Where Did the Night Fall – UNKLE

James LaVelle is a clever man who boasts an undeniable musical talent. This is, after all, the fellow who managed to marry contributors as disparate and reclusive as Mark Hollis and Thom Yorke into the two tracks that closed the first UNKLE album—a record that deftly melded far-reaching samples (Frank Zappa, Twin Peaks soundtrack) into a crackly patchwork that wore it’s brazen, effortless charm on it’s sleeve. It was impressive. It was cool. I bought it at least twice.

Nothing that was great about the first UNKLE record is absent here. The arrangements are intricate and encompassing, the guest spots impeccably selected. The problem is: now there’s simply too much of it. While the all-inclusive approach to arrangements and production certainly yields some serious ear-candy when employed by someone as wily as Lavelle, it doesn’t necessarily make for an amazing body of music. Where Did The Night Fall is a classic and unfortunate case of style over substance. By the 6th track (of 15), each new piece begins to sound like the two that sandwich it, despite the variance that the admittedly interesting guest spots present.

It would appear that Lavelle has developed into a sort of modern Phil Spector; an auteur who uses his fondness for wall of sound arrangements to judiciously frame a highly-directed cast of vocal contributors.

Not even the sublime ‘Another Night Out’, that caresses us so menacingly with Mark Lanegan’s calcified cords, manages to lift the MOR pall of the rest of the record.

Where did the night fall may well be cherished in the future. But now, it just sounds like someone trying to patch an overlong collection of uninspiring songs with beautiful voices and immersive arrangements. Still, there are worse things in the world.

published 17/05/10 in The Brag