UNDER|||ORLD: babs & bobs
Baby Wants To Ride (Underworld vs Misterons 12'' Mix) • [Frankie Knuckles cover 12", 2015] 7:48 Baby Wants To Ride (Underworld vs Heller & Farley 12'' Mix) • [Frankie Knuckles cover 12", 2015] 9:27 I Exhale • Barbara Barbara, We Face A Shining Future [2016] 8:10 If Rah • Barbara Barbara, We Face A Shining Future [2016] 7:12 Low Burn • Barbara Barbara, We Face A Shining Future [2016] 6:44 Santiago Cuatro • Barbara Barbara, We Face A Shining Future [2016] 4:00 Motorhome • Barbara Barbara, We Face A Shining Future [2016] 6:23 Ova Nova • Barbara Barbara, We Face A Shining Future [2016] 5:31 Nylon Strung • Barbara Barbara, We Face A Shining Future [2016] 6:48 Twenty Three Blue • [b-side/bonus 2016] 6:45 Eventually But • [b-side to Long Slow Slippy, 2017] 2:57 Bells & Circles • [Underworld with Iggy Pop, Teatime Dub Encounters EP 2017 (rel. 2018)] 7:30 Trapped • [Underworld with Iggy Pop, Teatime Dub Encounters EP 2017 (rel. 2018)] 7:44 I’ll See Big • [Underworld with Iggy Pop, Teatime Dub Encounters EP 2017 (rel. 2018)] 4:47 Get Your Shirt • [Underworld with Iggy Pop, Teatime Dub Encounters EP 2017 (rel. 2018)] 7:31 Bells & Circles (Instrumental Version) • [Teatime Dub Encounters EP 2017 (rel. 2018)] 7:30 Get Your Shirt (Instrumental Version) • [Teatime Dub Encounters EP 2017 (rel. 2018)] 7:31 Too Little Too Late • [Joris Voorn feat. Underworld, 2019] 5:49 Too Little Too Late (Club Mix) • [Joris Voorn feat. Underworld, remix 2019] 7:03
― Elon's musk (sic), Friday, 8 May 2020 11:15 (four years ago) link
looking forward to the extensive documentation of all the Drift alternate versions
i think i might have Barbara Barbara very very high, it's one of their most enjoyable to listen to as a whole. the only low-point is "Santiago Cuatro" which isn't bad, just quite a bit more out of place than the guitar interludes usually are.
― ufo, Friday, 8 May 2020 12:08 (four years ago) link
listening to "big meat show," an outtake from dubnobass that's on the 1992-2012 comp, and it's..... fantastic???? they produced enough incredible music for three albums during and around that one
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Friday, 8 May 2020 15:02 (four years ago) link
starting to think "why why why" is also going to be surprisingly high on my ballot
I've probably mentioned this on other threads but to me UW have three peaks, the '92-'94 era with all those awesome singles & EPs leading to dubnobasswithmyheadman (perhaps one of the only albums in history that justifies the five disc deluxe reissue), the '05-'07 era with Riverrun, OWB, and all sorts of interesting tracks being played on radio broadcasts & live shows, and the recent Drift period. I think all these periods produced like, 4-5 albums worth of quality material but Drift was the only one to actually just release it as such
― frogbs, Friday, 8 May 2020 15:11 (four years ago) link
Riverrun stuff isn’t available anywhere at the moment other than fan uploads on YouTube. Not sure why they don’t stick it on streaming or sell downloads anymore
― I am using your worlds, Friday, 8 May 2020 16:07 (four years ago) link
oh wow i am gonna take part in a music poll! i do this almost never! display name relevant
looking at this poll and realizing how little i've actually listened to though, holy moly. i guess i just listened to dub a million times? i was like "well i'll try the other stuff, i prob won't like it as much anyway" and randomly started with barbara and was like "oh no i think i love this"
watched everything everything last night for the first time in like 10-15 years, goddamn underworld rules
― Hackers (1995) (Will M.), Friday, 8 May 2020 16:25 (four years ago) link
the impression I get is that the Riverrun stuff didn't work out the way they wanted, none of the casual fans knew about it & a lot of people had trouble downloading them. there wasn't really the infrastructure for just putting stuff out the way there is now. when they started the project I think they had eyes on doing more than just 3 but I think they quickly learned that if it wasn't on a studio album most people just weren't gonna hear it
