why don't you poll me I feel like flying to... the UNDERWORLD Poll Results thread -- produced by Smith & Hyde for ILM Artist Poll #102

I feel a little bad that noting the oddities of Drift releases downplays the consistency of the videos: Simon Taylor was not only making one each "new track" release week, he was often making them in a few hours between 2am and 9am, after Rick finished the track -- and plenty, maybe even most, of them are among Underworld's best videos ever.

Custard Speedtalk is definitely the best of the Drift vids, and for sure a contender for best Underworld video.

OTM! I'm not much into music videos at all... I'm just discovering several of theirs through this roll out. But the quality of the Drift videos was remarkably high throughout. The whole series was a crazy workload for more than Rick and Karl. The videos do sorta get their due in the box's book, where Simon Taylor participates in the interviews. The book is more easily accessible now with the Bandcamp, where buying any or all of Drift gets you a PDF download.

& on the topics of Custard Speedtalk & videos & naming conventions & Drift book stories:

"Custard Speedtalk" was the name of the video piece Simon had shot a while before and ended up being the video for "This Must Be Drum Street". It was going to be the video for (roll-out Drift 'b-side' favourite) "Doscientos" before Rick changed the week's song at the last minute.

The name of the video piece stuck with them when it was time to title another song. Apparently they often title songs right at the start of working on them, no matter how little they are bringing into the studio. That's mentioned in this process video for Barbara, Barbara (there was this other on lyrics).

aha, upthread I had noted that there's a cool animal howling sound in I Exhale. according to that process video, Rick howls "into a Chinese Banjo" on one of the tracks! they don't say which track but I'm gonna call it a mystery solved.

didn't know about the book being accessible from the Drift bandcamp downloads! gonna check that out, thanks.

and y'all convinced me to watch the Custard Speedtalk video, how excellent.

Yep great video. Need to go back and watch some more of these, suspect I would like them

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

― brotherlovesdamperpedal, Thursday, May 31, 2018 2:19 AM

Trim piano cover

https://media.giphy.com/media/hQEvmgU9j2m2mwb7m4/giphy.gif

It was just silly crap

taking these posts as hints that #15 is Two Months Off (expected but maybe a little low) or Trim (dark horse)

aw. Louisiana is beautiful. I feel bad not voting for it. That's going to be happening a lot here. It doesn't make me uncool. it doesn't.

... piano forte (ಥ﹏ಥ)

― maffew88, Saturday, June 6, 2020 10:15 AM

piano cover of Louisiana

Will add to this later, and post a couple of other playlists when we're done, but here's a youtube playlist for recap listening, so far with the bottom 26 or so. That's a few hours to get started on!

#TECHTALK: here's Rick ruminating on changes in technology over the latter decades of Underworld's music making

thanks for the playlist, sic!

now almost full!

brad
chrome

― maf you one two (maffew12), Thursday, 18 June 2020 23:14 (three days ago)

underrated post btw

Although not a highlight from the piano that gentle left-hand pattern on Winjer is pretty novel and makes me wish they'd experimented more rhythmically on that level.

― піаніно, Friday, June 12, 2020 7:32 AM

piano cover of Winjer

Youtube playlist is all up to date for listening, with the
"best" or most representative audio version of each song on youtube. (A watching playlist, and an alt versions playlist, are also available, and will be linked after the rollout).

If anyone spots a missing track, including from the "Interupt"/would-have-placed entries, let me know here!

#TECHTALK: during Darren Price's decade as an on-stage member of Underworld, his own compositions would be often used as interstitial or regular elements of the set, and effectively exist only as Underworld live songs. The piece Everybody Jack was performed by Underworld from 2007 to 2014, and in 2011 Price recorded it on Native Instruments' Maschine software, as part of a promotional video for the company.

During the pre-Drift period in 2018, he dug out that recording and released it as a real actual single - the only instance of one of his solo compositions for the band getting a solo, non-UW-live release.

(As noted earlier, his association with the group extends before and after his sort-of-membership: here's a big chunk off the sound-desk in October 1994 of him DJing into and out of Underworld's live set at a Tomato night (plus the same for the Chemical/Dust Bros earlier in the night).)

“The First Note is Silent” is by far my favorite of the piano cover era. At the time I could barely get through it because I feared it was a permanent shift towards straightforward melody lines + anonymous Japanese pianists -- listening knowing that that’s not the case, it’s such a good track.

― cheeky, Sunday, May 10, 2020 1:09 PM

piano cover of The First Note Is Silent

Happy Monday everyone!

https://media.giphy.com/media/KzQSNj3XoCqAYPxPDC/giphy.gif

who up?

it's a holiday here but oddly I am up

ooh and there's things to catch up on

I'm up! (Evening here)

Approaching midday here in sunny Cardiff

http://ghostfood.uk/public/ilx/underworld/u015-889284.png

15. Dark & Long
1055 points, 19 votes
1994 single from dubnobasswithmyheadman

official fan-made video from 2014 (competition)
11 min audience audio 1998

I think this was the first non-banger UW song I heard. It was fun digging through all the remixes on the super deluxe

NOONE HAS MENTIONED "DARK AND LONG", NOONE. Well maybe someone, but it's a classic too.

― Ronan, Saturday, April 13, 2002 10:00 AM

maybe we should do a Taking Sides - 'Dark & Long' vs 'Dark & Long (Dark Train)'

― blueski, Saturday, September 21, 2002 1:42 AM

"Dark & Long" any day. That bass line is to DIE FOR.

