Drift Ep. 2...wishes and predictions

[holden]

Hey all,

Since apparently Thursday is the start of the next Episode of the Drift project, I thought it'd be fun to discuss what you think/hope the next phase will entail.

Leaning towards a specific style, or more experimental? More guest artists?

Personally, I really enjoyed the weekly new releases for EP. 1, but as stand-alone tracks, some (Dexter's Chalk, Universe of when can back) resonated more than others (Low between zebras, A very silent way). However, placed side by side, it feels cohesive and I play it straight through (though I'm still not very into Very Silent Way).

The RiverRuns (which is what I'd compare these occasional, self-released collections of non-album tunes) had a fair amount of variety between tracks, but distilled/generalized down, they each have a distinct mood and a prevalent genre(simplifying, but for me, LBT is "happy"/dance; PFE is "melancholy"/electro; IABS... Is "soothing"/ambient. Just one guy's opinion, please debate that classification!). Wondering if Drift 2 will take it in a similar direction, such that each Episode has a style or mood in common? Or will it be fairly random and any linkage is just assumed by the listener?

I will always appreciate the banging tracks, so hopefully more of those... though puelrely ambient UW is great, too.

[jetpig]

Border Country is still out there. I'm hopeful we see more of apple shine. There's also that track used in the VW play the road and the drift trailer still to come. Assuming there's more than 2 drift episodes, I figure we'll get at least one of those in this batch.

[joethelion]

I mean... honestly, even after all these years - I still hope that "Five Points" is going to get some kind of release.

[khouri]

I mean... honestly, even after all these years - I still hope that "Five Points" is going to get some kind of release.

My theory is that "Five Points" was a Darren track. It sounds a bit like "Scorchio" that he did with Digweed.

[dubman]

I'm a big fan of this quick+dirty, does-it-jam, get-them-out approach. More of that! I don't think they've fully stretched out in banger mode for some time and it'd be nice to see them stay loud and loose for awhile. That sax on Universe of Can When Back is exactly the attitude I want spread out.

[TheBang]

That sax on Universe of Can When Back is exactly the attitude I want spread out.
Definitely one of my favorite parts from the first episode when that comes in.

[potatobroth]

I mean... honestly, even after all these years - I still hope that "Five Points" is going to get some kind of release.

came here for this. wasnt disappointed.

[atticinsane]

Border Country is still out there. I'm hopeful we see more of apple shine. There's also that track used in the VW play the road and the drift trailer still to come. Assuming there's more than 2 drift episodes, I figure we'll get at least one of those in this batch.

Karl was on the BBC Radio 6 breakfast show this morning and said that 'Apple Shine' was going to be the first 'Drift episode 2' track, slated for release for later today (6pm UK time).

link to the Radio show (go to around 2:08:30 for the Underworld stuff.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m00024md

[34958hq439-qjw9v5jq298v5j]

the idea of them folding in old unreleased tracks that only nerds like us know about is very exciting

[taotsu]

the idea of them folding in old unreleased tracks that only nerds like us know about is very exciting

Indeed. And gosh, I would gladly take more rehearsals! And pay for them. Not that I’m rich, they too need to feed their families and I gladly pay some for a couple of flacs! (And Apple shine is dope! Great start!)

[joethelion]

came here for this. wasnt disappointed.

Well, I thought someone had to bring it up... again.

[holden]

Ok, so...first track out is extended "Appleshine", a downtempo piece we'd heard parts of before. Definitely a beautiful track in it's full form, with new (to us) vocals and coda.

Wondering: more ambient tracks to follow, or is this the calm before the storm?

Also, I believe that this is the first Drift track to have a standalone download. Wonder if this is the new norm (hey, we've asked) of weekly downloads, or if some of EP. 2 will be streams only and then collated into an EP for sale some weeks hence?

[TheBang]

I'd guess the styles are probably still going to be a mix like Ep. 1. I do think Border Country will show up.

Another Silent Way had a standalone download (paid). But the rest were all video only. I expect Ep. 2 will probably be the same. Videos, maybe some SoundCloud, and then a release for purchase when the full EP is done.

[TheBang]

Interesting tidbit I found in the bio text for Sonar:

https://sonar.es/en/2019/artists/underworld

Their latest project, Drift, is a self defined “journey without a fixed destination” consisting of 5 EP’s (and possibly an album) to be released over the course of a year.

Some quick math, if we say each Episode takes about 6 weeks to release, that's 30 out of 52 weeks. So that leaves about 5 weeks between each episode for World of Underworld releases.

[holden]

Now that is very interesting! Fun to know what we might be in store for in the future.

[purlieu]

The question is whether that album will be something new, or a 'best of' compilation of the EPs.

[holden]

Will tomorrow's release be the long-awaited "Border Country"? After the curveballs of ep. 2 thus far, what do you think is in store?

[dubman]

Listening to EP2 on the walk to work this morning and...
I dont think we're getting physical releases of this.

now familiar with rick's process of 31 alternate versions of any particular track combined with this being a "very public experiment" mirroring riverrun, i don't see how they would end up releasing these as an album without first messing around, perhaps drastically, with tracks that previously cohered in less than a day.
plus they've always thought about formats that were not only non-album, but non-physical. sometimes the finished work belongs best on a digital medium (a la autechre's elseq). the physical isn't necessarily canon.
these are meant to be enjoyed for what they are, these EPs aren't necessarily building towards something, they are the moment. Whether we get a statement via album from all of this seems like one possible idea instead of the goal.


