Mega Mega Vote Thing - UNDERWORLD (Smith/Hyde) in ILM Artist Poll #102 - Campaigning, Discussion, Equivocating until 22nd May

Too Little Too Late (Club Mix)

on one listen it seemed to just be an extended version of the sedate original, not a banging remix

there's also a bass drum that comes in at the start instead of working up gradually.

the impression I get is that the Riverrun stuff didn't work out the way they wanted, none of the casual fans knew about it & a lot of people had trouble downloading them. there wasn't really the infrastructure for just putting stuff out the way there is now. when they started the project I think they had eyes on doing more than just 3 but I think they quickly learned that if it wasn't on a studio album most people just weren't gonna hear it

Could be, but might also just be that their whim changed or they were actively distracted by getting paid for the work. The three Riverruns, Oblivion With and the two film scores are apparently all the product of one consistent two-year run of output from the pair.

And it's not like they were any more consistent when they tried "just putting stuff out" with Drift. First it was just a notion of World Of Underworld where they were going to release old and new stuff regularly. They made it one year-belated EP, one covermount 7" of old tracks, one new single and half a new song on a youtube video before retreating and rethinking.

Then once they had a backlog built up and switched to Drift, it's not like they took advantage of the infrastructure in any consistent way. They could have made a year-long subscription through their website (TMBG style), or created a membership channel on Bandcamp, but instead they seemed to make it up week by week as to how things would come out. The new tracks always had a video version, but the tracks would be on sale on varying platforms at different fidelity levels, week to week. Once they started giving away one-week downloads, they would skip weeks here and there. Sometimes the in-between archive stuff was a new DJ mix, sometimes a "new" old track, sometimes a medley of demos, sometimes an old track that had only been in lower bitrates, sometimes only on mixcloud, sometimes on mixcloud and soundcloud, sometimes a download, etc etc.

(The frustrating inconsistency was part of the fun of Drift! But they definitely limited the audience in a similar way to Riverrun by again not making it a consistent and reliable mode of release.)

your idea of all these sustained peaks - challenging the very nature of a peak! - and none of them containing Second Toughest... just boggles the mind.

I mean really everything from 1992 to 1999 is really great, but really there was just an insane wealth of stuff from 93 and 94 alone. STITI has a handful of really great B-sides & remixes of course, absolutely love "Oich Oich", "Puppies", "Cherry Pie", and "Tin There"...but overall idk if that deluxe set worked quite as well as the dubnobass one

And A Hundred Days Off I think much more belongs with the three that dreams are cake of before it than anything that came after.

A Hundred Days Off feels a bit like a sequel to Beaucoup imo, the way Second is a sequel to dubnob. I figure it's more because that's where Smith & Hyde's heads were at, especially after touring BF, than any commercial idea of staying close to what people expected.

The deluxe Toughest is absurdly good value by any standards other than classic Dr Who DVDs or the deluxe dubnob... but yeah, it feels less seam-bursting. Possibly a combo of them now being more confident about what Underworld mkII was, and the fact of their success meaning that they could work out new material for hours on stage instead of hours and hours in the rehearsal room, means that there was simply less material on tape to excavate this time around.

(Or Rick was just exhausted after all the work on & remastering from scratch on the first box! Note BF deluxe's "will this do?" offering of two discs of outside remixes, and then the switch to World Of Underworld / Drift instead of cataloguing their legacy with any more reissues...)

i'm into the second toughest material now. "cherry pie"... pure bliss

the og "born slippy" too

xp Great timeline!

I remember the fun of them releasing the Blue Mountain session on uwlive.com back in '99 or so. Featuring an extended King of Snake, Cappe Ffuno, and a superior Something Like a Mama. Feels like this was around the start of their free download experiments. A proper "live in the studio" jam.

https://www.mixcloud.com/MixesByOtherDJs/underworld-live-blue-mountain/

omfg i forgot about "deep arch" and how it is perfect

too bad how they fell off then tho... lol

#secondtoughestteam

I remember the fun of them releasing the Blue Mountain session on uwlive.com back in '99 or so

Same. Crazy how that box set ended up. Looking forward to dipping back into what wasn't on it!

ok what is with that vocal sample on "The Hump (Groove Without A Doubt)" lmao

baaaaaaaaaaaooowww!

