Underworld - Barbara Barbara, We Face a Shining Future (Coming March 18, 2016)

the last three tracks on this is one of the best runs of their career

i also really love oblivion with bells (and the surrounding eps) but there are parts of that record that i lose track of. my favorite underworld record is either second toughest or beaucoup fish depending on the day

beaucoup fish is pretty underrated in a lot of ways, in some respects its sound is my ideal underworld sound, even though it's not my favorite (it's probably my #2 after STITI)

I think their most satisfying albums are Beaucoup Fish, A Hundred Days Off and Barking. However, my single favorite song of theirs is still "Dirty Epic".

It had never occurred to me that Beaucoup Fish was particularly underrated especially within the context of other Underworld albums. TBH it's the only one (other than Everything Everything) that I ever want to play in its entirety.

i guess think it's only underrated compared to the first two, i don't think it's ever regarded as being on par with them but i think it is.

btw NPR is offering "Ova Nova" up as a streamable song and it's kind of incredible

http://www.npr.org/2016/03/07/468737177/songs-we-love-underworld-ova-nova

Between this and "I Exhale", I feel like they've finally hit upon an iteration of the "Bruce Lee"/"Ring Road" template that works extremely well for me rather than making me want to die.

i want more sola sistim/jumbo kinda shit from them

hard to promise that there's anything like "jumbo" on here but there are many gorgeous moments, among them "ova nova"

i'm also revisiting i'm a big sister today and what a gorgeous collection of music

I used to fall asleep to the second half of that almost every day. It's really really good.

the new one is their shortest record so it feels weird for me to say i like it more than a hundred days off, which sort of takes its time doing everything at once, or oblivion with bells, which is maybe their most interior record and, of all their albums, the one i keep discovering new things in.

but i do :D

barbara also feels more like underworld than barking did, which imo barking very deliberately doesn't feel like underworld and is instead a kind of experiment in maximalism that is perfectly suited for spring/early summer weather so i've been jamming it a ton

Barking was full of bullshit collaborators. It wasn't really an Underworld album.

it's still really great imo

also "between stars" is evidence they should compose with darren price more often

^^^^^^^^

+1 for Darren Price

Its a great album, but boy does it seem short. Like an old-fashioned LP. Needs another side.

I didn't play '100 days off' that much, I guess I could dig that one out..

Then you'll probably remember why you didn't play it that much

Oh and album is officially streaming over at The Grauniad:

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/mar/14/underworld-barbara-barbara-we-face-a-shining-future-exclusive-album-stream?CMP=share_btn_tw

Then you'll probably remember why you didn't play it that much

hey at the very least my last relisten revealed that "luetin" is one of their best songs and is totally buried on that record!

^^^^ I have been saying this for years

ok, that can go on side three, what else?

IMO "No Move", "Two Months Off", "Twist", Dinosaur Adventure 3D"

btw I'm listening to the stream now and I think I'm going to really dig this whole album

righto, that's a side three wrap, ta very.

btw I'm listening to the stream now and I think I'm going to really dig this whole album

really psyched bc the first time i heard the record i was like "oh djp might be super into this"

I am delivering Hot Takes(TM) on Facebook

Luetin is great. Nice Peel Session version too. They opened the 2nd night in SF back in 07? With Luetin. So good.

so yeah this is pretty great; I'll figure out exactly how great once I live with this for a little bit

I think Luetin is the only song from AHDO I've played more than twice

Mo Move is great. Trim is one of my favorites. Twist live was better than it was on the album, esp. the show with the live guitar (Spain?). Ansum is also pretty great if you love 16min ambient pieces.

yeah I listened to AHDO the other day and it's a lot better than I remember it. I love all the acoustic percussion on it and the overall sound is great, also now that I don't automatically associate UW with bangers and epics the way I used to (which is why I now love OWB so much) it's starting to sound better to my ears. strange that a song as great as "8 Ball" didn't wind up making the album, though I don't know how well it would have fit. As mentioned "Luetin" is great though it's occurred to me that "Holding the Moth", from OWB, is even better.

