Seattle!?).

Frankly though, the three albums are very addictive. It would clearly be a pleasure to discover their coming records and I am standing by impatiently but Duman's motto is simply ‘Quit work; Make Music'. And this is exactly how the band has pursued its existence. If you want to hear Duman, the albums are all well and good but you truly need to get your arse off your chair and see them live. The number of gigs that Duman does is almost inhuman. Their time ‘working' (i.e. actually recording stuff in a studio) is relatively limited. They truly come across as a live act... and recently the band has taken to touring the rest of Europe (and even the USA for a few dates) where the Turkish immigrants are devout fans. How could you not appreciate a band of great friends who get together and have fun like they did ten or fifteen years ago... and who happen to have been succesful enough to make a living of their music?

A compilation entitled En Güzel Günüm Gecem was released in 2007 (actually a brilliant way of getting to ‘know' the band). However, I would almost recommend you checking out the band's live album as a first-hand introduction to the world of Duman. It is so rare to hear a live recording that tells you so much about a band... Usually, the sounds are muffled and the energy is lost in the screams and roars of stoned under-age kids. Konser is a rare exception... A demonstration of Duman's abilities as a live act as well as a confirmation of the trio's (they usually play with drummers that are friends... this changes fairly frequently, hence ‘trio' for a four-man band) ability at song-writing. Key-words are dark and - paradoxically - energetic! A song like “Bu Akşam” (Tonight) is a testimony to this paradox, with Kaan singing that tonight “he drinks” on a superbly catchy rhythm.

Seriously, not understanding Turkish is not a problem. Duman is a great band that deserves to be listened to beyond boundaries, whether these be territorial or linguistic!

Big blues for 'New Labour'

Paul Kirkness — 2008-05-09T13:40:15Z

Is 'New Labour' a thing from the past?

The excentric Boris Johnson was elected mayor of London on the 4th of May with a significant majority. The man is at best a jester... As Shadow Minister for Higher Education, Johnson was quiet - breaking the silence only in order to make provocative remarks about Islam, homosexuality and even the 'collective mentality' of people in Papua New Guinea ("cannibals" and "chief killers").

I was very sorry to hear about Ken Livingston's defeat in London, a man who has drastically changed his city - most of it for the best. London is almost free of traffic following the imposition of a congestion charge (although the M25, the motorway that surrounds the city, is still the biggest parking lot in the world). Often referred to as 'Red Ken' for his left-wing beliefs, he was nonetheless mayor of a town that with the most millionaires in the world. On the other hand, poverty in London is rampant. Areas like Hackney or Stockwell (where the Brazilian electrician, Jean-Charles de Menezes was killed by police officers) have some of the lowest life expectancies in the UK. If Brixton is now attracting the citie's yuppies, racial segregation is not yet a thing of the past. Finally, the public transport system is really quite pathetic. It is one of the most expensive in the world yet its privatisation has had terrible consequences with lines like the Northern Line being down for for repairs so much of the time.

Livingstone - the man - is, of course, not free of criticism of course - he has been accused of calling a Jewish journalist from the Evening Standard a "German war criminal" and a "concentration camp guard"; he has been examined after charges of corruption were brought against him and he has made strong comments about British foreign policy that were not exactly diplomatic... Ken Livingstone was an active mayor however. He was a man of seeming conviction when it came to making his town a cleaner one. Will Boris Johnson keep up the some of the good work?

It is unlikely. Johnson is frankly a bit of a dubious character. Even Conservative journalists like Simon Heffer have referred to him as an "act" and not a politician. Supported by the British National Party as second choice for the mayoral elections, there is no doubt in my mind that his racist comments about Islam (in particular about getting "18th century on Islam's medieval ass") have made him attractive to Britain's far-right.

This election is important for London but also for the UK. Johnson became mayor only three days after local elections that saw the worst defeat of Labour in over 40 years... The economic situation is of course partially responsible for the downfall of 'New' Labour. It is also likely however that British voters do not recognise the Labour government since the departure of Tony Blair - Gordon Brown is uncharismatic, he has done little since assuming office... In my mind, Gordon Brown is possibly a large part of the problem but it is still unlikely that his departure would change the fact that 'New' Labour is no longer new at all.

