Underworld - Drift

Was just going to post.

DRIFT: Series 1 – Track Listings (Subject to Change):

Sampler Edition
Appleshine
This Must Be Drum Street
Listen To Their No
Border Country
Mile Bush Pride
Schiphol Test
Brilliant Yes That Would Be
S T A R (Rebel Tech)
Imagine A Box
Custard Speedtalk

Boxset

CD1 – Ep 1 DUST
Another Silent Way
Dexters Chalk
Low Between Zebras
Universe Of Can When Back
Brilliant Yes That Would Be
Another Silent Way / Drift Poem / Better Than Diamonds (previously unreleased)
One True Piano Need Hand (previously unreleased)

CD2 – Ep 2 ATOM
Appleshine
Molehill
Threat Of Rain
Brussels
Soniamode (Aditya Game)
Appleshiner (previously unreleased)
Roof Off (previously unreleased)

CD3 – Ep 3 HEART
Dune
Custard Speedtalk
This Must Be Drum Street
Pinetum
Poet Cat
Do Breakers Trip (previously unreleased)
Seven Music Drone (previously unreleased)

Wondering if Appleshiner is a shorter version of Appleshine Continuum?

the single disc album is now the "sampler edition" with the following tracklist:
Appleshine
This Must Be Drum Street
Listen To Their No
Border Country
Mile Bush Pride
Schiphol Test
Brilliant Yes That Would Be
S T A R (Rebel Tech)
Imagine A Box
Custard Speedtalk

it's also on iTunes too https://music.apple.com/au/album/drift-series-1-sampler-edition/1479687494 which notes that most of the tracks are remastered (not really surprising) but a lot of the track times are disappointingly shorter than the existing versions, which is strange since it's only an hour long as it is so i'd think there's room for them to have the full versions? weirdly it also includes "brilliant yes that would be" which was released a bit before they officially started drift (though a snippet of it was the intro to episode 1)

the boxset tracklisting isn't fully on that news post for some reason (only three CDs out of the seven) but they do seem to be editing the tracklists of each of the EPs a little in addition to the bonus tracks (not really a surprise that Appleshine Continuum will have its own disc i guess)

presumably that is wrt "appleshine continuum", though i guess they might throw in "a very silent way" on that disc since that was the other necks collab and isn't on the episode 1 disc, as well as other bonus tracks

there were only 6 CD's before...

still with the "52 weeks" so more to come with this series...

more serieses....

I'm dust

nice to see added emphasis on the project itself, with the album now titled as a "sampler". Whole thing to come to streaming services!

Dear Customer,

This is a notification to let you know that the release date of Drift Songs has been changed to 2019-11-01.

Kind Regards,
Underworld Store

before I noticed it came from a "noreply" thingy, I wanted to reply and say it was quite alright

xp yeah I'm glad to see that too, I didn't want this to be looked at like "here's the new album + a bunch of supplemental material", since I think all 5 of these EPs can stand on their own. would be a bit like Autechre coming out with a 1-disc version of NTS Sessions for the casuals. originally was a bit disappointed that the single disc was "just" a best-of but the extra material on all the other discs more than makes up for it

love the new track too, it's a bit gimmicky but UW have certainly earned it at this point

bring on 11-1

also of interest:

https://tower.jp/item/4930781

Japan version of the sampler is actually two discs, with disc 2 containing some of the more ambient/low key bits, + 2 tracks we haven't heard yet..."Do Breakers Trip" (listed as a bonus on EP3) and "A Moth at the Door"

looking over the track times on the iTunes sampler - several tracks are a bit shorter (particularly "Schiphol Test"), not really clear if these are "new" versions or just edits/fades. funny that "Mile Bush Pride", the one track I would hope would be expanded here, is actually cut down to 1:30

STAR is fun. The original is a highlight from Riverrun. I haven't played it in a while, but it sounds like Rick did quite a bit with it here as well.

many xp's to sic: nothing wrong with lots of Karl (what's really meant here is "vocals"), it just seemed unusual for them if this was all towards an album...I think that's evidenced by their inclusion of BYTWB on the "sampler".

