Emerson DJ Review from RA

[BrotherLovesDub]

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[BeautifulBurnout]

I have to confess that the last time I saw him, about 3 yrs ago if I remember rightly, we left before the end of his set. Boring and predictable. Shame, but it's true.

[joethelion]

hey - remember that album of his that was "coming out this fall with a single due by the end of the summer"

...back like...

SIX YEARS AGO??????

[holden]

Darren Emerson was the young hot-shot DJ in like 1992-94. I'd give him credit for helping R&K develop their electronic dance sound (although they were well on their way on their own), and for being a road-tester of tracks in his DJ sets and and extra set of hands at the mixing desk.

I admit to not knowing too much about him solo, but what i've heard hasn't been too impressive.

I also recall two DJ sets he did while with UW - the second disc in the Beaucoup Fish interview set, where his mixing is terrible,
and a 1996 essential selection (includes Air Towel, Pearls Girl, telematic among others) that is also pretty bland and a little less than perfect in the transitions department.
Further, a while back, a circa 1996 interview appeared on these boards
http://www.darktrain.org/dirty/forums/showthread.php?t=5103&highlight=Emerson+interview
where Daz came off as sounding like he was responsible for UW's success and was the major creative control. Maybe his ego was just inflated by NUXX taking off (and certainly he's more gracious in the BF interviews, etc), but still...

Maybe i'm just picking out the low moments, and there are probably plenty of highs (i used to quite like his remix of Fatboy Slim's "bird of prey" amnd Sven Vath's "Harlequin").

[phaseblue]

I was in a bookstore back in 2000 and I saw Darren Emerson on the cover of (I believe it was) DJ Magazine, so of course being a big Underworld fan, I picked it up! It was an interview with Emerson, and to my utter and complete surprise, it was basically a total hit piece on Underworld! Now, I don`t remember Darren saying too much negative stuff about them, but the magazine interviewers sure had a field day, and Darren seemed to play right into it. The most memorable quote was something like "Back in the 80`s [in the Freur] they had long, pink hair and now they are trying to be a dance act!"

Needless to say, I was so angry that I just threw the magazine down and walked out of the store! I mean did these jack asses actually believe the crap they were saying, or did they just not know any better?

That article, and the whole DJ "scene" in general, really started to piss me off at that time! Keep in mind that this was the period when everybody and their mother`s brother had a story about how they supposedly "spun" records at this or that club at this time or that time in the supposed past. I`m not trying to attack DJs (there are some very talented ones who are part of this community), but it was really hard during that period with all these young people worshipping DJs like gods and forgetting that someone had to actually write the music that was on the f#$king records! The interviewers/writers for that magazine, or the most of the young dumb asses who bought it, probably couldn`t tell real art if it hit them in the face!

As for Emerson, I was done with him then!!!

[potatobroth]

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am I missing something here?

[dubman]

am I missing something here?

said he was still laughing about the shitty review RA gave him, and that he was boring and predictable. dunno why he'd edit all that out tho. edit: he's editing most of his thread posts. wtf BLD.

i also dont know how i feel about this whole thing tho. this airing of emerson derision doesnt happen often, but it's like a rug that gets the dust beaten off of it, and each time it looks more and more like a crappy way to find closure on it. sure R+K wrote most of dubnobass and were making headway on their own, but in the same way that darren price remains uncredited in OWB, emerson must have given at least useful advice on where to guide them so that they made a stormer like cowgirl. and over the last few years the dirty community has been slowly trying to convince itself of emerson's reduced role in the band, to the point where he's suddenly a bit player instead of being as valuable as the rest of them when he was there.

[holden]

i also dont know how i feel about this whole thing tho. this airing of emerson derision doesnt happen often, but it's like a rug that gets the dust beaten off of it, and each time it looks more and more like a crappy way to find closure on it. sure R+K wrote most of dubnobass and were making headway on their own, but in the same way that darren price remains uncredited in OWB, emerson must have given at least useful advice on where to guide them so that they made a stormer like cowgirl. and over the last few years the dirty community has been slowly trying to convince itself of emerson's reduced role in the band, to the point where he's suddenly a bit player instead of being as valuable as the rest of them when he was there.

i hear what you're saying, and as i posted, i think that the interviews around "Beaucoup Fish" era are mostly good-humored (the hilarious one with the acoustic Born Slippy has a lot of joking between Rick and Darren, for example, and it also stresses that "Bruce Lee" was a Daz contribution at heart). After the split, Karl mentioned that it was amiable. But what of the often-talked-about-in-the-press bit that BF was recorded distantly, with sound files emailed back and forth? Was the mood really that tense or is this just typical journalistic sensationalizing?

