Underworld - Barking (Sept 13 2010)

too early to tell but i think it will be right up there with their best work

Under A Full Moon, oh my word.

Actually on second glance it's called Between Stars.

always loved a film and scribble are instant classics IMHO. and the rest of the album doesn't disappoint. A+

I like every song except Diamond Jigsaw.

diamond jigsaw is so cheesy but i love it. bird 1 is so amazing.

This seems to me to be the most emotional of their albums I've heard, and the emotion is primarily joy.

On the two songs I've heard, it's like all of the compressed euphoria in Second Toughest in the Infants that exists for me on that record behind an unbreachable wall has been pulled up front and center and thrust into my lap.

Really cannot wait to get this.

bird 1 is so amazing.

― cutty, Thursday, September 2, 2010 1:36 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

Can see this being the slow-burner favourite for me actually.

they never disappoint with the album openers!

everything i'm hearing off this is next level

falling more and more in love with "Always Loved A Film"

the sound of a barking dog on a loop...

ok so ... imo ... after the 1st three songs its falls off kinda hard?? diamond jigsaw is actually fairly memorable compared to a lot of the stuff around it. i dunno i was expecting a lot more. cant imagine listening to most of this stuff again

that said the first three tracks are super classic

Between Stars is a superior euphoric house banger to Always Loved imo - the latter is a little ploddy, if I can go against the tide.

oh yeah between stars was aite too

tracks 1-8 are all still spectacular to me. even the instrumental ones. the last song is like karl hyde doing his best mark hollis, and i ain't mad at him but i can see why you guys are whining.

you guys = deej and chap

yeah diamond jigsaw is cheesy, sounds like walking on broken glass to me, but it's great. this whole album is, though it's more of a grower than i had expected. not a bad thing

this is indeed great

Holy shit.

This is clearly the brightest thing they've done, though it is not a whole album of "Two Months Off"s. Even when they retreat into the murk ("Grace," "Hamburg Hotel") it feels clear.

So much better than Oblivion with Bells.

bird 1 is so amazing.
― cutty, Thursday, September 2, 2010 1:36 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

Can't wait to get this in a couple weeks.

rly like moon on water. as described it would seem like a track from any number of ~electronica~ albums that got 3* in the observer between 1998 and 2002 but the vaguely neu!-like synths give lie to that.

This is great! Best Underworld album since Beaucoup Fish easily, really glad they've steered clear of the murk this time round.

Diamond Jigsaw is totally naff and preposterous but a lot of fun all the same.

They're finally playing DC for the first time... ever? Got my ticket, hoping this album lives up to "Scribble". From what you all are saying, it sounds like it does.

I wonder if the Dubfire connection got them to play DC?

rly like moon on water. as described it would seem like a track from any number of ~electronica~ albums that got 3* in the observer between 1998 and 2002 but the vaguely neu!-like synths give lie to that.

The way the speech starts to draa-aa-ag slightly with the beats really gets me. I don't know why. Love the album, except for Diamond Jigsaw, which is silly fun but out of place.

still dont get the total acclaim?? these songs starting w/ track 4 are super boring -- nothing on this is nearly as joyous as 'scribble'

i would of course see them live in like less than 2 seconds but not bcuz of 'hamburg hotel'

Fabulous record. Underworld & The Chemical Bros have really stepped up this year.

Loving this.

deej we're sorry that you don't understand why we like this entire album.

-nothing on this is nearly as joyous as 'scribble'

there are few things in recorded music as joyous as scribble. you really think the album should be filled with over the top joyous songs? one is more than enough for me but even ALAF gets really close to being too happy, hands in the air. i don't think anybody is getting excited about Hamburg Hotel. it's the consensus 'shoulda been a b-side' track from what i've been reading in reviews and on the forums. still, if you don't like it, there are other things you can listen to and a whole heap of threads you can post on!

it certainly doesn't ruin the album and it's a good break from the 3 track onslaught of bird 1, scribbs and ALAF

there are few things in recorded music as joyous as scribble

hyperbole aside, i kind of agree with this.

always loved a fim is the best workout song ever. soon to be licensed to gyms across the nation.

really enjoying this, diamond jigsaw's the only track I don't like so much

I'd just assumed Diamond Jigsaw was the big trancey one, that's actually Between Stars, which I love. Never would have expected Van Dyk to have produced the one indie pop track here. That's pretty great as well, though...

and a whole heap of threads you can post on!

― brotherlovesdub, Friday, September 10, 2010 10:09 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark

sorry didnt realize this thread was only for LP buttkissing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qa2YkFUQgqk

man is it me or is this a TOTAL BITE of 'downpipe,' the song he already did w/ underworld 2 years ago? is this a conceptual thing, or like, is he just lazy?

