Underworld - Classic or Dud?

and i always forget how amazing "bird 1" is

i loved scribble but was really disappointed by barking

that's a great single but the live versions that appeared as early as 2005 were truly mindblowing. THAT is what I wanted them to capture in the studio

I liked Scribble a lot upon release but Bird 1 is the jam that has had the longest shelf life. There are moments or lyrics that work great in other songs (like "The sound of a barking dog on a loop/A plane rises in the crystal blue/The rhythm of keys swinging in your hand/The rhythm of light coming out of your fingers" from Always Loved a Film) but the songs as a whole don't work as well as they could have w/more traditional untraditional Underworld structure and production. I don't think the album is bad by any means, it was just a wrong turn for them.

There's a noise in Bird 1 that repeats that kills the song for me. I love Strumpet and still play it a bunch, but they ruined the track once they took it to the studio. I would love to discuss the meaning of the lyrics of that song though. I have a theory, but I'd like to hear other theories.

Barking rules a lot, the weakest song on it is "Scribble" which is still fantastic

also I play "Bird 1" something like once a week

oh yeah i believe *looks up ilx thread with my posts* i felt the first three songs (bird 1, film, scribble) were fire then it fell off

i was at Berlin nightclub in chicago & 'scribble' came on at like 1am it was so epic of an experience ill never be down on that song

'film' is def amazing also

the live set from 2010 i listened to a whole bunch more than the album but i also just liked the energy of the crowd noise & shit

yea thanks for alerting me to the existence of that. I definitely think an EE-style live recording of this stuff would've blown Barking out of the water. what an awesome set.

thanks for this fellas, I'll probably get Barking the next time around. Judging the crowd that usually frequents this particular shop, it won't be gone, since it does not feature beardy guys playing folk songs.

Ah, I bet they'll be putting on those gigs shortly...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&persist_app=1&noapp=1&v=uwqWAal0jB0

i forgot to report, i did gét Barking, after all, at RSD. It was even cheaper now (at the same shop). Only fifty cents. If one waits long enough, one might get the album for free.

anyway, I enjoy it. I guess this is Underworld's most amusing, POP record, in a New Order (or even Bad Lieutenant) kinda way.
I mean a lyric like.. 'the rhythm of the summer that you'd wanted (voice in the background: BURNING BURNING)' is quite.. Sumnerish. :-)

the closing track is Talk Talk-heaven. Underworld wears its influences on their sleeves here.

New track with Iggy Pop in grandpa telling old stories mode

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KmJWD9jQvhc

wow, this goes hard. sounds like they've turned back the clock about 20 years

btw I kind of wonder how this didn't wind up in Trainspotting 2, it almost feels like it should've been to that what Born Slippy was to the original

am i the only person who has listened to second toughest in the infants 4 millions times but never really listened to anything else by underworld? its just so perfect to me and i never felt like i needed more.

I’m so sick of Iggy Pop after he ruined that song on the last New Order record. Get one new idea guys please. Send him a card to tell him you used to listen to The Idiot.

haha, iggy was on a new order song? hahahaha! oh brother. i don't think i've ever heard any 21st century new order and i'm gonna keep it that way.

that album was p good but also no one really needed it

am i the only person who has listened to second toughest in the infants 4 millions times but never really listened to anything else by underworld? its just so perfect to me and i never felt like i needed more.

― scott seward, Wednesday, May 30, 2018 7:11 AM (fifty-four minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

you might be but i can't argue with your reasoning tbh

am i the only person who has listened to second toughest in the infants 4 millions times but never really listened to anything else by underworld? its just so perfect to me and i never felt like i needed more.

I love the albums either side of it but they don't quite do the same thing for me. Wait does this mean you've never heard Born Slippy?

i've heard it. and i've heard dubnobass and i actually bought beaucoup fish when it came out but i never played it much and dubnobass just seemed like a not as amazing infants when i heard it. but that's just me! but i SERIOUSLY love infants. i've played it year in and year out since it was released.

I love the albums either side of it but they don't quite do the same thing for me. Wait does this mean you've never heard Born Slippy?

― Gavin, Leeds, Wednesday, May 30, 2018 5:08 PM (forty-five minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Scott, you're not alone! I bothered with Dubnobass and Beaucoup Fish, but they didn't take. Second Toughest is all I need. And I bought this 2cd when it came out, which does have Born Slippy. And Rez, man. Rez.

idk how y'all can live without "dirty epic" but more power to you

the only underworld i need is second toughest. and beaucoup fish. and dubnobass. and the tokyo set. and prob two cd-rs of remixes (one of their own work and one of others). and the everything everything dvd. and

dubnobass changed my life though, it was the first dance music i ever heard that wasn't, say, la bouche (also great)

La bouche! <3
??
I know 'Dirty Epic', so I'm not living without it. I just don't ever need to hear it again?

I did listen to the Eno/Hyde stuff, if that counts. But only because Eno. And it was disappointing.

(no idea where the double q-marks came from)

I know 'Dirty Epic', so I'm not living without it. I just don't ever need to hear it again?

fair! (idgi, but fair.) but it's also all good, second toughest fucking rules

i'm in the "never listen to anything except Second Toughest" club too

A life without Faxed Invitation, Peach Tree, Trim, Best Mamgu Ever, Oich Oich, 8 Ball, Thing In A Book, and River of Bass is a life not worth living.

Oblivion and Barbara have been my go-tos this year. post-BF Underworld is really slept on

Possibly uncool but I adore this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id2HezdNF2k

Louisiana is a great song! It's uncool to not like it. See also the UW remix of William's Last Words by Manic Street Preachers, which for me captures a similarly reflective / somber tone.

btw I think I say this every year in this thread but the UW release with a title that starts with "I'm a Big Sister" is an incredibly brilliant ambient EP (it's about 30 minutes long) that I think stacks up with any classic UW deep cut you could name

I wanna complain it's overlooked but they just released it on their own webstore and I think you can't get it anymore, so it's sort of their own fault

wish they'd just open up a Bandcamp already

otm about i'm a big sister, it's one of the best things they've ever done

^^^ Who is that voice doing the I'm a Big Sister thing, by the way? it sounds like Simon Armitage.

I think I've finally figured out why I'm not a big underworld fan, since i think the new track with iggy pop is fucking great till karl hyde opens his mouth.

finally listening to the iggy pop track, it's... wonderful??? pop just kinda sounds like a sample

wow, this goes hard. sounds like they've turned back the clock about 20 years

― frogbs, Wednesday, May 30, 2018 6:50 AM (four days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lol yeah i was like "when was the last time they made something this pulsing and driving"

NO MORE ROCK CRITICS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjDbyewmOK4

collaborative ep with iggy pop, teatime dub encounters, out today

haven't heard the whole thing yet but "trapped" seems to rule

I like the two songs I've heard thus far, definitely will be grabbin' this

Hahahaha this is bananas

#Suicide

at least it's bound to be better than Lulu.