― DJP, Saturday, September 21, 2002 2:21 AM

BBC session video 2014
https://i.imgur.com/Wzdmp6Q.gif

there appears to be disagreement on the web as to whether the waitress bought a new hat or a new head. I know Karl has done that line unaccompanied, live... an intro to Pearls Girl or something? Anyway no less an authority than the BBC World Service has it as "hat" and they're wondering how well you know the rest of the words!. Shame I can't get the reading of the lyrics audio to work. Does anyone have RealPlayer handy? There's this one for NUXX too. Ah the early web.

clearly "hat" on box track "Dark & Long - 1st ruff id3 A1551 2" (youtube link)... which is a great track for hearing more of that bassline. Mmmm. I had this and Dark Train in my top 10. There's something so slippery with the "original" though, still. One of their slinkiest.

kinda surprised "dark & long" is lower than "dark train"

still, ride the train!

most covered is almost certainly "born slippy .nuxx"

― ufo, Wednesday, June 10, 2020 7:34 PM

It's a reasonable theory. Let's hear

Wiley, Pete Tong and the Heritage Orchestra giving it a go
An acoustic living-room version by Creaking Planks, a jug band from Vancouver
And a stadium pop cover by the conveniently named UVERworld.

lmao @ me hearing "underneath the radar" for the first time

And a fan cover
A piano cover by a non-fan
A 12-year-old girl being hassled by her dad
A guitar cover (this is not good FYI)
Some indie numpties (take a guess)
Plus some Coldplay-wannabes
Or some Viper Room rockers who can't afford a mic
Not to mention some Welsh pub rockers who can't afford two shirts

when sic posts several covers in one post, the rule is you have to open them all in separate tabs and listen to them simultaneously and it's cheating if you don't

mega mega well done

Gonna try that with these last two:

Here's our old pal with a cover of the new piano part in Nuxx 2003
And his piano cover of Rick's 'Down' version of the 2003 mix

that kinda ruled tbh

any guesses what #14 is btw?

was it named for a greyhound and performed for a dalmation?

xp yeah tbh the intros of those two are awesome played at the same time.

woo Team Nuxx!

http://ghostfood.uk/public/ilx/underworld/u014-248926.png

14. .NUXX
1068 points, 18 votes, 1 #1
1995 12" b-side, later A-side and remixed into infinity

1996 video by Graham Wood
2015 video by Creative Commission

live audio 1994
audience audio 1996

(inc 1 austerity vote for the Radio Edit, a 3:53 US-only edit, vs eg the Short version (4:23) or the Short Edit (3:45) on UK singles)

Choon

(xp to the covers) ugh there's something about anyone other than karl singing that song that just makes people sound like they're boringly mumbling in the worst way

exception: whoever uverworld is, that cover is great

lol @ that glass of lager lager lager lager

I guess this one is alright

shouting

Love this comment from the band's official Youtube channel:

Born Slippy is british slang. It means quick and alert. The band got the name from a greyhound they won money on at a romford racing track. The term mentally applies to someone who is on pills (specifically esctasy because it was the buzz drug of the 90's) or someone with anxiety because in both situations you'd have racing thoughts and would not be able to calm down and keep still. A stoned person who is zonked out and relaxing is not born slippy. The pacing of this track along with the way it is edited from euphoric keyboard choir and synth stabs visually expressed with long single frame shots to frantic drum pounding shown with lighted quick snippets of film is meant to represent the intake and come down of the effects of a drug. People on drugs like ectasy have heightened sensors and move and react quickly and twitching fashion this is visually expressed in the video with it's onslaught on flashing text and lights as well as Karl rapidly bobbing his head as if he was possessed. Born Slippy is structured like a trance song because it has a epic build up and break down but it really is more of a techno song. I would classify this song as tech trance

listening to born slippy nuxx right now and it sounds so familiar, yet so fresh

― dyao, Tuesday, May 18, 2010 1:14 AM

what other british electronic music making duos am I missing out on (besides psb & I guess electronic)

― dyao, Tuesday, May 18, 2010 1:16 AM

live on The Apocalypse Tube 1999, Darren Emerson's last involvement with the group
Born Slippy Nuxx 2003 video by Danny Boyle

NUXX hit hard, everyone in the place went nuts, amazing. Every segue brilliantly played. This show honestly ranks among the greatest experiences of my life. Like being in church (when I liked church)! /hagiography

― roxymuzak, Sunday, March 30, 2008 5:28 AM

live video Australia 2003
would place at 12 combining votes with Long Slow Slippy restretch / Slow Slippy T2 promo

can anybody give me an explanation over the song born slippy? Tell me what is behind the lyrics... thnx

― bart, Sunday, January 19, 2003 3:23 AM

Born Slippy is about placentas.

― TOMBOT, Sunday, January 19, 2003 4:50 AM

https://i.imgur.com/OGq1IiH.jpg

would place at 10 combining Deep Pan remix / b-side and Slow Slippy

Ronan so completely otm in first post re: vocals as essential rhythmic backbone of song. "NUXX" -- I've never seen people dance to what amounts to a ringing chord and a vocal til I saw them play this live.

― roxymuzak, Sunday, March 30, 2008 8:46 AM

"We live in a field! We come from Essex! I wasn't always like this, you know" live on The Culture Show, 2007 (facebook link, public video)
live video 2010

A new 'ed on a waitress's pay? You're avin' a bubble. xpost

OK, NUXX time. Are people generally aware of a German trance tune from 1992 that has some very similar sounding pad chords? I've posted it before actually.