NME article: 3 LPs worth o' material - but how?

[holden]

Brief article regarding UW recording a ton of tracks but debating how/if to release them:

http://www.nme.com/news/underworld/47280

[matt]

But surely the most exciting thing about that article is that they're working with Brian Eno!

[Bargo]

I'd be willing to guess that that's the Scenius material (especially when it says they've been working with him in Aus), still, good news all round. :)

[negative1]

probably via download through underworldlive.com
...right?

be seeing you
+1

[King of Snake]

sounds cool. On the other hand, we've been hearing the "we've got X albums worth of material that we're maybe gonna release but not on an album" from UW for quite a long time already. Other than the Riverruns and a couple of semi-finished downloadable tracks it's never really come to anything, while we did get a regular album in the form of OWB. And even that was rather short for a band that's supposedly has multiple albums' worth of material lying around.

"There's more energy in making tracks, and putting tracks out, and then reacting to that, and then moving on to the next track. There seems to us a feeling of how we used to put 12-inch singles out."

that's great except that they're not actually putting anything out at all. They're just playing them live and then moving on to the next, dooming tracks like You Do Scribble, Bamboo, ALAF to fade into obscurity.

[TheBang]

I'd be willing to guess that that's the Scenius material (especially when it says they've been working with him in Aus), still, good news all round. :)

Yup, there was a diary entry a week or two ago (or was it Twitter post) about them meeting together to go over the Pure Scenius stuff. And as has been mentioned elsewhere, it's being put together for a DVD release (and CD?).

[joethelion]

sounds cool.
that's great except that they're not actually putting anything out at all. They're just playing them live and then moving on to the next, dooming tracks like You Do Scribble, Bamboo, ALAF to fade into obscurity.

I kinda have to agree with that sentiment

as it seems that everyone except for me has forgotten about "Telematic Peal" - which was only put out as a part of a radio broadcast, and briefly was available as a streaming file (in instrumental form) on UWlive

and I mean - the only way you can get: You Do Scribble, Bamboo, ALAF, were on LiveHereNow discs

I feel that like... around mid 2008 - there was a legitimate chance that we'd get quite a few unreleased gems in proper studio form* but now - not so much

* I don't mean "final" versions that are mastered/mixed so that they'd be album/single/b-side ready ... I mean finished in the sense of stuff like the "020202" or "Phonestrap" EP's

[Dunwho]

Meh, as far as im concerned this is simply just an article thats about 5 months behind what we have been talking about here constantly for months.

There will be releases and tours and all that stuff, in whatever format it is.. it will happen and quite regularly, for Underworld in particular this is a certainty.

They love every bit of it, the live performances, writing new songs, providing free releases on the site and also out on digital/vinyl releases.. and every so often a major release like OWB

In fairness as a fanbase we are spoiled rotten with material. If YDS or Bamboo are forgotten a bit in obscurity so what, at least we have a version to hear.. many versions in fact...

I think its fantastic! I love every moment of music i hear, and i dont want it to stop! So just give it time and there will be something new, if its not a new album it will be something like a riverrun, or a new track, or something like the Book of Jam, or simply just a video on youtube or a picture of Karl Lyrics...

we're spoiled.. can you imagine being huge fans of some other band... waiting years rather than days or weels for something new.

yikes!

[dubman]

while they've released about three albums worth of material this decade, which aint bad by a shot, plus a book and gallery shows and online texts and 2 live albums, which is even better, the ratio of teasing to material still seems way unbalanced. consequences of updating more than most other bands, maybe. more talk equals more on-the-minute hype with the same process that builds and discards tracks not worthy enough, and now letting us see all this happen is driving us nuts because we like what they're letting atrophy (or polish until it's bad).

okay. but KoS raises a legitimate point that nothing out of the little previews we actually get are going fucking anywhere. their newness wears off for them before they appear to be happy with it so it gets left behind, and a great big vacumm takes its place. they are such friggin artists about this, creating for the personal buzz of it, it all seems fluid, it's all a jam, but when it comes to releases they're just not what they could be because it's a release, and whether it's because it's "the real deal" or because they're using the format as a project for a different kind of sound they may not be totally fluent with, it just struggles to be as dynamic as their methods.

plus, they mention 12" like they're artifacts but hey-hello you can still release material (some of it your best, even) on these things and use sites like bleep and boomkat like many many many people of note still do these days, because people download these now. not as singles from an existing work but as a work on its own. 12" are for those ideas that are relevant and dont need an LP for filler, express something new, and can make a whole lot of hype for any kind of larger release without resorting to press talk gibberish.