This?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XmpisSFlCc

The new track's most distinctive bit is probably the big riff that starts around 3:30. It's only vaguely similar to the riff that starts around 4:15 in Downpipe. Far from "a total bite." Otherwise, Downpipe is a lot moodier, and down-tempo, and vocal-driven. Maybe you could be more specific about the similarities you're hearing. (Or do you have a much different mix of Downpipe in mind?)

yeah it adds the riff @ 3:30 but its the same basic "doom doom. doom. doom doom. doom" backgrounds w/ the bleepy part added as it goes on -- just didnt have the big epic wooshy part in the middle w/ the snare roll breakdown

'total bite' is overstatement but its clearly the same formula

i guess an alternate post on teh similarities wd be "i guess we know what knight contributed to the underworld track"

Okay, I'll buy that. I guess I think of those loops as being pretty commonplace in lots of techno tracks, but it's likely enough that he contributed that element.

GEEK ALERT
Technically the two background loops are different, although they both alternate single and double stabs:

https://sites.google.com/site/pnauert/riffs.png

The Downpipe pattern is the backbone of "Groove La Chord," among other tracks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uM2It3WbXGk

Fancy 10" box set, I see.

apparently the Newbury Comics on Newbury St is selling a whole bunch of autographed copies of this for $10

I can see why deej only digs the first three tracks but this whole album is basically coming across to me like an iteration of Second Toughest... that actually works for me.

i love lots of lines in taht song but the one that really gets me is 'a moped started up, sounded like a chainsaw, tiny firecrackers'

haha yes, that was the line that really made me sit down and start memorizing the lyrics a la "Pearl's Girl"; I'm about 80% there on the last verse

a fly came in
along the shaft of sunlight
coming through the open door
he watched cross the room
and get halfway and then it
turned around and left
he laughed

for some reason the phrases "brain mustache" and "he smelled time again" do not want to stick in my brain

I think Bird 1 is really the big winner on the album, especially if you don't like the "new direction"

Given a year now to absorb all the "changes" between these songs and their demos, I still think they made some bad choices on this album (esp. on "Moon in Water" which was incredible in its demo/radio form) but most of it holds up for me. "Between Stars" is still a killer.

http://www.borndirty.org/forums/showthread.php?t=11072

lyrics thread.

I have a theory about the song being about an autistic/enlightened boy. the 'he smelled time' line fits with that interpretation and from there you can make the rest fit. it's a terrifically vivid song lyrically but as usual, it's nearly impossible to extract any real meaning from the lyrics.

it really does call back to the lyrical style of "Dirty Epic" re: the whole lucid dreaming thing they do so well

I really never understood how the big line in "Between Stars" is "Everybody craaaam!"

think that's weird too but the real payoff is the 'you and spin on the outside of the earth' bit or however it goes.

hey, what have UW been up to lately? i mean the album came out "only" a year ago but they've been pretty inactive since then haven't they?

They were deeply involved in the Frankenstein play, doing the soundtrack and working closely with Danny Boyle to tailor the sounds to the action. It worked great when I saw it. They played some festivals this summer. The new Pig & Dan collection has a mix of Faxed Invitation called Geeza that's actually pretty good. UW attempted to do the Barking / collaboration thing with Oblivion With Bells but it didn't work out then. Think Geeza is from then. Pig and Dan did a few mixes for Underworld on their RiverRun Project 12" series.

blah, being an American UW fan sucks, they've never come close to the Midwest in the last 12-13 years. would just love to hear some more new music!

I'm in America too. They showed the play at theaters in some big cities. It was pretty impressive. Def. the best telling of the Frankenstein story i've seen. I'm not sure i'd recommend buying the soundtrack unless you really liked the Breaking and Entering soundtrack. There are a couple tracks that are good on their own but it's not very 'underworldy'. They also released the 'soundtrack' for Karl's art thing in Japan. That is definitely worth tracking down. It's called Bungalow With Stairs and it was released under Rick Smith's name.

Their tour rig is too expensive to tour extensively in the US according to their manager. I don't remember the exact figure he quoted but with everyone involved they need a certain amount of money and outside of doing a festival, it's really hard to sell.

http://open.spotify.com/album/6TK42CmMHuLZ0WyDWIP5Jm

I have become obsessed with the "Bird 1" remix EP

just gonna repeat myself here: "Bird 1" is fucking amazing

also I don't play "Between Stars" enough

looking forward to "World In Motion II"

but yeah Bird 1 is the pure stuff

Definitely a tie between Bird 1 and Between Stars for best track.