Underworld - Drift

yeah, nothing came of World Of Underworld other than Brilliant That (released on youtube 5/4/18 and as a single 5/5/18), a covermount 7" with two old tracks** on it, and the first three minutes of Appleshine (as Apple Shine For Belfast) on youtube*, and their themed Spotify playlists. It's p clear that it was a false start for Drift:

Over time, the World of Underworld will evolve as new releases and unearthed material appears on streaming platforms and they become a platform for experimentation, for creative process and spontaneous releases

I'm counting the belated releases of Teatime Dub Encounters and Price's Everybody Jack as part of them figuring out what turned into Drift, too

* in an extremely cool trick, after the full Appleshine was uploaded, the original Belfast video started seamlessly switching to the new one at 3:15

** a Pearl's Girl B-side, and the bonus track from Barbara Barbara

https://music.apple.com/us/album/drift-series-1/1483468013?app=itunes&ign-mpt=uo%3D4

looks like a lot of tweaks

EP1 - "Brilliant Yes That Would Be", "Another Silent Way / Drift Poem / Better Than Diamonds", and "One True Piano Need Hand" take up about 34 minutes. so way different than the released version

EP2 - "Appleshine" is *not* cut down and "Appleshiner" is now called "Appleshine (All of the Lights)"

EP3 - "This Must be Drum Street" is now 7 and a half minutes.

EP4 - basically no changes (outside of one new track)

EP5 - Toluca Stars & Tree and Two Chairs are now the "Film edits"

"Altitude Dub Continuum" is 31 minutes long. "Appleshine Continuum" now cut down to a mere 34

there's nearly 2 hours of previously unreleased stuff on here, depending on what you count. either way seems like plenty of stuff even for those of us who've followed it from the beginning

bring it on

daaamn thanks for that. I assume the Bluray will have the full Appleshine Continuum.
iTunes release doesn't include the new version of STAR i guess, as it lacks the Sampler disc that the box has. Heh

--
Very pretty ambient bleeps released Thursday for download, "SYDNEY HOTEL ROOM PEAL"
https://underworldlive.acemlna.com/lt.php?i=60A99A1A750

The email didn't say it was the last "weekly Drift drop" or anything... maybe yet another release on the day before the retail releases.

looks like box shipments are delayed 3 weeks. someone posted their store page listing on Facebook. funny I didn't get an email like I did when it went from Oct 31 to Nov 1. I logged in and viewed may day one order, sure enough, Nov 22 shipping.

oh well, digital feast this weekend!

my* day 1

yeah looks like promo copies of the single disc have already been sent out so it looks like this thing is finally 'finished'

wonder how many media outlets are gonna review this as a 5xLP instead of one disc + a bunch of bonuses. with the unreleased material it really is 5 proper albums plus the Necks disc

The Necks disc is no less proper!

how dare you

apparently those of us who preordered the box only get the Sampler edition d/l tomorrow

not sure if I'm gonna wait 3 weeks for it or just pirate the thing

recap video... works as a nice trailer for anyone looking at this thread like, wtf

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YE8y6Z9nafA

I checked the box store page cuz the email they sent about preorders was confusing.... well, there is no download included.

I'll tell you this much, disc one is a great soundtrack to serving truckortreaters

ok I got the sampler download and it's sounding awesome so far. it definitely feels like an album proper (the songs do fade into each other, somewhat) and the whole thing appears to have been remastered. its a bit quieter and less trebly but sounds great when cranked up. lotta subtle differences in the tracks, especially "Drum Street" which sounds like it was reassembled from scratch. as a single disc it's definitely up their with their best but man do I wanna hear the full version

Nice.

I've only played disc one of the box so far. The long version of Brilliant Yes That Would Be is gorgeous.

Be back once I've listened to all 7 discs!

listening to the sampler and it does flow remarkably well as an album. i wouldn't put it up with their very best but it's solidly enough second tier underworld which is still quite good? looking forward to properly digging into the full near-6 hour box set sometime but it'll take a while

I see the keyboard line in "Tree & Two Chairs" is back

Well, wow...

New material is pretty great. They could've easily had a sixth "episode" here. I want to listen to that stuff again on its own soon. I made a playlist of all of it, besides the new Appleshine and the one that's a longer Another Silent Way, basically, and it comes to 80 minutes.

I noticed Pinetum has a new ending, and Dune uses a different vocal take (and has some new background vocals - Rick? - on a bit near the end). I'm sure there's loads of little differences like you said.

The little touches that make the Sampler disc songs fit together are cool, but I think the approach is smart, to call it that. I don't know if it plays great for me as an "album" but whatever... i was overwhelmed by the time i played this after the rest of the box. Have to do some proper listening the weekend.

I'm hoping the Sampler doesn't steal the thunder from the rest of the box - most reviews I'm seeing online only cover that disc, and if you go on RYM the Sampler is the "main edition", you have to click around a bit to find the full boxset

They're doing all they reasonably can to push the full thing. I'll be interested to look around for reviews in a few weeks.