Polo

The other side of Fatih Akin

Paul Kirkness — 2008-04-26T09:49:57Z

Towards the end of September last year, I wrote an article about a documentary film that I particularly enjoyed - Crossing the Bridge. This film was filmed and edited by Fatih Akin, the son of Turkish migrants who moved to Hamburg. His documentary film-making was, I argued, particularly moving because, as he explored the streets of Istanbul with Alexander Hacke, one could not but get this feeling that the author was both ‘rediscovering' home as a Turk and ‘discovering' the marvels of a city like Istanbul as a German. Auf der anderen Seite (which translates in English as ‘On the other side') is a film about confused belongings, about unsettled identities... and thus, on top of being - quite simply - a beautiful film, it is also a further reflection on the schizophrenia of being uprooted and feeling lost in a global world.

I first came accross Fatih Akin through his Gegen Die Wand. This was a film-title in German yet the stories within the movie revolved around Turkish speaking minorities living in Germany. These fictional histories also told a lot of truth it seemed to me: why else would the director, a Turkish-German himself, choose to expose the everyday difficulties of living as a constant ‘foreigner' in Germany? These issues are pushed further in Auf der anderen Seite.

I wish I could sum up the film for the viewer. I wish I could, but I will not do so per se. I run the risk of giving away important parts of a beautiful story. Let it just be said here that the themes approached in Auf der anderen Seite are incredibly varied - from death to separation, from solitude to passion and love, from militancy to abandonment. It is clear, however, that the movie's strong point lies in its ability to take the spectator on a voyage, into a world between Germany and Turkey. Filming from Hamburg's brothels to the Black Sea regions of Turkey, Fatih Akin is a transnational film-maker.

The characters of this particular film further illustrate the feeling of ‘in-betweenness'. While, the old Ali eats fried fish and drinks raki in Germany, where he has presumably spent most of his life working as a ‘Gastarbeiter' (guest-worker), his son Nejat teaches German literature in university. When he the young man settles in Istanbul, it is to work in German bookshop. On the other hand, Yeter works as a prostitute to fund her daughters' studies in Turkey, where she sends money... Yet she is approached by Islamists from Milli Görüs - a Turkish Islamist organization - who threaten her if she does not abandon the profession. And so on...

There is no obsession from Fatih Akin's part to describe what it is to have multiple roots and divided personalities but he does so superbly. What is more, he has chosen actors that are convincing - often to the brink of tear jerking. His camera work is that of a master director and his way of filming Turkey - in particular Istanbul - are particular reflective of his love for the country and its peoples.

It is rare to be certain of the future of a director but Akin has consistently showed that he is capable of doing great things - sometimes with very little. He proves over and over again that he is a super director. Auf der anderen Seite is no exception.

Polo

No Country for Old Men - The return of the Coen brothers

Paul Kirkness — 2008-02-04T19:24:45Z

The Coen brothers are back. And this time with a dark and violent film...

Clearly, the Coen brothers have developed a great talent for moving from style to style. After the immensely successful The Big Lebowski which was released ten years ago, Ethan and Joel Coen must have realized they were standing before a wall. Indeed, how could they ever match the genius of such a crazy, hilarious and genius film? The truth is that, from The Hudsucker Proxy through Fargo to Lebowski, the brothers from Minneapolis had gone from sparkle of genius to fountains of brilliance.

Succeeding years, in my mind, were a slight disappointment - O Brother, Where Art Though? kept with the craziness and The Man Who Wasn't There played successfully with inspirations from the past but the sparkle had gone. Not to mention Intolerable Cruelty and the appalling Ladykillers remake which, starring Tom Hanks, only succeeds in begging the question: “Why???”.

Still, it has to be recognized that in the Coen family, nothing is ever the same again. They move with ease from one genre to another and they chose their actors well. So, when I heard that the brothers had joined forces again and that this time, they were experimenting with something more violent which would have Javier Bardem as a psycho, I was very tempted to run to the nearest movie theatre and to sit myself down to what would have to be interesting. And interesting is what it was... Intriguing, weird, violent, distressing is also what it was.