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/underworld-drift-series-1-star-883355/?&cf=1

Google skills.

yup, a Necks disc, with a third track that's a take on Altitude Dub!

this revealed the name of the last episode, Game

dust
atom
heart
space
game

ok

I wonder if they just release some of the extra box tracks in the remaining weeks.. there's 11! if next week is episode 5 release, there's 5 left

Full tracklist. With all the unreleased tracks I think everything from the Ep 2 liner notes is covered.

CD1 - Ep 1 DUST
Another Silent Way
Dexters Chalk
Low Between Zebras
Universe Of Can When Back
Brilliant Yes That Would Be
Another Silent Way / Drift Poem / Better Than Diamonds (previously unreleased)
One True Piano Need Hand (previously unreleased)

CD2 - Ep 2 ATOM
Appleshine
Molehill
Threat Of Rain
Brussels
Soniamode (Aditya Game)
Appleshiner (previously unreleased)
Roof Off (previously unreleased)

CD3 - Ep 3 HEART
Dune
Custard Speedtalk
This Must Be Drum Street
Pinetum
Poet Cat
Do Breakers Trip (previously unreleased)
Seven Music Drone (previously unreleased)

CD4 - Ep 4 SPACE
Listen To Their No
Schiphol Test
Hundred Weight Hammer
Doris
Altitude Dub
Border Country
Big Bear (previously unreleased)

CD5 - Ep 5 GAME
Toluca Stars
Mile Bush Pride
Imagine A Box
Tree And Two Chairs
Give Me The Room
S T A R
Doscientos (previously unreleased)
Two Arrows (previously unreleased)
A Moth At The Door (previously unreleased)

CD6 - Underworld and The Necks
Appleshine Continuum
A Very Silent Way
Altitude Dub Continuum (previously unreleased)

so in the end it did wind up being 6 EPs. my guess is they really didn't know where all this was going so they reconfigured it to something that made a bit more sense.

I'm interested in how the Necks disc is going to be mixed. I'm sure I'm not the only one who noticed that the ending of "Appleshine Continuum" sort of leads into the "Very Silent Way" groove. would be incredible if it was all mixed together. "Altitude Dub" is a strange choice - would have expected "Table & Two Chairs There"

Enough material for 6 at least. I don't have high hopes for the extras... wouldn't they be kept for series 2 work if they were anything special? Or are they determined to start fresh?

It's interesting that the Sampler leans so heavily on later episodes. I wasn't a huge fan of #1, but I could see some of the old gang on the fan forum like it best. 2 and 3 I was all in on. 4 and 5 I'm enjoying... sort of felt like it was the B material to cap a crazy, long project (besides Border Country and a couple others). I'll spend some more time with them... but clearly they're the band's favourites and that surprised me. When the box comes, I'll be trying to read it as some sort of gradual evolution in their sound, that they seem to think was successful.

well UW's extras have always been pretty good but I kinda suspect that these may be early versions or riffs off the stuff they released. like how "Dark and Long" became 10 different pieces somehow.

I agree that the high point of the project was somewhere in the middle..."Appleshine Continuum" -> all the Episode 3 stuff -> "Listen to their No" & "Schiphol Test"...but that said I've liked the Ep 5 tracks a lot, I just haven't listened to them more than once or twice because I'm waiting for the actual EP. I am surprised that something like "Dexters Chalk" or "Another Silent Way" isn't on the sampler but maybe they felt it was banging enough as it was. It looks to me like they're backtracking a little bit on the idea of the "Drift Songs" album and instead are focusing on the project as a whole. Maybe they didn't expect this stuff to turn out as good as it did.

truetruetrue

about the 90s and the many "remixes"... a lot of these things were straight up new songs labeled as remixes on singles in order to get more material out and still be eligible to chart... at least that was what I heard around, back then. Many did share elements though so it's all blurred.

the mystery continues

if anything, they usually named them as straight up new songs on the singles and then later sort-of rebranded them as versions for clarity. given how improv-based they were in the Emerson era, it's probable that they thought of them / recorded them as completely different takes on the same ideas, rather than remixing one "finished" song.

It's interesting that the Sampler leans so heavily on later episodes

yeah, I'm guessing this is recency bias? or maybe they know sales on the later EPs are much lower once the album was announced, so they figure more ppl have heard the early tracks. be interesting to see if the shorter sampler versions are different mixes or just basic edits / fades.