[darktrain]

After the Chicago 99 show a group of dirts waited out back for the guys to come out. R&K graciously signed autographs/took pics/chatted with us, but Darren flew into the awaiting cab.
Now maybe he wasn't feeling well or was sick of chatting with folks but personally it seemed like he just couldn't be arsed.

Still, his GU Uruguay box wasn't half bad for its time.

[phaseblue]

I have to confess that the last time I saw him, about 3 yrs ago if I remember rightly, we left before the end of his set. Boring and predictable. Shame, but it's true.

I saw him once at Nocturnal Wonderland back around the time of the aforementioned article! During his set, I noticed that he was getting fat, smoked like a chimney, chugalugged wine from bottle every 3 minutes, pointed his finger rudely at staff (several times) to get dancers off the stage if he was afraid they would cause his records to skip, and had this "Look at me! I`m a famous DJ" grin on his face the whole time! Quite unbecoming for a former Underworld member!!!

On a positive note; his set was decent and half the the crowd went crazy when he played Cowgirl!

[34958hq439-qjw9v5jq298v5j]

I was in a bookstore back in 2000 and I saw Darren Emerson on the cover of (I believe it was) DJ Magazine, so of course being a big Underworld fan, I picked it up! It was an interview with Emerson, and to my utter and complete surprise, it was basically a total hit piece on Underworld! Now, I don`t remember Darren saying too much negative stuff about them, but the magazine interviewers sure had a field day, and Darren seemed to play right into it. The most memorable quote was something like "Back in the 80`s [in the Freur] they had long, pink hair and now they are trying to be a dance act!"

Needless to say, I was so angry that I just threw the magazine down and walked out of the store! I mean did these jack asses actually believe the crap they were saying, or did they just not know any better?

That article, and the whole DJ "scene" in general, really started to piss me off at that time! Keep in mind that this was the period when everybody and their mother`s brother had a story about how they supposedly "spun" records at this or that club at this time or that time in the supposed past. I`m not trying to attack DJs (there are some very talented ones who are part of this community), but it was really hard during that period with all these young people worshipping DJs like gods and forgetting that someone had to actually write the music that was on the f#$king records! The interviewers/writers for that magazine, or the most of the young dumb asses who bought it, probably couldn`t tell real art if it hit them in the face!

As for Emerson, I was done with him then!!!


There's a pretty direct line from the New Wave of the 80's and the electronic house music of the 90's...Freur was fuckin' boss! UW mk1 not so much but seriously, I think the New Wave elements DID translate over to UW mk2, and that's part of why I love 'em.....

[phaseblue]

There's a pretty direct line from the New Wave of the 80's and the electronic house music of the 90's...Freur was fuckin' boss! UW mk1 not so much but seriously, I think the New Wave elements DID translate over to UW mk2, and that's part of why I love 'em.....

I completely agree!

[BeautifulBurnout]

I agree too. In fact, going further back than that, I hear more of Keith Emerson in UW than I do of Darren :D

[34958hq439-qjw9v5jq298v5j]

Well I don't know about you but I'd take "dave is floating and old man Einstein crazy in his attic" over "ties a rope to a tree...AND HANGS THE UNIVERSE!!" any day.

[holden]

I agree too. In fact, going further back than that, I hear more of Keith Emerson in UW than I do of Darren :D


Ooh, the hazy memories of the "UW = prog?" thread? Let's not stir that pot again!
I'll see your Keith Emerson and raise you a Tony Banks :p


Ah, poor Daz, getting ripped to shreds. But isn't this always the way when someone leaves a band? Their contribution is "re-evaluated" and they go from being integral or a major contributor, to having been a hanger-on. Us on the outside will never know beyond speculation.

[crazysugarboy]

Ah, poor Daz, getting ripped to shreds. But isn't this always the way when someone leaves a band? Their contribution is "re-evaluated" and they go from being integral or a major contributor, to having been a hanger-on. Us on the outside will never know beyond speculation.

I agree. I think this dissing of Darren Emerson is just a tad underhand. Reading interviews with Karl, and watching live performances, including footage from EE, I conclude that they are obviously good friends, and these snide comments (which, at the end of the day, are purely speculative) could be quite hurtfull.

[matt]

I agree. I think this dissing of Darren Emerson is just a tad underhand. Reading interviews with Karl, and watching live performances, including footage from EE, I conclude that they are obviously good friends, and these snide comments (which, at the end of the day, are purely speculative) could be quite hurtfull.Yeah but lets be honest this forum is full of fanboys who, as has been said before, would probably drool over the sound of Karl farting into a bottle if it was posted on UW live or something.

The basic facts are without Emerson's input Dubno... would certainly not have happened nor all those amazing early live shows and festival appearances and it's likely UW would not be around today or at least with nowhere near the fanbase that they have and this place probably wouldn't exist either. So to dismiss his influence on the band as negligible is beyond petty..

