Description
The 90s were a fertile and fecund time for rap and hip-hop. From groups like the Wu-Tang Clan, De La Soul, Outkast, and Public Enemy, to rappers such as Dr Dre, the Notorious B.I.G., and Tupac, it was the decade in which the music emerged from the underground into the mainstream. Think of the great music of that era and records likeFear of a Black Planet,The ChronicandThe Miseducation of Lauryn Hilljump to mind. Such was the creativity of the period, that room was made for experimental works in the world of sample-based music, from artists such as the Beastie Boys (their seminalPauls Boutique), A Tribe Called QuestsLow End Theory, Beck (Mellow GoldandOdelay), and my personal favourite, DJ ShadowsEndtroducing..Other categories emerged such as trip-hop (see Massive AttackBlue Lines), acid jazz (Jamiroquai, Brand New Heavies and St. Germain), and electronica (think ELF, Everything but the Girl, the Chemical Brothers, and Air).
One of the more prominent figures kicking up a dusty groove in this cultural maelstrom was James Lavelle. A DJ at the age of 14, by the time he was 18 James had borrowed enough cash to start up Mo Wax, where he would be at the vanguard of trip-hop, turntablism and what might best be described as alternative hip-hop. He signed such acts as DJ Krush, Dr Octagon, Attica Blues, and, most notably, DJ Shadow. His foresight, energy and enthusiasm cut a swath through the U.K. underground scene. What made Lavelle successful, Shadow has said, was his unbelievable drive; he was like a hummingbird. He had absolute love for music. He was voracious.
Released 26 years ago to a flurry of hype,Pysence Fictionwas, for Lavelle, a confluence of all wheelhouses that moved him. It featured bits of scratching and tons of sampling, all mixed with fat hip-hop beats and, lamentably for some, guitar-driven alt-rock.The entry point for many listeners was that DJ ShadowsEndtroducing.., released two years earlier, had been so groundbreaking, critically beloved, and well-received by the public. As Shadow was all over this record, both as a composer and performer, the expectation was thatPsyence Fictionwould be a sort ofEndtroducing.. Part II. And in some ways, it was.
Despite its flaws relating largely to a scattershot approach and lack of overall cohesion it feels today like the kind of crazy, alt-star-strewn mash fest that it is. Theres a scrappy lets-put-on-a-freakin-show-and-see-what-happens mentality to it. A lets-break-the-rules-and-not-give-a-fuck-all attitude.How else could an album like this ever exist, other than because an ultimate fanboy turned mod entrepreneur willed it into existence? Other than because this adroit stylist took joy in cutting and pasting, mixing and matching to his hearts delight? Or because this scene maker had some pretty cool friends at his disposal? So why the hell not?That exuberant type of character seems to have all but vanished 26 years on. via The Vinyl Factory
Label: UMC, Mo Wax, Island Records
Format: 2 x Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue
Reissued: 2023 / Original Release: 1998
Genre: Electronic, Hip Hop
Style: Downtempo, Abstract, Trip Hop
File under: Leftfield
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