― frogbs, Friday, 8 May 2020 16:34 (four years ago) link
your idea of all these sustained peaks - challenging the very nature of a peak! - and none of them containing Second Toughest... just boggles the mind. But that's why this whole poll in bonkers. Happy listening yall
― maffew12, Friday, 8 May 2020 16:54 (four years ago) link
im actually doing my first 'second toughest' listen-thru ever right now! (i'm still on track 1 lol)
yesterday i did those two first albums which were fine but i don't think i'll vote for anything on them or for them. very interesting to hear their origins tho! had no idea they were doing that kinda stuff and then just pivoted hard into DNBWMHM. such a crazy pivot, such a perfect album
― Hackers (1995) (Will M.), Friday, 8 May 2020 16:59 (four years ago) link
was supposed to see them on their tour next week. I am very sad about it. =(
― officer sonny bonds, lytton pd (mayor jingleberries), Friday, 8 May 2020 17:07 (four years ago) link
ugh. hope they reschedule and you get a chance to see em! in the meantime might i recommend throwing the dvd on and dancing in front of your tv like i may or may not have at 2am oops
― Hackers (1995) (Will M.), Friday, 8 May 2020 17:09 (four years ago) link
the deluxe remaster of dubnobass kinda bridges the gap. if you really look hard you can find a demo tape for the 3rd UW mk1 album which was never made. there's a version of "Mother Earth" on it. some of the other tracks from that era like "The Hump", "Big Meat Show", and "Can You Feel It" (which became part of "Skyscraper") also show their roots a bit. and they did some cool experimental stuff as Freur, most of it didn't make the albums though. but something like "Rez"...yeah, total left turn
your idea of all these sustained peaks - challenging the very nature of a peak! - and none of them containing Second Toughest... just boggles the mind.
I mean really everything from 1992 to 1999 is really great, but really there was just an insane wealth of stuff from 93 and 94 alone. STITI has a handful of really great B-sides & remixes of course, absolutely love "Oich Oich", "Puppies", "Cherry Pie", and "Tin There"...but overall idk if that deluxe set worked quite as well as the dubnobass one
that said I forgot about one of my favorite Underworld live tracks ever, a performance of the original "Born Slippy" from the infamous European Club Gig which is just fucking incredible. the whole gig is awesome but this part from 1:47:00 on...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_HoEQ7ThvE
― frogbs, Friday, 8 May 2020 17:19 (four years ago) link
I really don't understand how people aren't in love with Barking, even given the rest of Underworld's discography. It's just a great album back to front.
― DJP, Friday, 8 May 2020 17:50 (four years ago) link
but overall idk if that deluxe set worked quite as well as the dubnobass one
woah woah... 5 years of development vs the follow-up record... judge what's on the albums eh :)
― maffew12, Friday, 8 May 2020 17:52 (four years ago) link
― DJP, Friday, May 8, 2020 10:50 AM (two minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink
i really think of it as the underworld album that's all bangers
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Friday, 8 May 2020 17:53 (four years ago) link
At this point, I may have played "Always Loved A Film" and "Bird 1" more than any other Underworld songs except maybe "Pearl's Girl", the original "Born Slippy", and "Dirty Epic"
― DJP, Friday, 8 May 2020 17:59 (four years ago) link
yea those tracks are great. I just think the outside remixers smoothed over a lot of the nuance in favor of just making the tracks straight bangers. the original ALAF had this awesome bass line that's just not there in the Barking version. and Diamond Jigsaw had these massive chord changes which Paul Van Dyk didn't even seem to bother with.
before I forget...how about a little love for "Bamboo", from 2008 or thereabouts. kind of a fleshed out version of "Lenny Penne", one of my favorite unreleased tracks. I take it we can't vote for this??
