Quote:
|
Originally Posted by kid cue
as a tangent to the current UW discussion, i'm ambivalent about the concept of UW stepping away from the limelight, and using unconventional, more fluid ways to get releases out. if online releases are an ideal medium for Rick & Karl's rate of output, so be it--but ... given that the releases are only made available on underworldlive.com (and publicized on dirty's front page), which is a fairly esoteric website that only long-term / die-hard UW fans are going to check with any regularity, and that their premise is for Rick to experiment wildly with production & structure, it seems like sort of a critic-proof outlet. which is bad, IMO, because it suggests that a lot more chaff is likely to make it through (zero timelines or barriers to release), and the response (from UWlive-goers) will never be anything less than basically positive.
not that there isn't any quality control from their end. but the group completely overhauled their sound (and visuals) in between MKI-Dubno-STITI-BF, and i feel like it was the largeness of each new release, the pressure of having to do it again with a significant album release, that helped that progression. UW seem like a quintessential album group in that regard.
i guess i won't see it as an issue if the next album draws from all these side projects and is totally fresh.
|
the River Run Project was the end result of karl mentioning they had tons of ambient material that wasn't right for a proper album. at the time, the majority of dirty.org was frothing at the mouth to get their mitts on those ambient tracks (zOMG Thing In A Book pt.2???). they were done without much fuss and at a very reasonable price. a perfect outlet for them to express a different side.
Underworld have, by my estimation, 5 great songs that haven't been released but have been evolving in the live setting for a year or two. We'll see if they actually release those tracks or if they remain unpublished. This will be the first LP with Darren Price too, and if his contributions to the live set on the past tour is any indication, this next LP is going to sound very current while retaining that classic UW sensibility (Can You Feel This Bass).
I agree with Duckies comments above w/r/t the progression from Dubno-BF and each release getting larger etc., however, it's my belief that Underworld are happy to not be caught in that cycle. They've done that bit, now they're onto something else. Their goals have changed, if my understanding of their public comments in the last few years is on point. If you're expecting an epic masterpiece on par with STITI, or joyous anthems that reach the heights of Jumbo, or even deep classics like Dark and Long, you're probably waiting under the wrong tree. That fruit won't fall again. If you're intrigued with the sound of All These Things, Always Loved A Film, Globe, JAL To Tokyo etc., 2007 should yield at least a handful of tasty nuggets. In the end, our top 10 UW tracks will largely be compiled from the first 3 LPs. 1,2,5? more great tracks from the band is all I really hope for, the rest, as they say, is gravy.