Though I hope, considering the universally positive feedback, that they don't mess with them toooo much if we do see an album out of it

[holden]

... i agree with you, dubman, and i'm okay with it all.

If Drift tracks are just "of the moment/of the time" sketches, that's fine with me. They are collated into episodes for some reason and we are getting to hear/enjoy regardless of physical release. Since we're getting free mp3 downloads for Ep.2, i think you're right that this is much less likely for physical release. Maybe the conclusion will have different versions for sale?

If certain Drift tracks get re-released, i am confident that Rick and Karl will pick those they most appreciate and clean them up to their level of perfection. I'm guessing that if a physical version appears, it will be sufficiently different from the previous versions to justify a sale.

[purlieu]

I'm absolutely, all-for digital-only releases of this kind of stuff. It's what it's all about, it's totally up-to-date, it's the version of Underworld that fits in perfectly with 2019 in a way that a lot of their contemporaries don't.

I'm also sad about it because my listening largely comes from looking at my shelves and picking out things I want to listen to. But I suppose there's nothing to stop me burning a disc of it all, which is a nice bonus.

[crank]

Is it me or does it seem like these tracks need a bit more mastering/ noodling to bring up volumes, etc? It just seems like they could do with a bit of polishing?

[taotsu]

Yeah, same impression here. Not that they feel unfinished, but much more raw.
I could also see them finished though if Episode 2 is overall more raw and less “produced”.

[philth]

Got sent a digital promo today Drift Episode 2. Only contains the 1st 3 tracks, but it does say there is a release date of March 7th, so full quality downloads are coming if you're willing to pay. :)

[34958hq439-qjw9v5jq298v5j]

given the description of this week's track as "unfinished" i'm guessing they'll be busy the next week or so...

[crank]

What exactly does a digital promo look like?

[philth]

What exactly does a digital promo look like?


Like the screenshot attached. :)

[taotsu]

Facisnating

[dubman]

I guess posting this here works as well as anywhere else but the thing I'm most relieved by in all of this is that I get to stop being a hater-ass bitch.


Barbara Barbara was one of those very good albums with tons of caveats for me, and I still suspect that i like it because i liked that it was Underworld making it. It felt like they've barely pulled a good one out of the hat, always skirting that line between vitality and re-animation. I was grateful but I still skipped the tour for the second time in a row (which would probably get me slapped by high school me if he knew).


and that was the most I've liked anything of theirs since the Riverruns.


For as much as i indulged in it, because your 20s is great for that, I hated starting the cycle of a new release with optimism, then trying to be nice to myself and the output, then feeling baffled, a little hurt, and finally just mad. I spent the years after Barking calming down and making peace with the realization that whatever a listener understands from a band is mostly about the process the listener is going through, and not much to do with the band itself. Energy spent grousing about their post-EE output will keep putting that in sharper relief, so I did what I could to cut the shit and thank them for the time i did love. I was trying to learn a lesson in how being a fanatic just betrays everyone involved.


then they have the nerve to present not just a functioning sound for 2019 but a creative blueprint with a future. i feel that specific energy i haven't heard in a long time. the one that talks as much about what could be than what is. the one that doesn't barely cross the finish line with a 39 minute album but could go on and bloom in weirder places for some time to come. they're doing it publicly and with verve, and it feels great.


2019 has been a lousy year for me in music so far. most of my major anticipations have crumbled when "what could've been" turned into "what it is". In this limbo where i don't know what I'm looking for, my BB/Drift playlist has been a great constant. That this band is back to being my fallback when little else works is a fucking odd sensation to have today.


I'm not looking to return to fanboyism and moving expectations though. What they're getting out of this, and what it means later on, that's for them. the wheels might fall of for me anytime. BUT: I haven't been expressing the subterranean joy of consistently liking these weekly releases. even the duds don't cause any kind of reaction worse than "just not my bag". It's an odd place to be in, almost as if there's something else to learn in a 20 year trajectory that looks like this.

[crank]

yeah, there are very few acts that manage to reinvent themselves WHILE staying totally relevant after their peak. (I'm looking at you u2)

Bowie did it and I think Cash did it but beyond that I really can't name anyone.

But yes that's a great assessment.

[purlieu]

As my favourite Underworld album is OWB I can't entirely relate, but I agree that both episodes so far have had such an energy and spark to them that it's hard not to just feel a huge sense of joy from them. Barking was a horrible time to be an Underworld fan, and although I really like Barbara, it's not one I put on regularly. But there's a real freshness to the current material.

[Billy Goat]

After the studio Cherry Pie/Rowla it would be amazing to get a studio version of Rez/Cowgirl especially with the long bleepy Rez intro!

And after the live Jam version of Twist the full live version of Push Upstairs with the extra bit that wasn't anywhere on the BF Remaster would be pretty neat too!

Both are probably too much to expect but are certainly wishes!

[WhiteNoise]

Two words, Five Points

[negative1]

Two words, Five Points


sure, but the live versions are good enough.


later
-1

[Billy Goat]

sure, but the live versions are good enough.


later
-1

Versions? I'm only aware of the 1998 Hugo D Nite, Rotterdam outing that mixes into Cowgirl, are there other versions? If so, I need to get hold of them! ��

[WhiteNoise]

Mayan Theater 1998. It's an audience recording but good quality, and arguably Underworld's best performance of all time so you need it for more reasons than just Five Points!

It was also played at Manchester Apollo 1999, but I don't think there's a recording of that one

[khouri]

When I got to meet Rick for a moment after the Dubnobass anniversary show, I told him I was at the Mayan show in 98 and he stopped signing things and looked me in the eye and said “That was a good show.”