James Lavelle
小简介 James Lavelle，英国著名实验Hip-Hop组合U.N.K.L.E.的首脑；推动抽象Hip-Hop这种音乐形式产生的重要音乐厂牌Mo'Wax的创始人和老板；英国伦敦最著名的俱乐部Scala和Fabric的驻场DJ。James Lavelle在年少时就创办了Mo'Wax，不论是为唱片公司网罗世界级优秀艺人，或是自己的原创/混音作品，都已成为全球Hip-Hop音乐圈里推至极限的经典。到现在旗下艺人已经有了象DJ Shadow、DJ Krush这样响亮的名字。他的个人魅力也吸引了炙手可热的DJ Shadow加入到他的U.N.K.L.E.乐队，Richard Ashcroft（The Verve的主唱）、Mike D（Beastie Boys的成员）、Thom Yorke（Radiohead的主唱）、Badly Drawn Boy等人为他的U.N.K.L.E.乐队的专辑参与制作；作为一个DJ，他擅长各种类型的音乐，尤其是对他影响很大的Hip-Hop。从早期播放Stevie Wonder、Deep Purple到现在兼收并蓄，变化多端的音乐风格，尽管如此，对于已经名声显赫的James Lavelle来说，唯一不变的是好的音乐和不断的自我音乐革命。 James Lavelle同时还是一个时尚界的标志人物。他所签约的日本超级DJ Krush不仅让他的唱片品牌Mo'Wax名扬四海，更是为他结识了很多日本时装界的巨子，其中当然包括原宿地区的著名设计师Nigo。Nigo旗下的时装品牌A Bathing Ape在之后的很多年里都是James Lavelle充当形象代表的。James还拥有自己的时装品牌，并在伦敦和新加坡都拥有时装店。他的U.N.K.L.E.乐队的形象还是由纽约著名的涂鸦大师Futura设计的。俊朗的外表加上超级时尚的品味，以及他在地下音乐界的江湖地位，无一不让James成为Global Underground系列的新宠。 曾经出版的唱片包括： Fabric Live 01 (2001) Global Underground 023 - James Lavelle - Barcelona (2002) Global Underground 026 - James Lavelle - Romania (2004) U.N.K.L.E. Psvence Fiction (1998) Never Never Land (2003) 曾经合作过的音乐人： DJ Shadow (美国最杰出的Hip-Hop DJ) Richard Ashcroft (英国著名乐队The Verve主唱) Skylab (英国著名电子乐队) Mike D (美国乐队Beastie Boys成员) Thom Yorke (英国超级乐队Radiohead主唱) Badly Drawn Boy Josh Homme (Queens Of The Stone Age乐队成员) Ian Brown (Stone Roses主唱) Kudo Brian Eno (世界环境音乐教父) Howie B (U2和Bjork唱片制作人) Experimental hip-hop outfit U.N.K.L.E. were one of the original artists releasing material through noted U.K. label Mo'Wax, which helped launch the instrumental mid-'90s downtempo breakbeat revival eventually termed trip-hop. Though hardly the label's highest profile group, U.N.K.L.E. numbers among its members label-head James Lavelle, who formed Mo'Wax while still in his teens as an antidote to the increasingly stale acid jazz/Northern Soul scene. Stripping the music down to its barest of essentials -- bass, percussion, minimal samples and heavy effects -- the Mo'Wax sound (best exemplified by the second Mo'Wax label comp, Headz, as well as its sequel, the two-part Headz 2) quickly gained respectability and a large audience. Although not as prolific as other Mo'Wax artists such as DJs Shadow and Krush, Lavelle's group nonetheless played a crucial role in cementing Mo'Wax's early sound though their Time Has Come double EP, the latter of which featured remixes of the title track by Plaid, Portishead, and U2 producer Howie B. The group comprises the trio of Lavelle, Tim Goldsworthy -- a mate of Lavelle's since childhood -- and producer Kudo, of seminal Japanese label Major Force (and a member of the on-again, off-again psychedelic beat crew Skylab). Previous to his entree into production, Lavelle along with Goldsworthy was deep into New York hip-hop and electro, the emerging late-'80s Sheffield bleep scene, the English acid jazz scene (which he covered as a columnist for Straight No Chaser magazine), and of course the acid house and techno explosions that were redefining the English counterculture at the time. The pair hooked up with third-member Kudo through the growing rep of the latter's Love T.K.O. project. whose outbound interpretations of breakbeat and acid jazz drew Lavelle's ear. While Goldsworthy and Kudo remain more heavily involved in nuts'n'bolts production (especially given the success of Mo'Wax, with Lavelle penning an expansive partial ownership deal with A&M Records in 1996), Lavelle is heavily involved in the conceptual and organizational end, crafting beats and laying out vague sketches his partners then expand into full-blown tracks. Despite the scarcity of released material, U.N.K.L.E. have grown to wider acclaim recently through remix projects for the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and Tortoise. An album is due sometime in 1998. Three years later, Lavelle issued his debut album Fabriclive.01, a more or less a retrospective of his popular setlists from his residency at the famous London club, Fabric. He marked his debut for Global Underground in 2002 with the stylish Global Underground: Barcelona release. His second installment in the series, Global Underground: Romania followed two years later.
