Drift Ep. 4, Part 2 - Schiphol Test

[TheBang]

A mesmerising murmur of a bass groove, an electronic riff that cuts through like a crack of light and a vocal that serves to spin you further into a hypnotic state. Schiphol Test is each of those things, in perfect harmony, and a whole lot more. Push. Push. Push. Push. Push. Push. Push. Push. Moving On.

“Rick started this on his iPad, waiting for a flight out of Schiphol airport. The second I heard those first opening bars of bass line and chords and groove I became fixated with finding a response with words that was as equally stripped and succulent” – Karl

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-Sobf9OW9g

If you like… Always Loved a Film, Cups, Low Burn, Mo Move… then Schiphol Test belongs to you.

[saintrik]

Beautiful. Beautiful.

[potatobroth]

i love Cups and Low Burn but so far wasn't a fan of this. I'll give it a proper listen when i get home tho.

[34958hq439-qjw9v5jq298v5j]

He sings a bit of "Who Rings the Bell" on this one right? or maybe I'm hearing things

[Dino3D]

Nice track.

[Dirty0900]

Lovely track , kept thinking it would break into Push Upstairs wit the lyrics.

[Flywaver]

Most 'ospitable ��

[purlieu]

Gorgeous track. Episode 4 has really hit the ground running.

[negative1]

another good track, keep them coming.

later
-1

[holden]

This really has a mid 90's B side melancholy vibe (not just Most 'Ospitable, but stuff like Puppies, Deep Arch).
Love the bassline, the chords, the guitar, etc. Wasn't sure about the repetition of Push, push...it draws immediate comparisons to Push Upstairs. Different intentions, but same mantra.

Not that you can't repeat words (and that's a staple of Karl's style), but they couldn't really use Everything, everything or lager,lager in another song, right?

Unlesssssss..... Maybe the Grand idea is to use Schiphol as a way to freshen up Push Upstairs live as merhed/segued track? Not sure how that works/sounds

Still, a great, classic sort of Underworld track. Like it very much.

[khouri]

The "push" bits are a solid example of latter day Underworld overusing Karl's voice, IMO. It's just noise there, but it's pushed to the front of the mix and unjustly takes all the attention. "Low Burn" is another example of this, and it's one of the songs UW themselves compare "Schiphol Test" to.

[TheBang]

It feels like a more upbeat Brussels. Which is a good thing; Brussels is one of my favorite tracks from Drift.

The vocoder effect they use reminds me of the one on Faxed Invitation.

He sings a bit of "Who Rings the Bell" on this one right? or maybe I'm hearing things
The Eno • Hyde song? Where? I didn't hear it.

[dubman]

agreed with khouri about questionable front-facing choices, but it's a nice track. feels a lot like other drift tracks after EP 1 though, where i'm not sure if this is really a finished product? all the parts seem right, but it's a bit leaden and "push" is just a really awkward way to anchor things here. it feels like it's not an album cut when it really should be after cracking a few problems with it.

[jetpig]

Is this bassline a riff off the KoS/I feel love melody? At the 3 minute mark it's almost solo so it's a good marker to compare.

[taotsu]

On first listen, been driving my bike to the station. Perfect for that. Love the energy, the baseline makes my head jump.
Really can’t follow the complaints / dislikes of Karl’s voices. It sure is mixed into the foreground, but to me with great effect.
I’ve ever seen Karl’s voice as an instrument, not a front man / singer. With that it works well :D

And I wanna know who’s been playing violin. If that was one.

[philth]

Like this on first listen. Really enjoying the process of the Drift series.


I'm expecting the final few tracks chosen for the album will be reworked a bit, like these are all 90% works in progress. Either way, loads I like in the series whether they change or not.

[holden]

I'm expecting the final few tracks chosen for the album will be reworked a bit, like these are all 90% works in progress. Either way, loads I like in the series whether they change or not.

Yes, me, too. There are some fully formed tracks that seem album-ready. Others could (should?) Be reworked for maximum impact. Ultimately, it's up to Rick and Karl as to what's finished.

This track is a good analogy to "Always loved a film". That song evolved and evolved. The LP version is not my favorite, but I can follow it's evolution, and I still have access to the various stages. Should Schiphol appear as is, great, it's fine track, although the callbacks to Most 'Ospitable and Push Upstairs are clear. My hope is that it gets a bit of a work over to lessen the comparisons.

[holden]

Ok, how much of a call-back is this track? Could it be used as a new lead-in/live mix with Push Upstairs?

i give you "Underworld: Push Schiphol Most 'Ospitable mashup"
https://archive.org/details/UnderworldPushSchipholMostOspitableMHCMix

Push Upstairs (the Large Unit mix) + Schiphol Test + Most 'Ospitable

I spent maybe 20 minutes, just beatmatching, a little pitch-shifting and deciding where to merge the tracks. Certainly not very polished, but i like how Schiphol Test compliments the older tracks. There's a lot of pushing going on.

Moving on!

[Flywaver]

It's gone from YouTube ����

[taotsu]

It's gone from YouTube ����

Not for me:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=q-Sobf9OW9g

[Flywaver]

Not for me:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=q-Sobf9OW9g

Just unavailable in the UK... Lovely Broken Thing.. :-/

[taotsu]

Just unavailable in the UK... Lovely Broken Thing.. :-/

Strange. I wonder why

[deepfriedbeans]

Just unavailable in the UK... Lovely Broken Thing.. :-/

Not available in Australia either.

[34958hq439-qjw9v5jq298v5j]

The Eno • Hyde song? Where? I didn't hear it.

starts around 5:10. not exactly the same melody but it's close ("Who fans the flames/Who names the names/Who points the fingers...")

[Cadevil]

This song is great piece of melancholy techno. Feels of the Beucoup Fish era.

Anyone else hearing a bit of Moaner in the background (starting the last 1:25)?

[Flywaver]

Strange. I wonder why

All fixed now.Maybe a virus....

[Dino3D]

Yeah, it definitely has some Moaner vibe! Actually it's a quieter and more gentle Moaner.



This song is great piece of melancholy techno. Feels of the Beucoup Fish era.

Anyone else hearing a bit of Moaner in the background (starting the last 1:25)?

[undarrenworld]

Ok, how much of a call-back is this track? Could it be used as a new lead-in/live mix with Push Upstairs?

i give you "Underworld: Push Schiphol Most 'Ospitable mashup"
https://archive.org/details/UnderworldPushSchipholMostOspitableMHCMix

Push Upstairs (the Large Unit mix) + Schiphol Test + Most 'Ospitable

I spent maybe 20 minutes, just beatmatching, a little pitch-shifting and deciding where to merge the tracks. Certainly not very polished, but i like how Schiphol Test compliments the older tracks. There's a lot of pushing going on.

Moving on!

Thank you very much. Excellent idea to use these tracks. It have that 90s vibe, that I love so much about Underworld, just like that Airtowel jam, its the sound that you feel and you know its Underworld. Great.

[TheBang]

And I wanna know who’s been playing violin. If that was one.
You were right. Schiphol Test got a digital single release yesterday (also so that it shows up on streaming platforms), and in the credits, it has Georgia Ellery listed for violin (who's also done violin on some of the other tracks).