Rating: Yes

Call it a straight-out compilation or call it a project of the Alan Parsons' variety but involving much hipper personalities. "Psyence Fiction" sounds like a soundtrack for an interplanetary fashion show, mixed with enough purposely trendy ennui to put a horse in a trance. UNKLE is the dynamic duo of James Lavelle, the Mo Wax label honcho and master mixer, who touts among his storied work remixes of Radiohead, Beck and Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, and DJ Shadow, an electronic music guru who uses synths, samples, and found noises to create his unique dance-floor techno. The hook is that they work with a stable of phenomenal talent who, if they were truly combined, would form the perfect supergroup for the millennium - Thom Yorke (Radiohead), Richard Ashcroft (the Verve), Mike D. (Beastie Boys), even Metallica's Jason Newsted. York and Ashcroft score nicely with slow, melodic tracks that would have fit nicely on their last albums, which is fitting, since both tracks were recorded long before their last albums were recorded. Mike D. sounds like he's having fun for a change instead of being forced to reinvent a style he doesn't have in him anymore. Kick-off track by New York rapper Kool G Raps sounds like a stripped down Wu Tang number and is awkward and out of place here. The best tracks are by the unknowns. Badly Drawn Boy hits with a straight-out paranoid rocker, while Alice Temple showcases a smoothly soothing vocal on a funky drum-and-bass laced trance number. All in all, "Psyence…" holds together well, though it's not the landmark recording the industry would have led you to believe it could, or should, be. It's more like a well-blended mix tape made by a best friend, who just happens to be a supermodel.

-- Tim McMahan

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Copyright © 1998 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.