Rebranded for clarity? Eh, like when?

it's hard to imagine them being too concerned with sales, but it's been funny how almost every single week has a different wrinkle to it. Download and YouTube, no streaming / streaming and YouTube only / just YouTube ... their people must have some interesting metrics, but i dunno if that would have influenced the tracklist

Rebranded for clarity? Eh, like when?

Born Slippy .NUXX retitled Born Slippy (Nuxx) or Born Slippy (Nuxx Mix) (or, for less clarity, just Born Slippy) on 8 million compilations

Dirty Guitar retitled Dirty Epic (Dirty Guitar Mix) on US releases

Dark Train retitled Dark & Long (Dark Train Mix) on foreign releases & the superdeluxe DubNob, Thing In A Book retitled Dark & Long (Thing In Book) or Dark & Long (Thing In A Book Mix) on foreign releases and the superdeluxe etc etc

Ep. 5 out last Thursday, been enjoying it a lot

some people on the fanboard have pointed out a few differences - most obviously is "Mile Bush Pride" which is cut down to 1:30, but there's also a replacement of the great jazzy keyboard line on "Tree and Two Chairs" and an off-beat delay on the vocals at the end of "S T A R". so make sure you keep your single tracks

makes me wonder what the EPs on the box set will sound like. I wouldn't be surprised if they made a bunch of tweaks to the entire thing, especially the early tracks

keep single tracks? Weren't some or all of those you mention YouTube-only? I'll maybe fuss about archiving YouTube rips after I see what is on the Bluray. Something like "Mile Bush Pride" might have a pretty simple visual, but I doubt they will just lop half of that off. I'm thinking the videos are the videos, whether or not they have the "(Film Edit)" tag.

Episode is very nice. The week-to-week might've been more underwhelming than the others, but I doubt I'll see it as the weakest once I get my head around the full series. It's funny when everything is introduced to you as a "single".

correction, only "Mile Bush Pride" was YouTube-only previously. Others were on streaming at least.

I think you could download some of them. I was able to get the original "Tree and Two Chairs" & "Mile Bush Pride"

editing "Mile Bush Pride" makes some sense to me since it feels like a bit of a scrap at the end, but I'm perplexed as to why they changed "Tree and Two Chairs" - it loses some of its depth. great track either way but the Film Edit is clearly better. luckily it's very easy to just swap 'em out, they're exactly the same length.

Wow that is a weird choice on Tree and Two Chairs... especially when it's the lead instrument around 9:05.

it does change the focus of the track somewhat. you may also notice the drums are turned up in the EP mix. maybe Rick wasn't happy with the keyboard line...felt it was too meandering or whatever. may be similar to why the version of "Twist" on AHDO doesn't have the guitar bit on it. it's a weird decision and one I don't really agree with but if you've got both versions it's hard to really complain

I think you could download some of them. I was able to get the original "Tree and Two Chairs" & "Mile Bush Pride"

from my records, Mile Bush Pride was the only one that had a freebie download, but all the others were available for purchase as singles from digital retailers. wonder if they deliberately did that with Mile Bush bcz they already knew it was going to be shorter on the EP.

I'm going to stop talking about the availability of anything, my files are a mess.

https://underworldlive.com/music/biro-the-leggy-romford-dub/

We're back in the archives today! An early version of Beautiful Burnout.

5 more Thursdays before the Friday, Nov 1 release

A different version of Biro The Leggy has been knocking around for years - the female vocals are "new" to the Romford Dub

This is the first of the "in between" archive tracks since May to come out as a free MP3 on the mailing list, if people haven't been checking their inboxes. Also the first track since Schipol Test, at the end of May, to go up on Soundcloud in full, for whatever reason (though Schipol was cut down to a 30-second preview after the "single" came out; This Must Be Drum Street in early April is the most recent track to still be in full there. They really, really went out of their way not to release any Episode the same way twice!)

Also correcting myself above: Give Me The Room does look to have been youtube-exclusive: the only new Drift track not to come out as a download at all before the EP release, I think.

