The Man from Mo’Wax

He was a deejay at 14, label boss at 18 and a millionaire at 21. Welcome to the world of James Lavelle, founder of the trip-hop label Mo’Wax and discoverer of many a musical talent, including DJ Krush and DJ Shadow. The latter’s 1996 debut album was a huge artistic and commercial success. DJ Shadow and the restless and temperamental Lavelle then went on to collaborate on the equally successful UNKLE project. But then Lavelle’s career took a nosedive when conflicts, drugs, relationship problems, loss of creativity, arrogance and narcissism all took their toll. Slowly but surely, he picked himself back up and has now returned to a music industry that has changed a lot in 20 years. For his directorial debut, Matthew Jones was granted access to the personal videos of both Lavelle and DJ Shadow. To dazzling effect, Jones intertwines their heated arguments with other fascinating archive material and candid interviews with artists such as Josh Homme, Grandmaster Flash and Radiohead lead singer Thom Yorke.