Been having a look at what the internet likes by Underworld.

The 10 Best Underworld Songs - Stereogum

10. “Two Months Off” (from A Hundred Days Off, 2002)
9. “Always Loved A Film” (from Barking, 2010)
8. “Low Burn” (from Barbara Barbara, we face a shining future, 2016)
7. “Beautiful Burnout” (from Oblivion With Bells, 2007)
6. “Small Conker And A Twix/You Do Scribble” (from Live In Tokyo 25th November 2005)
5. “Pearl’s Girl” (from Second Toughest In The Infants, 1996)
4. “Dirty Epic” (from Dubnobasswithmyheadman, 1994)
3. “Born Slippy .NUXX” (from the “Born Slippy” single, 1995)
2. “Jumbo” (from Beaucoup Fish, 1999)
1. “Juanita:Kiteless:To Dream Of Love” (from Second Toughest In The Infants, 1996)

Greatest Hits : Underworld - Treblezine

“Crocodile” from Oblivion with Bells (2007; PIAS)
“Mmm…Skyscraper I Love You” from dubnobasswithmyheadman (1994; Junior Boy’s Own)
“Dinosaur Adventure 3D” from A Hundred Days Off (2002; Junior Boy’s Own)
“Push Upstairs” from Beaucoup Fish (1999; Junior Boy’s Own)
“Underneath the Radar” from Underneath the Radar (1988; Sire)
“Stand Up” from Change the Weather (1989; Sire)
“I Exhale” from Barbara, Barbara we share a shining future (2016; Caroline International)
“Born Slippy .NUXX” from “Born Slippy” single (1995; Junior Boy’s Own/Wax Trax!)
“Pearl’s Girl” from Second Toughest in the Infants (1996; Junior Boy’s Own)
“Scribble” from Barking (2010; Cooking Vinyl)
“Juanita: Kiteless: To Dream of Love” from Second Toughest in the Infants
“Two Months Off” from A Hundred Days Off
“Jumbo” from Beaucoup Fish
“Bird 1” from Barking
“Santiago Cuatro” from Barbara, Barbara we share a shining future
“Beautiful Burnout” from Oblivion with Bells
“Dark & Long” from dubnobasswithmyheadman
“Rez/Cowgirl” from Everything, Everything (2000; Junior Boy’s Own)

I've been listening to hours of Underworld every day for a week and so far all I've determined is that The Hump will not be in my top 77

sic I mailed you (via ilx tho so not sure if it got thru)

xp "Eclipse" tho!

IMO the standout Barbara track is "If Rah", and I don't say this only because my kids used to shout "LUNA LUNA LUNA LUNA / I LOVE THIS*" during bathtime

* AFAIC this is the lyric now

that track is in my head all the time but "Ova Nova" is the one I keep coming back to

Funny that I once more get to bemoan missing that Glastonbury festival in 1992. I couldn't easily get the time off work but a bunch of my mates at the time came back talking about the Experimental Sound Field. I think the first time I saw Underworld was the London Megadog the following October (I learned from rowla.com linked above) and that still stands in memory as one of the finest live music experiences.

A few years after that I went to a Goa / psy-trance type thing at Brixton Academy largely because they were using that ESF rig, which was like eight stacks surrounding the large dancefloor. The music was given a deconstructed edge because the decks weren't isolated and were constantly jumping.