I almost have to admire their dedication to doing this in as inconsistent a manner as possible. I guess its possible that they're workshopping different methods of distribution to see what gets the most engagement it feels like they really are flying by the seat of their pants. Can't argue with the results though. I think all five of these EPs are great.

i feel like they're working with someone working on a thesis on music distribution

i even enjoy the confusion between "episode" and "EP" (and sic, I'm pretty sure, confusing "Episode" for "part" above).

They're closer to "albums" than "EPs" I think. Of course, who cares. But it's a good larf.

not to mention the original idea that this was a leadup to the "Drift Songs" album, which now apparently doesn't exist, but there will be a "Sampler" which is effectively what the album would've been, though this may be more of a "compilation"

either way I feel bad for whoever's trying to sort all this out on RYM & Discogs

looks to me like they're backtracking a little bit on the idea of the "Drift Songs" album and instead are focusing on the project as a whole. Maybe they didn't expect this stuff to turn out as good as it did.

yeah I think they changed their mind about one "album" coming out of it almost immediately after announcing it, but better to keep moving than to issue a retraction / clarification

(and sic, I'm pretty sure, confusing "Episode" for "part" above).

Episode = the five or six weeks of new tracks being released to the public in various forms. "EP" - the purchaseable bundle of (more-or-less) those tracks that comes out in the sixth week.

And yeah, none of them are really EPs. That feels like something else that got away from them the second they announced it. 30 minutes is physically LP length, but only including an additional 30 seconds of Brilliant Yes on the first one suggests they were really trying to make the compiled releases compact / along the lines of what's counted as an EP by Underworld standards before. Of course, the second one promptly blows out to double-album length, even on CD, but they've already set the terminology, so just keep moving.

right, though #2 isn't going to be that long on the boxset, since the 47 minute track is moved to a separate disc with the other Necks collabs. no clue what any of the bonus tracks are but I would estimate that each episode will wind up between 45-60 minutes in the end (besides maybe the 1st one, which seems completely redone). their latest studio album was 46 minutes so yeah, I think you could fairly call this 5 new albums. unfortunately getting tagged as "EPs" seems to be causing a lot of listeners to overlook them. I wonder if they're gonna do a big media blitz once the boxset comes out.

we can call the whole thing a sextuple album (or maybe even septuple if you want to count the sampler disc as part of it)

a "big album"

this week "Dirty Club" is released. that's "Dirty" with the vocals from "Dirty Epic" on it. Has been done live. First dubnobass vault week?

it's download only this time. Go figure em

poking around the fan forum and googling a bit, some other versions of these last two:

I think this is the Biro The Leggy I'd heard before, which may be from January 2004 when it was webcast, or any time between then and the song's live debut in 2000 (youtube link)

They played another version that was getting closer to Beautiful Burnout at a John Peel tribute in December 2004 (direct mp3 link)


This week's Dirty Club Epic seems to be a basic mashup by The Misterons, put together in 2017 after Underworld had done some more fundamental playing around with the two in 2016.

The trailer (after-trailer?) for Karl's Tokyo Street Poem installation in March 2016 featured a snippet of a chopped-and-screwed-ish mix of the two:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6a1cR7SXJ5U

Here's a live video from London in March 2016 (youtube link)

And an mp3 of a live version in Pomona, California from April 2016 mediafire link

also the Misterons version Dirty Club is on youtube and soundcloud now

I did get the emails, I'll have to catch up with the EPs / episodes, whatever.

The box set is out in three weeks, if you don’t get around to tracking down 47 weeks of back catalogue by then

There is that, yes.

nice, stripped down version of "Best Mamgu Ever" today.

download, or: https://soundcloud.com/underworld/best-mamgu-ever-wales-in-japan-2019

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0009l5r

"Rebel Tech" version of S T A R can be found here, skip to the 39 minute mark

its basically an entirely new track

yeah it's funny they capped off the new releases by for the first (obvious) time reusing old material... now they have a totally new version of that, which is going to be on the Sampler thing.

last Thursday's release was a nice take on "Why Why Why".... still only available at the link that was emailed I guess.

you'd figure if any of the other Sampler tracks were different versions or edits, they'd also be labelled as such. which means that the box has to include one CD that's entirely redundant apart from 3 minutes. bonkers.