Skip to main content

The Man from Mo'Wax review – from superstar DJ to rock bore

This hit-and-miss documentary charting the life and career of James Lavelle feels too much like a promo

The rise and fall of James Lavelle, the record label founder and DJ, is the subject of this celebratory music documentary by Matthew Jones. In the 1990s, Lavelle was music’s Damien Hirst – a cocky upstart with a genius for A&R matched only by a gift for self-promotion. At 18, he opened the hip label Mo’Wax and helped to popularise trip-hop (though signing Tricky and Portishead evaded him). Everything he touched turned to gold, until it didn’t.

Ego, money, drugs: Lavelle’s story has the makings of an entertaining account of the music business. But this film feels too much like a promo for a comeback attempt. Its greatest strength is archive from the personal collections of Lavelle and Josh Davis, AKA DJ Shadow, whose groundbreaking sample album Endtroducing marked Mo’Wax’s high point. The clubbing footage brings back a chemical rush of the 90s London dance scene.

Continue reading...

from Culture | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2wskGI5
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tracey Emin decorates Regent's Park and a celebration of Islamic creativity – the week in art

Emin and others survey the state of sculpture, Glenn Brown takes his decadent imagination to Newcastle and artists offer northern exposure – all in your weekly dispatch Frieze Sculpture Park Tracey Emin, Barry Flanagan and John Baldessari are among the artists decorating Regent’s Park with a free survey of the state of sculpture. • Regent’s Park, London , 4 July until 7 October. Continue reading... from Culture | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2IDCpPV
Post a Comment
Read more

When Brooklyn was queer: telling the story of the borough's LGBTQ past

In a new book, Hugh Ryan explores the untold history of queer life in Brooklyn from the 1850s forward, revealing some unlikely truths For five years Hugh Ryan has been hunting queer ghosts through the streets of Brooklyn, amid the racks of New York’s public libraries, among its court records and yellow newspaper clippings to build a picture of their lost world. The result is When Brooklyn Was Queer, a funny, tender and disturbing history of LGBTQ life that starts in an era, the 1850s, when those letters meant nothing and ends before the Stonewall riots started the modern era of gay politics. Continue reading... from Culture | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2H9Zexs
Post a Comment
Read more