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xqu-n3EJXiY
― frogbs, Friday, 8 May 2020 18:56 (four years ago) link
no Bamboo!
how I (D3) break it down to an extent:
a 1992 album of singles, bar M.E.: 79 minutesa 1993 album of two singles: 47 minutesthe actual 1994 album: 73 minutesa 1994 "double CD" comp of Cows, Darks and Skyscrapers: 2 hrs 14an 1995ish album of Slippy: 40 minutes
plus I have The Big Meat Show hived off with the Why? remixes and Second Hand into other compilations of b-sides and reworks
PLUS the band have also given us a 75-minute album of unreleased tracks and versions from 1993, PLUS an hour-long mix of the best bits of more unreleased versions, P L U S an hour-long album of The Evolution Of NUXX.
― Elon's musk (sic), Friday, 8 May 2020 21:18 (four years ago) link
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5qIqg9x4lKvq1DR4BKFXdX?si=yw8o4tJRTPyiCW_NS-5iVg
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxWLJazbXOaluH99S3_FgWInzNemME8RN
have kept the playlists of non-album material up to date with everything available pre-Drift, based on sic's documentation of it all. there's a few pretty obscure remixes etc. that aren't even on youtube though
― ufo, Friday, 8 May 2020 23:47 (four years ago) link
an hour-long album of The Evolution Of NUXX!!??
― lukas, Friday, 8 May 2020 23:52 (four years ago) link
that was one of the discs on the second toughest super deluxe reissue - 6 early versions of "born slippy .nuxx"
― ufo, Friday, 8 May 2020 23:59 (four years ago) link
that said I forgot about one of my favorite Underworld live tracks ever, a performance of the original "Born Slippy" from the infamous European Club Gig which is just fucking incredible
wow this rules so much
― ufo, Saturday, 9 May 2020 00:33 (four years ago) link
tx xp
― lukas, Saturday, 9 May 2020 00:59 (four years ago) link
there's a few pretty obscure remixes etc. that aren't even on youtube though
what's the final list of these?
― Elon's musk (sic), Saturday, 9 May 2020 05:21 (four years ago) link
Why Why Why (Remix) (from Wasted, The Best of Volume Part 1, 1995)Push Upstairs (Radio Edit)King of Snake (Straight (Mate) Mix) (there's a shorter version cut out of someone's DJ mix but not the full thing)Biro The Leggy (Romford Dub) (this is pretty readily available on their official soundcloud. the earlier 2004 version that was never officially released is on youtube though)all the Barking instrumental versionsBaby Wants To Ride (Underworld vs Misterons 12'' Mix) (there's an edit but not the full thing)Get Your Shirt (Instrumental version)Too Little Too Late (Club Mix)
― ufo, Saturday, 9 May 2020 06:40 (four years ago) link
two weeks of
― Elon's musk (sic), Saturday, 9 May 2020 08:25 (four years ago) link
had no idea they were doing that kinda stuff and then just pivoted hard into DNBWMHM. such a crazy pivot
...
if you really look hard you can find a demo tape for the 3rd UW mk1 album which was never made. there's a version of "Mother Earth" on it
here's audio of Underworld mkI playing Mother Earth live in September 1991.
Within a few months - maybe less time than we're going to be in pandemic lockdown - they split up, Karl recorded an album at Paisley Park as a session player for the lead singer of Berlin, Rick closed down the band's affairs, sold off their studio equipment to settle their debts and moved a handful of salvaged gear into his marital terrace, Karl did a tour as guitarist for Debbie Harry & Chris Stein, Rick met a 19-year-old DJ and started making long electronic grooves, Karl (while rehearsing in NYC for the not-Blondie tour) started writing down snippets of overheard latenight conversation to turn into lyrics, then when the gig ran out, accepted an invitation from Rick to come home and listen to this new stuff as long as he'll stfu about real music by proper bands... then a bloke they've met fronts them credit to press 300 copies of a 12", Rick wholesales it out of his boot and at age 33, 20 years into his career as a professional musician, Karl makes a profit on a record for the first time. And the bloke who arranged the pressing continues to look after their business affairs and knock about in the studio with them for another 28 years and counting.
