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Baker's Dozen

Irrepressible Discoveries: James Lavelle Of UNKLE's 13 Favourite Albums
Elizabeth Aubrey , September 18th, 2017 14:19

With a new album on the way and a much-anticipated set at Brighton's Attenborough Centre at the ready, James Lavelle, the man behind UNKLE and Mo' Wax, takes Elizabeth Aubrey through the 13 records that shaped him

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Massive Attack - Blue Lines

This is my favourite album ever made and the most influential record ever. The idea of a record that had multiple voices and engaged in a different way…the production, the cover, the paintings, the photographs, the mystique, everything that about it defined my late teenage years and defined the beginning of Mo’ Wax. It was amongst other things a blueprint for where I went with my life.

Did the art and visuals influence you?

Hugely. I mean, all of it, you know, you wouldn’t have a Banksy if it wasn't for 3D, you wouldn't have a Mo' Wax if it wasn't for Massive Attack. The style, the photographs, the artwork, the videos... everything kind of was, for me, the perfect combination of everything that I wanted to be and hear. I just remember when I got the cassette, I got a promo cassette of it when I was 14 or maybe 15 and I was just sitting there on my bed at my mum's house. I must have listened to it about 100 times. I just didn't turn it off, just kept playing it. I can't explain how fucking cool it was and how cerebral it was, and how beautiful it was.