Anyone expecting comedy will leave the cinema shrieking and gasping for air because, more than anything else, this film is suffocating. Set on the border between Mexico and Texas, it narrates the story of a young man, played by Josh Brolin, who is the witness to a crime scene - Mexican drug dealers have shot themselves up in a failed deal. All but one Mexican are dead and the last man standing is alive but barely. When Brolin's character finds the money, he leaves the man in the desert, wounded and desperate for water. It is the guilt that he feels later that day that will parachute this Vietnam veteran into a dark world of gruesome murder, drug-money and transnational violence. All of this, along with the Coen brothers' talent for directing creates a general atmosphere which is leads us to pant along with the characters themselves as they wander through harsh sunshine and freezing nights...

Bardem's character is nasty - I mean, really nasty - and he fills the viewer with anguish at each appearance. He plays with human lives on the toss of a coin and uses a cattle killing device (a bolt pistol) to murder his victims... He contrasts neatly with the stiff Tommy Lee Jones, an honest and ageing sheriff who finds it hard to understand what is happening to the world around him. How can the violence have escalated so drastically? What is it linked to? All these questions, he asks himself and friends around him. Is this country, still a country for old men?

A very dark movie which will leave no-one untouched...

Polo

The sounds of Istanbul - Crossing the Bridge

Paul Kirkness — 2007-09-30T16:05:27Z

When Alexander Hacke, a German bass player, reaches the thriving city of Istanbul to find musicians who will help him to compose the music of Head On, he encounters the neo-psychedelic band Baba Zula. He is asked if he will play the bass for them when their own bassist leaves the band. Filmed by Fatih Akin, this documentary is about Hacke and his personal attempts at grasping the full richness of Istanbul's musical scene.

The beauty of Istanbul is renowned. Thousands of years of history have forged one of the most impressive cities of our world, with mosques, churches, temples... The sounds of Istanbul are a witness to its diversity. People arguing in the street in Turkish, English, Kurdish or French. The sounds of buses and cars. The call to prayer five times a day. Istanbul is a thriving city and this is particularly evident in the musical scene of this huge city.

Even someone born and raised in the city will be surprised by the rich variety of musical styles present in Fatih Akin's documentary film. From the outset, we are introduced to incredible personalities, to people with more or less of a message. In a country which is regularly torn by politics, religion and the societal problems of some of its inhabitants, music is a powerful force.

The voice-overs are those of Alexander Hacke, who once was the bassist for the German experimental band Einstürzende Neubauten. However, what speaks the most for Akin is the musical sounds or indeed, the voices of those musicians who do the playing. From the crazy youngish members of Baba Zula and their self-titled 'oriental dub' to the hyper-famous Sezen Aksu, all are present here. From the high middle-class Replikas to the more working-class Nur Ceylan... From Istanbul's rock music scene with the amazing Duman, to Ceza's rapping and the more classical Selim Sesler, the musical diversity of the city is explored in amazing depth.

A particularly amazing moment is when the Kurdish singer Aynur Doğan gives a private performance to the film maker in a Turkish bath. Doğan's song is entitled 'Ehmedo' and, sung in Kurdish, it is amazingly heart-wrenching when it is understood that until not too long ago, it was forbidden for ethnic minorities and Kurds to sing in their own language. Sezen Aksu's ode to Istanbul in 'İstanbul Hatırası' is a magnificent musical moment. Aksu's voice is, as always, capable of extraordinary emotional power.

The most interesting aspect of this film for me is the fact that Fatih Akin, director of Gegen Die Wand (Head On) in 2004, is visiting Istanbul as an expatriate. Being German-Turkish himself, it becomes clear that Istanbul and Turkey are places which he feels the need to constantly (re)discover. In this masterpiece of a documentary he takes his audience through a journey of sound while, visually, the shaky camera reflects the mental state of someone who is deeply touched by what he sees.

Polo

The Steven Soderbergh touch...

arthur, Paul Kirkness — 2007-09-30T14:28:38Z

As Ocean's Thirteen was hitting the screens worldwide, we thought that the man behind the movie deserved one of our little general reviews. It is safe to say that Steven Soderbergh is one of the greatest American director's living today. He is the writer and director of such remarked films as Sex, Lies and Videotape and Out of Sight. But it is also him that we must thank for less renowned movies such as Schizopolis, Full Frontal or Kafka... Who are you Mr. Soderbergh ?

Steven was born in 1963 in Atlanta, Georgia, but his parents quickly moved to Baton Rouge, in Louisiana. It is there that he discovered film-making at the age of 15. At a time when most of his school friends were busy experimenting amazing new charm techniques on their female friends, Steven began shooting short films with second hand equipment. Sports, school and women were not really his forté... and so it was to be film-making. Amusingly enough, he claims to have been fairly poor at it at the time. And none of the results exist now for us to check that out.