I've been listening to hours of Underworld every day for a week and so far all I've determined is that The Hump will not be in my top 77

haven't been managing that much time. All I got so far is that Change the Weather slays Underneath the Radar! Album ballot slots 14 and 15 settled,lol

the version of Spoonman from Nov 92 on the dubnobass boxset is so good, I think I like it even more than the original

OK i see where y'all are coming from re: Barbara Barbara, but, have you considered: "I Exhale"

btw sic thank you for separating out "pearl's girl" and "tin there" because i would've been voting for both anyway

"i exhale" is the rare underworld track that doesn't really justify being 8 minutes. the single edit is great though. love the music video too

If Rah and I Exhale make me irrationally angry. I still believe those are the worst moments in their entire history, including the Freur wardrobe. Just absolute garbage aimed at morons who yearn for a return of the Skint label and a big beat revival. I realize i'm nearly alone in my opinion. So, yeah, that's just like my opinion man.

lol no way

the worst, including the spangled tops? the leather jackets? the running the fingers through the hair?

It's not nearly as fun to just say i skip those tracks, is it?

haha right. I'm placing it extra high now. It does make me irrationally happy

really fondly remember how confused and excited i was when i first heard "i exhale"

I still hear "Hit the North" but yeah great track

i wish it was 8 hours

I've always sung 'Hit the North' over the opening of I Exhale too.

UW may be the only band to ever do the deluxe reissue/"classic album in full" tour thing and come out way more creative on the other side

don't get me wrong I like the Barking period and some of the singles they did around that time (especially "Downpipe") but in retrospect it definitely seems like a deliberate attempt to reclaim their throne as the kings of house floor-fillers (after self-consciously avoiding that sound for a decade) and I think they realized that when it comes to pop culture and singles charts you don't really get a second go at it

q: is "juanita/kiteless" the greatest song ever recorded by anyone

second toughest does feel like a sequel to dubno, more refined, confident, exploratory, lighter on its feet in every way, but "juanita/kiteless" still feels like it comes from another world entirely

like how did they make that

i see you

q: is "juanita/kiteless" the greatest song ever recorded by anyone

a: no

(pvmic)

you're still wrong but it's ok

q: is "juanita/kiteless" the greatest song ever recorded by anyone

I can't help thinking that while listening to it, but it's currently my #3 of 77.

like how did they make that

One thing I'm noticing between these amazing STITI era tracks, namely Juanita / Kiteless, Cherry Pie, og Born Slippy, and NUXX, is just how good / interesting their drum processing was. Like that breakdown in J/K where it's all percussive... idk what's going on exactly, some 909 pitchshifting / delay cleverness or something, but it's so effective.

Brad can you please rank and compare Pearls Girl (Tin There) vs the six-minute Tin There from the Playstation version of Wipeout 2097, vs the five-minute Tin There from the Wipeout soundtrack CD

the lean mean 5 minute oscillating wormhole that is the wipeout soundtrack version is prob my favorite but i also love the proggy excesses of pearls girl (tin there)

ty

All I got so far is that Change the Weather slays Underneath the Radar!

this is the only wrong opinion it is possible to have in this poll

I still believe those are the worst moments in their entire history, including the Freur wardrobe.

this one comes close though


Just absolute garbage aimed at morons who yearn for a return of the Skint label and a big beat revival.

🤩🤩

I think they realized that when it comes to pop culture and singles charts you don't really get a second go at it

they'd already had three goes tbf

is the six minute "tin there" just an additional minute of the breakdown from the five-minute one? i've had trouble differentiating it lol

yeah me too, I think it keeps the frenzied part up a bit longer and then goes to more of a long synth-pad-y outro than the 5-minute version's breakdown-and-fade. basically the short version sounds kind of like an arbitrary edit for time BUT somehow seems to work better! just trying to figure out if I'm missing something.

5 minute edit is just bottled perfectly

Been having some thoughts about A Hundred Days Off

* A friend said he thought they were finished when Emerson left, he seemed to think he was the one with the talent and the other two were cock rock bozos from the 80s, he was really fucking wrong about that eh?
* Two Months Off is the sweetest, most joyful thing of all time, and stands up easily alongside their darkest-sounding work, I love it as much for existing as I love it as a tune, which is a lot.
* I heard the LP in a guesthouse in Krakow, it was being played on the radio, then when I moved to Prague my housemate was a big fan, this was when I relly got into the band, so it's kind of my first Underworld LP in an odd way (though I was aware of Born Slippy, etc. of course)
* First five tracks are superb, then it runs out of steam a bit in the second half, however Trim has the lyric "Woman in a box with her head in her box / Speaks French when spoken like a tourist French / Hey classic coca-cola in a can when you want to cool down" so all is forgiven.
* Dinosaur Adventure 3D is such an odd choice for a single, not that it's bad really, but everything about it is textbook last-third-of-the-LP-semi-banger, even the title is like something filled out when they'd run out of actual titles to use.