[BeautifulBurnout]

Yeah but lets be honest this forum is full of fanboys who, as has been said before, would probably drool over the sound of Karl farting into a bottle if it was posted on UW live or something.


....and girls. Fangirls. :D

I don't think anyone is actually pettily dismissing Darren's influence so much as having a joke at his expense, tbh. Holden got my joke anyway. ;)

Of course he was a vital part of the band when he was, but frankly he has not progressed much since leaving, imo. Whereas the band has.

And can you let me have a copy of the Fart track when you get hold of it, please? :D

[joethelion]

yea -

Darren has done nothing (basically) but stagnate since he left UW

and I remember, after he left UW - Darren made quite a lot of negative comments towards Underworld. Now - not direct stuff like "Karl smells bad" but things like "you know... I kinda helped out a lot... a lot a lot" (as in - gee, they're pretty much up shit creek now that I'm gone) and I think he even said overtly negative things about AHDO

know what I mean?

Karl on the other hand - always said overtly NICE things about Darren

...I don't recall Rick ever saying anything whatsoever about Darren (maybe they didn't get on well..)

[Mike]

...I don't recall Rick ever saying anything whatsoever about Darren (maybe they didn't get on well..)

I dont remember Rick saying anything really.

:D

[holden]

This could be stirring the pot a little:
http://www.list.co.uk/article/702-darren-emerson/

"However Emerson left the band in 2000 after their third album Beaucoup Fish. ‘I don’t remember it being unpleasant at all, just suddenly there being no conversation,’ remembers Underworld cohort Karl Hyde, ‘but some people just like to deal with things that way and you have to respect that and let everyone live their lives.’ Since then Emerson has concentrated on his DJing, solo productions, remixing, and of course his Underwater label. ‘Underworld and Underwater are two completely different projects really,’ explains Emerson. ‘I was a DJ before I started Underworld so was heavily into the Chicago House scene...’

karl...gracious as always. Daz...maybe losing his memory? Or maybe the transcriptor just forgot to put "started with Underworld"?

Another example of humility here:
http://www.clubplanet.com/Articles/761/Darren-Emerson
After garnering early critical acclaim from the music press, Darren joined up with Underworld - a band about to break into the limelight. "I was working with two older guys, who didn`t really know much about dance music. They were coming from more of a rock angle," Darren says of the band. "So I told them what was good about dance music - taught them everything about dance music."

[34958hq439-qjw9v5jq298v5j]

Well I'd say the second quote really is spot on - remember that Emerson was the difference between "I Need a Doctor" and "Rez"

[joethelion]

Well I'd say the second quote really is spot on - remember that Emerson was the difference between "I Need a Doctor" and "Rez"

...no he wasn't

you're completely forgetting the several years of Underworld MK1... etc etc etc


but honestly, I think this is a pretty "tired" subject, or is it just me?

I mean - just look at the facts, since Darren left UW - Rick and Karl have done:

• several live tours (both with and without Pricey)
• A Hundred Days Off
• Breaking and Entering
• Sunshine
• Oblivion with Bells
• the RiverRun projects (+ singles)
• all those b-sides, live only tracks, etc
• and all those new (quality) tracks that have been played during the radio shows

Darren...

um...

a few compilation/dj mix releases
a handful of new songs here and there... (most of which sounded like '98/'99 era improvs... well without that certain "something" that the BF tour improvs had)

...and um...

...I can't think of anything else (worth mentioning)

[Leon]

...no he wasn't

you're completely forgetting the several years of Underworld MK1... etc etc etc


but honestly, I think this is a pretty "tired" subject, or is it just me?

I mean - just look at the facts, since Darren left UW - Rick and Karl have done:

• several live tours (both with and without Pricey)
• A Hundred Days Off
• Breaking and Entering
• Sunshine
• Oblivion with Bells
• the RiverRun projects (+ singles)
• all those b-sides, live only tracks, etc
• and all those new (quality) tracks that have been played during the radio shows

Darren...

um...

a few compilation/dj mix releases
a handful of new songs here and there... (most of which sounded like '98/'99 era improvs... well without that certain "something" that the BF tour improvs had)

...and um...

...I can't think of anything else (worth mentioning)

Basically, what you're pointing out is that they have been very productive since Emerson left. However, looking at the quality of the stuff, I am personally a bit dissapointed with their recent releases. OWB, the tracks on uwlive, I'm not too thrilled about it.
I can't really judge about their liveshows, because they really do a good job in that. Inevitably, their shows have become a greatest hits thing, but the crowd enjoys it, and I think the fans do too.

[//\/\/]

i certainly prefer the output with daz on board - more dancefloor focussed imo - and i don't think that there's much doubting that they're way stronger live when there's 3 members on stage...

...and yes; it's a tired discussion!