visionary UNKLE blinds with 'Psyence'

At least four years in the making, UNKLE's "Psyence Fiction" is the brainchild of cred-heavy Mo' Wax label boss James Lavelle and DJ Shadow. By assembling a stellar supporting cast, such as the Beastie Boys' Mike D, The Verve's Richard Ashcroft and Radiohead's Thom Yorke, Lavelle and Shadow have crafted a '90s masterwerk. This album brings so much ambition, rawness and depth that it will surely set the high watermark for 1998 and beyond.

Shadow and Lavelle say this album has become their "Apocalypse Now." This sentiment is expressed in the "UNKLE Main Title Theme," where a sample from "Hearts of Darkness," the documentary on the making of "Apocalypse Now" appears. As the sample laments: "We had access to too much money, too much equipment, and little by little we went insane." Originally fueled by Lavelle's musical vision, this album could have ended up an egotistical folly, had it not been for the immense musical talent of DJ Shadow.

The album opens with "Guns Blazing (Drums of Death Part I)," featuring New York hard core rapper Kool G Rap. The track is based around a vicious set of drum loops and features more fills than Puff Daddy's entire back catalogue. Rap's vocals are complimented by a swirling chaos of drums, bass and radio interference. Later on in the album, Part II "The Knock" appears, with vocals by Mike D and a bass line supplied by Jason Newstead of Metallica. The production on the track has a similar feel to Part I, with Mike D's lyrics sounding very reminiscent of his work on "Hello Nasty." These two tracks slap the listener in the face and beg for attention. But it is in the other more subtle songs like "Rabbit in Your Headlights" and "Lonely Soul" that this album steps into the realm of genius.

"Rabbit" is a down temp jazz excursion, with a mesmerizing 9/8 tempo and a cavalcade of beats. Thom Yorke's vocal contribution is so raw that it almost sears the eardrums. Reportedly recorded in one take, the vocals are a lesson in dynamics, from Yorke's musings about "fat bloody fingers" at the beginning, to his demonic wailing of "Awaaaaay" at the end. The final effect makes "Rabbit" downright frightening.

Even more impressive is the nine-minute epic "Lonely Soul" featuring Richard Ashcroft. The start of the track has Ashcroft crooning standard Verve lyrics over a fantastic Shadow heavy beat. The tune takes off about five minutes in, when everything drops away to showcase the strings.

This orchestral interlude was arranged by Wil Malone, who did the strings for Massive Attack's "Unfinished Sympathy." After about two minutes, the drums and Ashcroft enter back into the mix, with the song ending in a melancholy flourish of beats, strings and vocals.

Elsewhere, the album is rounded out by a host of other amazing cuts. "Nursery Rhyme" shows Shadow doing his take of Britrock-on-steroids, with lyrical help from newcomer Badly Drawn Boy.

"Unreal" and "UNKLE Main Theme" are two incredibly solid Shadow instrumentals, and represent a musical evolution from his 1996 debut "Endtroducing." Both tunes feature guitars - the "Main Theme" is layered with '80s-style synth-guitar and "Unreal" is structured around an atmospheric Spanish-style guitar.

With the exception of the sparse "Chaos" and the tragic briefness of the album (it only clocks in at about 55 minutes), this is a complete, balanced and visionary album. Simply speaking, this is a near perfect sonic collage of the 1990s.

09-29-98