When he reached the age of 23, the rock fan in him was to be rewarded. The band Yes asked him to come along and shoot a full length live performance of theirs. Steven Soderbergh was thrilled and went along with the project. In turn, at the end of 1986, he was awarded with a Grammy for the video that he had shot. Yes: 9012 Live was to be the beginning of a career which quickly strayed a little from rock and roll music. But all of the projects that Soderbergh worked on always had a little rock attitude in them.

Since the eighties, Stoberbergh has become something of a celebrity. He is the producer of over thirty movies. He has been the director of twenty of those films and his style, his touch, is highly valued world-wide. He is the central member of the small and exclusive gang of friends that include George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Sam Rockwell, Luis Guzman and Don Cheadle - among many others. But above all things, Steven Soderbergh is a genius creator and an artist.

The Yo-Yo years...

1989 was the year of the confirmation - out comes Sex, Lies and Videotape. This movie was highly acclaimed throughout the world. In it we find a strange mix of voyeurism and questioning about what it means to capture people's lives. This, Soderbergh does wonderfully in the film - and later, in every other film that he released under his name. To discuss the film without having outlined its artistic merits or the acting would almost appear sacrilegious. Indeed, James Spader appears as an extremely troubling bloke with a frightening honesty about him. And he is perfectly accompanied by a stunning Andie MacDowell. However, what one perceives immediately is the Soderbergh touch - the raw filming of the shots which could almost have been done in DV format; the lack of music and the uncomfortable silences... Sex, Lies and Videotape is nothing short of grand and deserves all the fantastic things that were said about it.

Two years later, Soderbergh decides to delve deeper into the artistic possibilities that the camera can allow. Kafka hits the world screens with Jeremy Irons interpreting the literary genius. The film is truly brilliant, with a pinch of Alfred Hitchcock and a spoonful of dark atmospheres. The fact that it is shot in black and white shows us to what extent Soderbergh can juggle with effects or the lack thereof. And the play between colour and black and white, which he does throughout the film, is particularly interesting.

As was the case with his next three movies - King of the Hill (1993), Underneath (1995) and Gray's Anatomy (1996) - the critics were not very enthusiastic about Kafka. But critics are easily disappointed after a master-piece. And Sex, Lies and Videotape left little space for fault...

Having complained bitterly that Steven Soderbergh was a one film man, a "has been" whose talents were nothing more than fluke, the media critics shut him off. And in doing so, they bypassed one of the director's wackiest and probably one of his most ingenious movies. We are talking about Schizopolis which came out the same year as Gray's Anatomy but made little or no noise at all. In it, Soderbergh directs himself and his then wife, Betsy Brantley. Together they are almost sane in the wacky world of characters like Elmo Oxygen or T. Azimuth Scwhitters... The first speaks an incredibly strange language and the second is a sort of feel-good doctor of the mind. Schizopolis was an experimental film in which Soderbergh lets loose his wildest ideas... Truly a must see for anyone who appreciates zany atmospheres and artistic madness.

The gang's all here

Soderbergh really became every Hollywood actor's dream director once he had launched the Out of Sight project. Featuring George Clooney (the beginning of a love-affair between the two men) and Jennifer Lopez (the first and last film they did together - is she really such a tough cookie on the set?), the film was released in 1998. Once again, we could hear the critics wailing. This was described as a mere little pop film launched by a strange director. How could someone who had attacked script-writing so sturdily now play with colour... How wrong these voices were. Had the critics even seen the film? Lopez was not famous then as she is now, hence one cannot assume that critics were reacting to her presence in the movie. So what made them so upset?

This is impossible for us to answer. Out of Sight is perfect in so many ways. Clooney and his acolyte the actor Ving Rhames are perfect in their roles as cool thieves with tender hearts. Non-criminal criminals in short. Don Cheadle and Isaiah Washington are extremely convincing as the opposite duo... nasty in every way. Returning to the film, one cannot but admire the filming, with its cuts, its rhythm and accelerations. All this happens on music by David Holmes which has now become a huge classic - and launched another love affair between the director and the DJ.