(maffew may have a better grasp on the continuity with the Dogboy book to hand - this all feels like years in Karl's despair-memory, but the pivot is ludicrously fast if you try and clock a timeline.)
― Elon's musk (sic), Saturday, 9 May 2020 12:47 (four years ago) link
"M.E." always felt a little out of place on dubnobass, makes sense that it was one of the holdouts from the earlier incarnation. never really appreciated it until i heard the FM mix, which isn't that different apart from the intro, but the intro is so good and the other small tweaks add up to it being significantly better
― ufo, Saturday, 9 May 2020 12:58 (four years ago) link
Even the dubnob version is the same one they released on/as Tomato over a year earlier, before Rez
― Elon's musk (sic), Saturday, 9 May 2020 13:28 (four years ago) link
sic: I'm in the middle of all that toward the end of the book. But that can't be quite right.... Karl off to Minneapolis was early 1990. And, "Thanksgiving 1989, Underworld gathered for a last supper ..."Didn't know about ME live in 91. I'll take down some notes here as I go and post back.
― maffew12, Saturday, 9 May 2020 13:41 (four years ago) link
There's a bit about the Change the Weather album being finished by Rick on computer and everyone but Karl loving it, demanding it be done with real instruments. lol. Would love to hear Rick's version
― maffew12, Saturday, 9 May 2020 13:43 (four years ago) link
ah, that does make more sense for a timescale - I got dazzled by confirming the date of that tape, but as I was typing I realised they were probably split already by the time of the gig, and just doing it as an earner. (Per that site, Underworld finished the tour supporting Eurythmics in November 1989, played Glastonbury and no other shows in 1990, then two German gigs and a London club show in one week of September 1991. I think there are two band demo tapes from 1990 and 1991, but haven't heard them - do have a recording of one of the 1991 shows, and it's mostly new songs)
― Elon's musk (sic), Saturday, 9 May 2020 14:03 (four years ago) link
A few hours left to catch the Frankenstein score in situ btw!
― Elon's musk (sic), Saturday, 9 May 2020 14:27 (four years ago) link
Aha. I'll try and piece it all together fwiw. Good a time as any for me to finally play the demos from the time. Frankenstein too! I only ever played the soundtrack once
― maffew12, Saturday, 9 May 2020 14:39 (four years ago) link
Glastonbury '91 bit is funny. Sort of an in between time. Darren is involved then but I guess not at this little show...
https://i.imgur.com/uXf0CDS.jpg
Some more notes when I finish the book later the weekend
― maffew12, Saturday, 9 May 2020 16:29 (four years ago) link
you just convinced me to get this book. ordered.
― cheek, Saturday, 9 May 2020 16:35 (four years ago) link
lol... i ordered it when sic posted a bit in the Underworld c or d thread.
I realize now there's confusion about whether they were at Glastonbury in 1990 or 91 (book is saying 91 - it comes right after a bit about the founding of Tomato in 91)... lemme cross reference with what I can.
Glastonbury 92 was the long Sound Field gig with Darren. I didn't realize there's a whole 90min of that online!:
https://www.mixcloud.com/jabril-ivory/underworld-experimental-sound-field-glastonbury-1992-1-hour-portion-official-pa-audio/
― maffew12, Saturday, 9 May 2020 16:43 (four years ago) link
Karl makes a big deal of his dad getting to see him play Wembley with Debbie Harry... which was in July 91. Can see him here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5fe8cEY6VE
... then he says he's finally ready to give up the rocker thing and make "a different kind of music with Rick." He's done with Debbie now except for one more gig at CBGB's, where he pissed her off for being a rock guitar wanker (still). Apparently that's Nov 13, 1991 ( http://archive.blondie.net/gig_list_debbie_harry_solo.php )
About Glastonbury... well there was no Glastonbury in 1991. Mother Earth single was 1992. I'm thinking that little show behind the crowd couldn't have been 1990?
Karl Hyde you are an unreliable narrator!