but they should and probably do already know this, so what the fuck are they sitting on?

in four years we've had one album and a shitload of talk about various avenues and experimental modes and loud days in the lemon and shutting in, and little in the way of follow-thru. streaming tracks in an audio section wont get you anywhere. the riverruns should have been EP releases in their own right, and while the online avenue may have been appropriate for experimental work, it also got lost, as they didnt have enough people salivating at the time to really hunt it down and give a damn.

i'm done fellating this band as if every scrap is a treat. they are if the output is great but their big result in the last 6 years has been eviscerating good raw ideas into stately finished ones. i never thought i wouldnt give a shit about beautiful burnout when it finally came, but there you have it, it's only "nice".

[TheBang]

How do you really feel?

[Dunwho]

while they've released about three albums worth of material this decade, which aint bad by a shot, plus a book and gallery shows and online texts and 2 live albums, which is even better, the ratio of teasing to material still seems way unbalanced. consequences of updating more than most other bands, maybe. more talk equals more on-the-minute hype with the same process that builds and discards tracks not worthy enough, and now letting us see all this happen is driving us nuts because we like what they're letting atrophy (or polish until it's bad).

okay. but KoS raises a legitimate point that nothing out of the little previews we actually get are going fucking anywhere. their newness wears off for them before they appear to be happy with it so it gets left behind, and a great big vacumm takes its place. they are such friggin artists about this, creating for the personal buzz of it, it all seems fluid, it's all a jam, but when it comes to releases they're just not what they could be because it's a release, and whether it's because it's "the real deal" or because they're using the format as a project for a different kind of sound they may not be totally fluent with, it just struggles to be as dynamic as their methods.

plus, they mention 12" like they're artifacts but hey-hello you can still release material (some of it your best, even) on these things and use sites like bleep and boomkat like many many many people of note still do these days, because people download these now. not as singles from an existing work but as a work on its own. 12" are for those ideas that are relevant and dont need an LP for filler, express something new, and can make a whole lot of hype for any kind of larger release without resorting to press talk gibberish.

but they should and probably do already know this, so what the fuck are they sitting on?

in four years we've had one album and a shitload of talk about various avenues and experimental modes and loud days in the lemon and shutting in, and little in the way of follow-thru. streaming tracks in an audio section wont get you anywhere. the riverruns should have been EP releases in their own right, and while the online avenue may have been appropriate for experimental work, it also got lost, as they didnt have enough people salivating at the time to really hunt it down and give a damn.

i'm done fellating this band as if every scrap is a treat. they are if the output is great but their big result in the last 6 years has been eviscerating good raw ideas into stately finished ones. i never thought i wouldnt give a shit about beautiful burnout when it finally came, but there you have it, it's only "nice".

It's hard to argue with anything you have said there.. except to say that it is really how as a fan one expects Underworld to be...

I see them as a band always in motion and in constant flux, therefore the internet based steady stream of this and that with the odd big release is normal to me. This may be because i wasn't a fan in the Dubno, STITI, Beaucoup days when there were releases, and have always had this internet based interaction with the band.

But the lads may consider 10+ live albums, a remix album and two live online live performances (Oblivion Ball/San Fran) along with all the books of Jam.. also the Scenius thing, Downpipe, that Book Karl Wrote for, a remix for... That band i can't remember the name of.. as fairly significant releases...

Also they had the Art Jam in New York! Have been on tour and have been playing new material and updating the live setup...; they have done loads of interviews!

What you may consider teasing I consider just part of the process. And i would also consider the live albums, books of Jam and a lot of the writing that Karl commits to the site (especially those long pieces around march/april 09) as fairly significant releases..

..its just how you look at it i guess

[crank]

And seriously, honestly if you look at the output of your other favorite bands, are you seeing the same sort of bits and pieces floating about?

I think not.

They produce FAR faster than "XyZ" band.

[34958hq439-qjw9v5jq298v5j]

I know UW has been generous, but it's still disappointing. I mean yes we do have Silver Boots from the radio show, but in the form of a 96kbps MP3 which is really low. The reason why it sucks is because even though I did like OWB, I think the newer, unreleased material is just as good as the best of the old stuff. If I could sequence a UW album just based on the unreleased stuff I know of I could cobble together something just as good as their classic material. They've definitely released some good stuff in the last 6 years 'officially', but it is frustrating to know that they have so much quality stuff in the vault that may never see an official release.

I can believe that they're bored of the LP format, so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, but it just seems weird to think that great stuff like "You Do Scribble" might never see official release...how many groups just sit on tracks like that??