In order to continue our semi-chronological approach to Soderbergh, The Limey is probably one of most "indigestible" of the movies that he directed. A strong focus on its graphic was taken, the viewer can be easily put off by the cut'n'paste way of filming things that he took a liking to in Out of Sight. Here, the boundaries of the technique are pushed further yet. They come to define the style, sinking into our appreciation for Terence Stamp who is brilliantly directed on screen. It appears that, once again, ambiance is the key note to this film and the story will probably be quickly forgotten. The screen-shots and Terence Stamp's angry glaring blue eyes however, will not.

Like Jennifer Lopez, Terence Stamp never really made it into the “Soderbergh gang”. Julia Roberts, however, did in a way. He first directed her in Erin Brokovitch, a daring portrait of the woman who fought polluting multinationals to help the poorest and most endangered US citizens. Roberts doesn't shine through as being altogether that amazing in the role. However, in many scenes, the actress demonstrates a seemingly hidden talent for acting. She does show off a strong personality and an ability to let go on screen. All in all, if one excludes the positive message and the great performance by Albert Finney, the film is not one of Steven's master works. On the other hand, that very same year, Traffic was released.

We could discuss Traffic for paragraphs on end. It is a key point in Soderbergh's effect on the film industry. A truly unique piece is born, putting together a string of amazing performances on screen. The director re-casts two of his favourite actors: Guzman and Cheadle. And with them appear Michael Douglas and his wife Catherine Zeta Jones but also, and especially, Benicio del Torro. Attempting to make a list of the later works that were inspired by its story-telling techniques and visual proficiency would be a lost cause. The film is apparently 3 hours long but at no point does the viewer ever want it to end. The description of US drug-war policy is spectacular.

And there we have it. Soderbergh took a little over ten years to become the “confirmed” director that we know him to be. And in that space of time, he became acquainted with someone who would end up being a best friend, George Clooney. After Out of Sight, when one of the two came up with a project, the other would always come backing him up on production or assisting on direction. Clooney's Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and his upcoming Syrianaare but two examples of Soderbergh helping out a friend. Clooney, on the other hand became the child prodigy actor and really helped in making Soderbergh what he is today.

Soderbergh makes it big

When Ocean's Eleven was released, it was even more obvious that a gang was formed for good - Clooney did the movie for free. Brad Pitt and Don Cheadle were paid a pittance... And this allowed for Steven Soderbergh to add to the style. Matt Damon and Julia Roberts as well as Elliott Gould - once seen in the cult-classic M.A.S.H. - all appeared in what can only be described as a rare reunion of acting talents. This was reiterated in the two sequels to this original cover-film (the first Ocean's Eleven was made in 1960 with Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr. and Dean Martin, amongst others). It is fascinating to see how tightly knit the little community of friends became. When the second in the series was announced, Damon stopped all other activities to concentrate on Ocean's Twelve. Even Bruce Willis, perhaps jealous of all this success, makes a amusing apparition.

Even though the year 2002 is very busy for Soderbergh, he still manages to franticly colaborate on other projects. It seems that the synergy with George Clooney in Out of Sight was meant to last. Clooney's brilliant first feature Confessions of a dangerous mind has our busy man as excutive producer. The collaborations only start to unfold.

In Solaris Clooney and Natascha McElhone are reunited in an adaptation of Andrei Tarkovsky's 1972 classic, Solaryis. Both actors later claimed that the filming had been extremely intense with Soderbergh insisting on reaching perfection in every shot. Indeed, the task of adapting such a master-film must have been extremely challenging. Altogether, Soderbergh's efforts were not in vain. His version is swept with dream-like imagery and transports the viewer into a parallel world. Once again, Soderbergh exhibits his talent for non-conventional film making.

Released in the same year, Full Frontal is another one of Soderbergh's hilariously weird movies which attracted little attention from the media - Clooney wasn't in it. Could that be the reason?

Back to small(ish) productions

As a crack addict craving for his drug, Sodebergh still can't get enough. He might be competing with Mike Patton to be the busiest/most active artist on the plant. This year round, he's, once again, collaborating with Clooney on Unscripted.

Unscripted is an HBO series that pictures the daunting world of Hollywood in all is finesse. The project originates from Soderbergh and Clooney, and we really couldn't be disappointed. Indeed, series is an raising form artistic expression (yeah we know its been around for a while... but its getting good), and the challenge was tricky. Yet, this unusual series lives up to our expectations, definitely stands out of the plastic shaped panoply of such format. Soderbergh doesn't actually direct (except for the pilot), so Clooney and Grant Heslov do.