― maffew12, Saturday, 9 May 2020 17:09 (four years ago) link
good find on the 1992 sound field! this is great. I really want the page above to be describing this '92 set I'm listening to right now -- while the facts may not add up, the "effortless energy" + "let Rick do his thing" certainly do!
I might just make it my headcanon that the '91 description above is actually about the '92 recording...
― cheek, Saturday, 9 May 2020 17:16 (four years ago) link
lol i'm totally confused now. The footer of the page I posted does say "Glastonbury '91" fwiw.
There are pages about the 92 Sound Field stuff -- it's a different, much longer thing
― maffew12, Saturday, 9 May 2020 17:19 (four years ago) link
can't wait to read that book. and what a trip to see Karl with Debbie Harry above.
― cheek, Saturday, 9 May 2020 17:23 (four years ago) link
There's a video with 3 20-second snippets of the Experimental Sound Field here: https://www.facebook.com/borndirty/videos/979915415404652/?permPage=1 (publicly viewable)
― Elon's musk (sic), Saturday, 9 May 2020 19:18 (four years ago) link
Not sure how many people have heard the collaboration single with High Contrast and Tiesto, it's like a glimpse of a parallel universe where Underworld were a Chart EDM/D&B group of the early 2010s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWOJyegyRbM
Sure 90% will find it unbearably cheesy, but afraid I love it without reservations - the backwards string sample at 1:41 is the money shot here btw.
― Wuhan!! Got You All in Check (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Saturday, 9 May 2020 21:02 (four years ago) link
The first salvo in that big room / collab era is also thrillingly obvious, and so Underworldy that it became a regular part of their setlists that year
(checking setlist.fm - aww, the first time I heard it was the first time they played it live)
― Elon's musk (sic), Saturday, 9 May 2020 21:38 (four years ago) link
it's like a glimpse of a parallel universe where Underworld were a Chart EDM/D&B group of the early 2010sthis is kinda what Barking is, which is part of why it feels so strange to me
― ufo, Saturday, 9 May 2020 22:13 (four years ago) link
yeah, 1990 feels way too early for Karl to accept messing about in electronic / jam format. maybe it was a non-Glastonbury festival in 1991, that's he's overwritten his memory of?
Too Little Too Late (Club Mix)― ufo, Saturday, May 9, 2020 4:40 PM (yesterday)
― ufo, Saturday, May 9, 2020 4:40 PM (yesterday)
btw I left this one (& the Barking promo) out since it's still an "in-print" (Beatport exclusive) new release, but on one listen it seemed to just be an extended version of the sedate original, not a banging remix
― Elon's musk (sic), Sunday, 10 May 2020 01:41 (four years ago) link
“The First Note is Silent” is by far my favorite of the banger collab era. At the time I could barely get through it because I feared it was a permanent shift towards straightforward lyrics + famous EDM co-producers - listening knowing that that’s not the case, it’s such a good track.
― cheek, Sunday, 10 May 2020 03:09 (four years ago) link
also really love the original "Diamond Jigsaw" with the Van Halen synth though the one on the album is pretty sweet as well.
and Diamond Jigsaw had these massive chord changes which Paul Van Dyk didn't even seem to bother with.
Poking about in a folder of old UW website giveaways, I found a Diamond Jigsaw that's labelled as "demo mix," but seems to be at least partially live (possibly from Las Vegas?). Those synths are not only SO Van Halen, you'd think they would have been perfect for a mersh trance producer to latch onto and amplify.
listening to "big meat show," an outtake from dubnobass that's on the 1992-2012 comp, and it's..... fantastic????
On further reading, turns out this leaked onto the borndirty board in 2008 from a 1993 DAT that also contained the other two unreleased songs from the 2014 deluxe dubnob -- looks like Rick may have been reminded that they existed and put Big Meat on that best-of bcz the peeps on their message board were into it!
(gonna retag it to reside with the rest of the unreleased 1991-93 album, knocking that one over the CD length limit)
― Elon's musk (sic), Sunday, 10 May 2020 06:45 (four years ago) link
I’d be interested in knowing your track list and running order for that!
― I am using your worlds, Sunday, 10 May 2020 07:17 (four years ago) link