xp Moaner is also better in shorter edits, the extra bits at the end are nice but not really needed

when I was in Mexico I once heard Ballet Lane at a movie theater, it sounded awesome there

ADHO seemed to clearly be not as good as the first 3 albums but every time I hear it I marvel at how great the sound is.

main issues with it are A) "Twist" doesn't have the awesome guitar bit that the live version does and B) "Dinosaur Adventure 3D" is missing....something. I can't put my finger on what. Maybe the fact that it reuses the "Dark Train" hook gets me.

Dinosaur Adventure 3D also has two b-sides which are better.

looking forward to the extensive documentation of all the Drift alternate versions

here's one I prepared earlier

the first DRIFT era

Brilliant Yes That Would Be • [single 2018] 6:16
BYTWB • [Drift "Dust" EP intro, 2018] 0:29
Brilliant Yes That Would Be [album version[ • [with piano coda, Drift box set 2019] 10:20


Jenny • MCR Street Poem [installation score 2017, rel. 2019] 9:33
Doris • MCR Street Poem [installation score 2017, rel. 2019] 4:18
Charlie • MCR Street Poem [installation score 2017, rel. 2019] 6:23
James • MCR Street Poem [installation score 2017, rel. 2019] 5:51
Ed • MCR Street Poem [installation score 2017, rel. 2019] 5:36
Meredith • MCR Street Poem [installation score 2017, rel. 2019] 17:09
Harry • MCR Street Poem [installation score 2017, rel. 2019] 9:10
Mary • MCR Street Poem [installation score 2017, rel. 2019] 6:50

Doris [EP version] • [Drift "Space" EP version with longer intro] 4:27


Apple Shine for Belfast • [video 2018] 3:15
Appleshine (Film Edit) • [full length version, mp3 2019] 9:42
Appleshine (Film Edit) [album vers / new mix] • [Drift "Atom" EP version 2019] 9:44
Appleshine Continuum • [Underworld & The Necks, mp3 & Drift "Atom" EP 2019] 47:18
Appleshine Continuum [album version] • [Underworld & The Necks, new mix / 13 mins shorter, box set 2019] 34:15
Appleshine (All Of The Lights) • Drift Series 1 box set [2019] 5:35

Another Silent Way (Film Edit) • [single 2018] 3:46
Another Silent Way [EP version] • [Drift "Dust" EP version] 5:27
Another Silent Way [album edit] • [longer version, box set 2019] 5:33
A Very Silent Way (#Drift, Ep 1, Pt. 5) • [Underworld & The Necks, stream 2018] 5:07
A Very Silent Way [EP / album version] • [Underworld & The Necks, Drift "Dust" EP version 2018] 10:31
Another Silent Way / Drift Poem / Better Than Diamonds • Drift Series 1 box set [2019] 13:58

Dexters Chalk [EP version] • [Underworld and Ø [Phase] , stream & Drift "Dust" EP version 2018] 5:01
Dexters Chalk [album version] • [longer version, box set 2019] 5:25

Low Between Zebras • [Underworld feat. Matthew Trevannion, , Drift "Dust" EP version] 2:57
Low Between Zebras [album edit] • [new mix, box set 2019] 3:00

Universe of Can When Back (#Drift, Ep 1, Pt. 4) • [stream 2018] 3:08
Universe Of Can When Back [EP version] • [Drift "Dust" EP version 2018] 6:04
Universe Of Can When Back [album version] • [new mix, box set 2019] 5:36