Soderbergh has been active elsewhere though. Eros is a project that he decided on making with Wong Kar Wai and Michelangelo Antonioni in 2004. Each of the three eminent directors have directed a segment in this analysis of love and sex. His part of the three is called “Equilibrium” with Robert Downey Jr and received little acclaim unfortunately. In 2005, he once again directed a minimalist film with Bubble, the analysis of small-town America when a murder is committed which links three people who work in a doll factory. Once again, the film is unnoticed and flops... Yet, it is extremely clever and highly entertaining.

What's next?

Having completed Ocean's Thirteen, which was extremely successful and The Good German, which was much less successful (although Clooney was in it!) Soderbergh will not rest. Originally planned for 2007 is a documentary which he will direct about the story-teller, Spalding Gray. Gray committed suicide in January 2004. He was a true friend of Soderbergh's ever since the making of Gray's Anatomy. There, Spalding Gray had starred as himself and shown off his incredible story-telling capabilities. The two were very close and the documentary will definitely be a tribute to look out for. Finally, The Argentine (or Guerilla, the title is of yet unclear) will be a relection on the life of Ernesto 'Che' Guevarra and will reunite Benicio Del Toro with the esteemed direcor.

Will our readers please excuse the sometimes too chronological writing of this article. It is the only way of truly coming to grips with Soderbergh's genius. Indeed, it is extremely complicated to sum up in words a man who has shown himself capable of working in so many various ways with other people of great talent.

Now let us await the coming marvels of Steven Soderbergh!

DJ Shadow - Our favourite DJ saviour [part 2 : Collaborations]

arthur, David Charlot — 2006-01-23T21:35:40Z

The first part of this review was dedicated to show DJ Shadow as a stand alone artist... This second part should reveal Shadow's ability to collaborate with artists of his own genre, eg. Cut Chemist, as well as with seemingly musically distant artists such as Thom Yorke from Radiohead.

Drum roll... after waiting for more than a year for this review, here it is finally!

All right stop, Collaborate and listen "Shadow's" back with his brand new edition!
Collaboration... Even before surfing on the top of success as a lone DJ, Shadow played for other musicians, or with other celebrities. But his energy is also spent in producing his friends' albums or by mixing with famous DJs.

Collaboration

Lavelle and Shadow for UNKLE

U.N.K.L.E. (DJ Shadow and James Lavelle): Psyence Fiction (1998 - Mo' Wax) :

This album fits perfectly in this section.
Behind the enigmatic 5 letter word suggesting either a UN branch or a pack of cereals, hides a mysterious group or non-group. In order to understand UNKLE one has to turn over to James Lavelle's ambition to participate in the development of abstract Hip-hop, of which Mo' Wax had a major role.
Between 1994 and 1997, Tim Goldsworthy (now working with David Holmes) and Kudo (the japanese from Major Force), accompanied James Lavelle on a series of maxis.
But the real event occurred in 1998, when Lavelle found his new ally, the most ingenuous abstract hip-hopper around: DJ Shadow. Most accustomed to working solo, Shadow demonstrates here his adaptable talents in collaborating with others. Psyence Fiction reveals itself as a superproduction with a great casting. You can find Richard Arshcroft from The Verve and Thom 'Radiohead' Yorke, or even Mike D. from the Beastie Boys.
This album was certainly one of the most eclectic records to emerge from the electronic world that year, mixing hip-hop, alternative, and electronic styles in one and proving that these cultures can adequately blend in together.
Unfortunately I find that as a whole this album lacks homogeneity, and thus soul... the same upset can be felt concerning all other compilations I've heard so far.
Nevertheless you can take a look at the funky UNKLE web site: http://www.unkle.com/

Quannum crew

QUANNUM

Quannum is a collection of some of the most interesting hip hop artists of the 90s. Located in the area of the Sacramento, California, artists such as Blackalicious, Latyrx and DJ Shadow had worked together under the wing of the Solesides collective, of which you can find a compilation called Solesides Greatest Bumps.
So in 1999, Dj Shadow creates the “label” Quannum projects with his friends from Solesides, where he produces, and accompanies artists on the turntables.
Well... since Quannum is one of Shadow's most important projects, one where he can play a part in making the underground hip hop scene break through to the light, there should really be an independent review written. In such a case it is better to leave this project to later!