I'd be really interested to hear what any new or casual fans would think after a 6 hour listen!

still haven't spent much time with the new songs. Played the new Necks track four or five more times in the background though, it's great.

the only thing I can really compare it to is these last couple of Autechre releases but I think its fair to say that UW's output is a bit more diverse. its not really something you can review after one listen.

I did ask a friend who was into them back in the day if he'd checked it out yet, he said "6 hours of Underworld, I bet I can tell you exactly what that sounds like", first track he heard was "Dune" and he was like "wait this is nothing like what I expected"

is the sampler a continuous mix? bc that's exactly what i wanted them to do omg

can't wait to trawl through the box

ok it's not exactly a continuous mix but they did manage to make it feel very album-shaped which i'm so impressed with

i also love that it is somewhat by necessity their most bangin' album ever

it is a good job. I remember the Sampler tracklist coming out and everyone commenting was like... Those songs??

Listen to their No into Border Country is pretty jarring, as is anything coming after Border Country. Guess they didn't want to close on that note. Custard works better as a closer than I would've thought.

track for track the flow of it reminds me a lot of Beacoup Fish. you know...chill opener, several singles in a row, some more ambient stuff, then you got "S T A R" taking the "Bruce Lee" / "Kittens" spot, wonky rhythm track "Imagine a Box" somewhat like "Something Like a Mama", then a striking closer

i still think my favorite thing from the drift series is "threat of rain"

great one. the brand new songs on the box remind me of that episode 2 vibe. You should like em. That was my fave episode.... now ...I
.. don't... know... anything

further reports now that i'm deeper in the box:

- as with the eps the first disc is still the weakest. i enjoy the "pearls girl"-y ride of "another silent way/drift poem/better than diamonds" a lot though
- "roof off" is a jam
- frankly i'm getting blown away by the episode 3 all over again. the extended "drum street" is a dream. were "poet cat" and "dune" always this amazing? is "pinetum" oddly sinister to anyone else and if so does the sourceless knocking freak y'all out? and forget what i said upthread, "custard speedtalk" is by far the best track to come out of these sessions and is a quintessential underworld experience. and both of the new tracks slap. wonderful

the 15 minute suite on disc 1 is a trip

the live/looped(?) drums on "custard" are so beautiful. i feel like, given their approach to improvisation, i've always sort of unconsciously wanted a jazzier underworld record and ... i finally have one and it's more gorgeous than i'd ever imagined

yeah first time I heard it I was about 2 minutes in before wondering if it was in fact the best UW tune ever

I wonder if that direction was something picked up by Karl's solo excursions - lotta live drums on the Hyde/Eno records, mixed towards the front like they are on here

xp about Pinetum, it's a weird one. Fun or scary depending on my mood, like, I find. I've heard this description about a lot ambient music, and though I like plenty of that stuff, not much of it ever sounds happy to me

i didn't spend a lot of time with episode 5 before the box came out and wtf how is "toluca stars" so beautiful

"so beautiful" that's my review of drift series 1 by underworld

i've always sort of unconsciously wanted a jazzier underworld record

"Tree and Two Chairs" probably gonna be up your alley then

it really is, as is "doscentitos" which is prob my favorite of the new new tracks

I don't think I enjoy UW enough nowadays to listen to six discs but the sampler is quite nice, certainly it caught my attention more than Barbara. "Appleshine" and "Brilliant Yes" stood out as highlights

Oh yeah "Custard" was really interesting too! The synth work is kind of "Rez"-y but the vibe created by the piano/live drums makes it so different

he'll be back

I'm only an Underworld dilettante but this is luminous. Custard Speedtalk is the drifting summer capsule I need right now.

i'm really loving the sampler as its own thing. best underworld album since oblivion with bells imo, maybe even better than that

as i said a few posts ago, this song is incredible

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J34Z7hE35sc

i don't think the sampler is quite as good as barbara barbara but i'm still enjoying it

finally going through all the new tracks from the box-set and some of these are wonderful - "another silent way/drift poem/better than diamonds", "doscientos" and "two arrows" are all fantastic. this is making my attempt at a drift best-of even more difficult

Big Bear is such a fucking jam

I sort of lost track of this throughout the year - downloaded things and then left them lingering on the computer somewhere.

Now playing ... there's actually loads of amazing stuff on here.

"one true piano need hand" kind of rules if you think of it as a ten minute prelude to Appleshine

the first "Drift" show is happening like right now. Rick "and the Misterons" do a set before the main one. Interested to hear something out of this

the one modification I make is putting "Are You Rockstar?" as Track 1 on EP 3. it makes a great prelude to "Dune".

* the first "Drift" show is happening like right now. Rick "and the Misterons" do a set before the main one. Interested to hear something out of this *

?

https://underworldlive.com/drift-live/

"and the Misterons"

keeping Darren busy

Listen to Their No
Jumbo
Juanita
Another Silent Way
Border Country
Dirty Epic
S T A R (Rebel Tech)
Rez/Cowgirl
TMO
KoS
NUXX

wheeew