[Dunwho]

Was just thinking OWB was released October 2007 they toured that album right up until Australia at new years 2009..

and now there is talk of a release in 2010 of a new album (a lot has been sed about everything but lets just say an album is on the way)

2007 to 2010... three years isnt bad.. considering 2002 to 2007 between the last two.

And we're all just presuming YDS or Bamboo etc etc will never be released properly.

And if we consider the majority of fans dont spend their days on these forums and on the website then there is no over exposure, and everything seems fairly normal, they are a band working on some new material and it will be released whenever...whatever that release is.

Just gotta forget about it and before you know it there will be lots to enjoy.

Kinda like watching a kettle boil i guess ;)

[ThingInABook]

I know UW has been generous, but it's still disappointing. I mean yes we do have Silver Boots from the radio show, but in the form of a 96kbps MP3 which is really low. The reason why it sucks is because even though I did like OWB, I think the newer, unreleased material is just as good as the best of the old stuff. If I could sequence a UW album just based on the unreleased stuff I know of I could cobble together something just as good as their classic material. They've definitely released some good stuff in the last 6 years 'officially', but it is frustrating to know that they have so much quality stuff in the vault that may never see an official release.

I can believe that they're bored of the LP format, so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, but it just seems weird to think that great stuff like "You Do Scribble" might never see official release...how many groups just sit on tracks like that??

seconded. i lost most of the unreleased stuff by just not paying attention to underworld live and i'm just catching up with the "new" stuff. to have one of these tracks in my media player implies that i must illegally download the track or ripping it using audacity, then editing the thing to manage to get decent sound quality. in case for webcasts, it gets more difficult.

i do love the new tracks and the different variations of them, but not having them in a 'proper way' (as single-serve tracks) can get a little annoying. i love my cds and vinyls very much, thank you. adding the fact that i also lost most of u/w mkI and mkII because i live at the end of the world and getting stuff over here is almost impossible.

[jose m]

Was just thinking OWB was released October 2007 they toured that album right up until Australia at new years 2009..

and now there is talk of a release in 2010 of a new album (a lot has been sed about everything but lets just say an album is on the way)

2007 to 2010... three years isnt bad.. considering 2002 to 2007 between the last two.

And we're all just presuming YDS or Bamboo etc etc will never be released properly.

And if we consider the majority of fans dont spend their days on these forums and on the website then there is no over exposure, and everything seems fairly normal, they are a band working on some new material and it will be released whenever...whatever that release is.

Just gotta forget about it and before you know it there will be lots to enjoy.

Kinda like watching a kettle boil i guess ;)



word ! :)

[TheBang]

I think part of the problem is that the output this year, so far, has been far below what is has been recently.

From 2005-2008, there was a staggering amount of output: Live show audio and video downloads, Live albums, radio broadcasts, album, singles, digital EP's and singles, Books of Jam, ArtJams, live concert broadcasts.

This year has been pretty quiet in comparison:

One live concert webcast
One radio webcast (short and no new UW material)
Some YouTube videos
Downpipe
Manic Street Preachers

I personally would like to have seen some more material. Maybe a digital single, a Riverrun, and a Book of Jam or two?

[jose m]

"enough is never enough" ;)

[big screen satellite]

"enough is never enough" ;)

uw should use that as a lyric ;)

[ThingInABook]

well, karl couldn't said it better:

"Yeah, we tell you about the writing of new material & sometimes the process spans a long time, but when you spend most of your time jumping through skyholes to carry the groove in person & sweat to the joyous peoples of the planet you don't get anything like the time you need to finish what you started. I could articulate an even greater complaint but we got a grin & groove to chase & one foot to lay down infront of another. Let's get sweaty honey..."

perhaps they're more interested in the live aspect of things. getting all that energy in a plastic disc can get difficult.

[Dunwho]

well, karl couldn't said it better:

"Yeah, we tell you about the writing of new material & sometimes the process spans a long time, but when you spend most of your time jumping through skyholes to carry the groove in person & sweat to the joyous peoples of the planet you don't get anything like the time you need to finish what you started. I could articulate an even greater complaint but we got a grin & groove to chase & one foot to lay down infront of another. Let's get sweaty honey..."

perhaps they're more interested in the live aspect of things. getting all that energy in a plastic disc can get difficult.

amen to that

[negative1]

i think their live shows have really picked up as of late..

the last few years i've seen them, they're really trying a lot
harder to differentiate from the earlier fixed 'setlist' years,
where they played mostly the same songs, but rearranged the order.