DARK DAYS
In 2000, DJ Shadow contributed to the making of the music of the amazing film Dark Days. As far as we know, there is no bad pun. Dark Days is a documentary about the Mole people who have made of the New York Underground their home. It is truly moving and the Shadow's music helps create the necessary atmospheres while Pray's camera sways in and out of the ground, interviewing the people of the dark.
Only two tracks were made for this movie, “Main Theme”, and “Spoken for Mix”, and the less he does, the better it gets. The first song is melancholic and eerie, whereas the second is darker and more manic, just imagine the underground coming to you.

[DJ SHADOW & CUT CHEMIST]

Cut Chemist and DJ Shadow

Separated they are brilliant, together they are unbeatable!

First of all, Cut Chemist: he DeeJays for Jurassic 5 and Ozomatli; he's done some solo mixes such as Lesson 6 and you can find some other collaborations on The Ultimate Lessons notably with artists like Steinski, Shortkut, and Dj Shadow; The Litmus Test, which is a 26 minutes mix of all his work with his different bands over the years. This last mix is the essence of Cut Chemist's art and the real hip hop fans should have this in their personal collection.

And Cut Chemist has eventually played with DJ Shadow for different shows such as Freeze or Brainfreeze or Product Replacement which you can find live on video or in the studio whilst rehearsing for the live show.

Briefly we could just say Cut Chemist has a vitality of his own whereas DJ Shadow is more subtle and ingenious.
The first one tends to put dancers on fire whilst the second one will send your mind outta space.

One day a friend of ours comes by and tells us that there's this piece done jointly by DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist, that it's a recording of a rehearsal they did for this show they were putting up together. Now that sounds cool already. Add to that the concept of only playing 45inch vinyls... So the album has two tracks that both amount to 25 minutes of pure pleasure and mixes. We love it! It's the BRAINFREEZE! "a non stop live mix of strictly 45's and exercice in vinyl destruction". Slurp slurp!!

Gathered in front of our two genious' 50 people could appreciate the destruction of the 30 vinyls each!
With hard groove like Hey Joyce by Lou Courtney or The Nu People : I'd be nowhere without you , funky songs such as funky DJ by Fried Chicken.

To get a glimpse at both of these artists work and habits, just take a leap into the brain tickling movie called Scratch.

ZACK DE LA ROCHA AND DJ SHADOW

In 2003, DJ Shadow was designated as producer for Zack de la Rocha's first solo album after leaving RATM (RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE). Although no album has yet been released, one famous song, freely distributed on the net, was released in opposition to american military actions in the Middle East, and especially in Irak. The March of Death is a hard flavoured rock song in the verve of RATM, although we find DJ Shadow behind the wheels of saturation. Whilst Zack de la Rocha is preeching against a blinded america, and for the eradication of ignorant violations of american's right to information, Shadow musically hits us in the face to make Rocha's words penetrate harder. Because this song is a pamphlet for our awakening it's raw and brutal... just what we needed to get the message!

Three other titles were produced at the time but never issued... and we're still waiting for their official release!

[SIX DAYS and WONG KAR-WAI]

Most surprisingly, Shadow invited Hong-Kong's reknowned film director Wong Kar-Wai to shoot a video for the Private Press' most melancholic song Six Days. Among other films, we know Wong Kar-Wai for In the Mood for Love and more recently 2046, and for this magnificient video he concentrated a series of colourful sequences full of sadness and languidness.
The script tells the story of a man trying to erase all traces of his former lover only to realize the futility of the attempt.
Beautiful but short, this video brings Shadow's song to life and confirms that DJ Shadow has lots to express in his eclectic and heterogeneous repertoire.

Six Days Video

DJ Shadow's hybrid personality has led him to collaborate on many different grounds with some of today's most influencial artists whether it be musical or cinematographical domains. As a child of hip hop he has carried freely the beacon of a multicultural identity necessary to his work; diversity is the key word of this prominent artist.

In the next part of this review we will take a closer look at DJ Shadow's live appearances, some extra bits and pieces we'd like to promote and last but not least: his production projects, the bridge to more fantastic music made in shadow land.