Holding the Moth was much better before they ruined it on OWB, in my opinion. They totally killed the rhythm of the track in the studio.

strange that a song as great as "8 Ball" didn't wind up making the album, though I don't know how well it would have fit

That was recorded/released not long after BF so it seems natural that it wasn't part of their next album almost three years later.

didn't know that - I always thought it was part of the AHDO sessions just based on the way it sounded

It was on The Beach soundtrack which came out in early 2000 and I'm pretty sure I'd heard it before then (maybe via the old dirty.com forums).

Thing with Underworld though is that several of their tracks show up in live shows etc years before they finally make it to an album (if at all)

well here was my logic. I know that The Beach was Leo's first movie role in the three years since Titanic, which I THOUGHT came out in 1999, thus 1999 + 3 = 2002 - now I find out that Titanic came out in '97!?

either way - Scribble and Always Loved a Film were "in development" for 5+ years before appearing on Barking, "All These Things (In Me)", "Biro the Leggy", and "Globe" were all around from 2002-2004 before getting retitled and placed on OWB. I really have no idea how they decide what goes on the albums and what doesn't.

my underworld ranking at this time (i want to give BBWFASF a few more listens)

STITI>>BF>DNBWMHM>>AHDO>>OWB=Barking

i might have to relisten to the last two but they felt like good 7/10 albums, barking had higher peaks, OWB is more consistent, but both had issues for me in the end. i agree that barking doesn't quite feel like a "true" underworld album in a lot of ways but it's enough of one that i don't mind it.

If Barbara Barbara was just the last 4 tracks and released as an EP, we'd be talking about how UW were better than ever right now. The last 4 songs are among the best they've ever written.

March 18th, motherfuckers!

I think I'm currently at BF > DNBWMHM > Barking > AHDO > OWB > STITI

Dubno > OWB, STITI > BF, AHDO, BBWFASF

Tier 1 > Tier 2 > Tier 3

If Barbara Barbara was just the last 4 tracks and released as an EP, we'd be talking about how UW were better than ever right now.

I mean ok but the first three tracks are also awesome

yet another underworld thread that suggests everyone has really specific ideas of what constitutes a great underworld record

karl hyde gives me real Muppet vibes in the 'i exhale' video, i love it

STITI turned 20 this week.

Remember buying it on vinyl the day it came out then having a listening party at a mate's house that evening and everyone being blown away.

stiti = bf > owb > dubno > barking > ahdo

barbara may be ahead or behind owb at this point. if i'm a big sister counts it's equal to stiti and bf imo

sssssssnaaaake

more like "sssssssnaaa-"

twenty four hours

A recording of the Amsterdam show can now be found at your favourite file sharing sites

it has been on mixcloud all this time btw - and they've given us King Of Snake without the cut too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvMqR4X3TQI

I just wanted to share that my sons were running around the house last night shouting "LUNA LUNA LUNA LUNA/I LOVE THIS" completely unprompted

I think I can call it a day on this parenting thing, clearly I've succeeded.

wow, this is absolutely killer - haven't heard them do this sort of improv in a long long time

the fact that these guys only have two official live albums (counting the impossible-to-get Tokyo '05 set) is criminal

i’ve spent an unreasonable amount of time searching for a working torrent of tokyo ‘05

if you're on slsk I can zip it to ya

Great work, DJP.

Nice to see them back to mixing things up more in live sets. I was at the Tokyo show in '05 - catching the Amsterdam stream was like a flashback.

I listened to Barbara Barbara again the other day. I can't fathom how they remain this great. This is my favourite work of theirs since the Riverrun EP's (I liked everything in between as well, including side projects)

BRAVO

i’ve spent an unreasonable amount of time searching for a working torrent of tokyo ‘05

It's very easy to find on soulseek

20+ people sharing right now

(duh - that link I found is only for premium users, isn't it? sorry) :(

http://thequietus.com/articles/24344-underworld-brilliant-yes-that-would-be
Nice 'n moody - Fenneszy guitars in the last part