i know most people don't get the chance to see them that often,
and rely on the web stuff, and releases to track them..

so i see where the disconnect can come from..

yeah, it's frustrating having heard some potentially great material in
the past... but what about the other unreleased stuff from earlier
era's that we haven't heard?

imagine hearing other things from the 'second toughest in the infants' years,
that we could have only imagined? ... and remember those 3 unreleased tracks
that we heard from the 'dubnobasswithmyheadman' DAT .....

we really are spoiled in hearing so many new things, and as much as we'd
like to see them released or given proper attention.. it is underworlds music,
and not ours right?

if we get discouraged, maybe we need to take a step back, and let things
develop over time, and then check on them..

i used to be on this board every day for a few years, but i've moved onto
other things... work/personal life/other hobbies ... and when i do check
back, its cool to see all the things that are developing or occuring...

i credit underworld for 'getting the balance right', or at least trying to..

be seeing you
+1

[dubman]

i really think it comes down to interacting with us much more than a usual band does, and balancing the danger that comes with that. for at least a decade now we;ve seen what happens when actors and musicians remove the veil and let people see things in real time or unfiltered by publicists. in our case we've been fairly fortunate (despite my reservations) whereas people like moby come off as the facebook friend you never wanted and makes 3 "causes" requests a week.
as fans we are finally getting that direct connection to what we love, but it's new territory for both parties, and it's a bit more volatile than it seems. we see sketches that the artist(s) may or may not take off with, but we'd come to see them as something special or even essential, and it quickly gets taken out of the hands of those creating it all.

i dont know how to negotiate that. its weird. its exciting but it can be frustrating in the 'boy who cried wolf' way, then it swings back into feeling rather bad for being this entitled, then swings back to the reality of all the things that'll never be. -1's point about unknown STITI tracks was perfect. how would it all play out if we were allowed to look in then?

this is all just a roundabout way of asking what happened to the book of white, btw :(

[joethelion]

perhaps they're more interested in the live aspect of things. getting all that energy in a plastic disc can get difficult.

but what about the US fans (like me) who just want to be able to even DOWNLOAD an mp3 that's over 128kbps? I don't really care about having something on vinyl or cd...

like - what's this track? I suspect it's that Diamond Jigsaw track... or is it that other one that I've read mentions of.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qepixZREow

obviously, it exists as a recorded entity. Karl doesn't appear to be singing live, they don't seem to be actively playing it... so it must exist "as a hard copy" (in that it isn't being created live) and it's from their DJ set

[negative1]

but what about the US fans (like me) who just want to be able to even DOWNLOAD an mp3 that's over 128kbps? I don't really care about having something on vinyl or cd...

like - what's this track? I suspect it's that Diamond Jigsaw track... or is it that other one that I've read mentions of.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qepixZREow

obviously, it exists as a recorded entity. Karl doesn't appear to be singing live, they don't seem to be actively playing it... so it must exist "as a hard copy" (in that it isn't being created live) and it's from their DJ set

patience grasshopper!

only time will tell!

etc etc etc..

be seeing you
+1

[crank]

this is all just a roundabout way of asking what happened to the book of white, btw :(

???

[dubman]

there were about three other jam books planned.
one of them was the book of white and i was kinda excited for it.

[TheBang]

More than three others. They were listed in the back of the 2007 tour book, and also at the back of BoJ 1 and 2, IIRC. Stuff like Book of White, Book of Nature, Book of Words, off the top of my head.

[ThingInABook]

but what about the US fans (like me) who just want to be able to even DOWNLOAD an mp3 that's over 128kbps? I don't really care about having something on vinyl or cd...

like - what's this track? I suspect it's that Diamond Jigsaw track... or is it that other one that I've read mentions of.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qepixZREow

obviously, it exists as a recorded entity. Karl doesn't appear to be singing live, they don't seem to be actively playing it... so it must exist "as a hard copy" (in that it isn't being created live) and it's from their DJ set

hello, i live in chile. pretty far away from the action.

i also would love to hear and actually having those 'new' tracks in any format - having them as bootlegs or rips, even if they manage to get me all hyped up, don't make the cut for me. but some things in life need time to mature to be something worthy. besides that, having a physical format gets more out of the performance, the sound quality is better and listening something in huge speakers is always a great experience..

i've been a fan for quite some time and, and until '99, i had only a couple CDs and that was all. i'm still regretting not visiting uwlive for some time and it's quite hard to find all the tracks, esp. the old stuff. i still have the hope of finding those tracks. but for the time, i can wait :) besides, what's going on with the shop? i think they can put up some tracks on it.