Molehill • [mp3 2019] 4:10
Molehill [EP version] • [Drift "Atom" EP version adds long coda, 2019] 5:35

Threat of Rain • [mp3 2019] 15:13
Threat Of Rain [EP version] • [Drift "Atom" EP version loses intro, 2019] 14:50
Threat Of Rain [album edit] • [shorter again, box set 2019] 14:43

Brussels • [mp3 & Drift "Atom" EP 2019] 4:18
Brussels [album version] • [new mix, box set 2019] 4:32

Soniamode • [mp3 & Drift "Atom" EP 2019] 3:30
Soniamode (Aditya Game Version) • [single 2019, box set 2019] 6:20

Dune • [single 2019] 11:09
Dune [EP version] • [different mix on Drift "Heart" EP, 2019] 10:32
Dune [album version] • [new mix, box set 2019] 10:33

Custard Speedtalk • [mp3, Drift "Heart" EP and box set 2019] 9:44
Custard Speedtalk (#DRIFT Ep.3 Pt.2) • [different mix on video] 10:22

This Must Be Drum Street (Film Edit) • [mp3 2019] 6:03
This Must Be Drum Street [EP version, different mix] • [different mix on Drift "Heart" EP, 2019] 5:55
This Must Be Drum Street [album vers / new mix] • [new mix, box set 2019] 7:37

Pinetum • [mp3 & Drift "Heart" EP, 2019] 12:11
Pinetum [album version] • [new long coda mixed in, box set 2019] 13:46

Poet Cat • [mp3, Drift "Heart" EP and box set 2019] 5:40

Listen To Their No • [single, Drift "Space" EP and box set 2019] 5:48
Listen To Their No [radio edit] • [Japanese promo CD] 3:58

Schiphol Test • [mp3, Drift "Space" EP and box set 2019] 8:34

Hundred Weight Hammer • [mp3, Drift "Space" EP and box set 2019] 4:14

Altitude Dub • [mp3, Drift "Space" EP and box set 2019] 8:09
Altitude Dub Continuum • [Underworld & The Necks, Drift Series 1 box set 2019] 31:10

Border Country • [Underworld and Ø [Phase] - mp3, Drift "Space" EP and box set 2019] 6:56
Border Country (Ø [Phase] Dark Room Tension Dub) • [remix 2019] 6:38

Toluca Stars (Film Edit) • [single & box set 2019] 10:18
Toluca Stars [EP version] • [different mix on Drift "Game" EP] 10:18

Mile Bush Pride (Film Edit) • [mp3 2019] 2:51
Mile Bush Pride [EP version] • [cut down on Drift "Game" EP & box set 2019] 1:35

Imagine A Box • [mp3, Drift "Game" EP and box set 2019] 6:02

Tree And Two Chairs (Film Edit) • [mp3 2019] 13:32
Tree And Two Chairs [EP version] • [different mix on Drift "Game" EP & box set 2019] 13:32

Give Me The Room • [video 2019] 9:28
Give Me The Room [EP version] • [different mix on Drift "Game" EP & box set 2019] 9:25

S T A R • [single 2019] 3:36
S T A R [EP version] • [different mix on Drift "Game" EP, 2019] 3:36
S T A R (Rebel Tech) • [exclusive to Drift Sampler Edition, 2019] 3:45
Who is your S T A R ? #London Edition • [video 2019] 0:59
Who is your S T A R ? #MexicoCity Edition • [video 2019] 1:01

One True Piano Need Hand • Drift Series 1 box set [2019] 9:42
Roof Off • Drift Series 1 box set [2019] 7:11
Do Breakers Trip • Drift Series 1 box set [2019] 3:34
Seven Drone Music • Drift Series 1 box set [2019] 8:18
Big Bear • Drift Series 1 box set [2019] 4:29
Doscentios • Drift Series 1 box set [2019] 7:44
Two Arrows • Drift Series 1 box set [2019] 3:20
A Moth At The Door • Drift Series 1 box set [2019] 4:45

Happy Christmas from Underworld 🎅 • [video 2019] 0:26