Just spent a bit of time catching up on a bunch of posts about the new Remaster Release. A lot of interesting comments!
Was really delighted to hear that they were getting this out a bit earlier than 2016.. hopefully they will probably do the same for the other releases up to AHDO and have one a year from now.
I picked the Super Deluxe up today in Tower Dublin and I must say I am delighted with the package. The book with essay and art is fantastic and I love how the coloured Super Deluxe box works as a set with Dubno box from last year.. it must be just the first two parts of a series as they remaster the rest of the albums. The artwork on the box has only changed for the Super Deluxe releases.. the single and double cd releases and the vinyl has stayed the same.. so I don't see the issue with having something new and special from Tomato for the Super Deluxe.. I love Tomato's work and the more they release the better!
A lot of people have commented on how it does not sound/feel as special as the Dubno release but I feel that this is a different beast altogether. I would say Rick wanted to give Dubno the attention it deserved considering how ground-breaking the album was for dance music in general. Hence the year spent remastering it and the subsequent world tour of the album. STITI deserves to be remastered but I'd prefer Rick take a step back and focus on new material while someone else give STITI a general remaster with his supervision - we cant get into a cycle of reliving the past while UW has so much more to give in the future!
STITI is a fantastic album, it is my personal favourite. IMO, while Dubno was the revolutionary breakout experiment that helped shape dance and techno music for decades to come, STITI is the first "settled" Underworld album where they express a consistency and honesty in their sound that accurately reflected their live show and experimental nature. No more UW#1 hangovers... this is full on UW#2 no holds barred... and it is glorious!
Yes, I know a lot of us here have heard a ton of disc 2 before through various sources but everyone is quick to forget that there is a world of UW fans who don't spend their time seeking that stuff out.. the 2 disc set will expose that music to a ton of new people which I think is great as I remember fondly the first times I listened and danced to many of the b-sides and demos from this era. So try to put it in perspective... this is a huge amount to release for the world to hear... not just us at BornDirty!
My favourite bits so far:
Always good to enjoy the original Born Slippy (far superior)
The full disc of NUXX is a bit much, but it is cool to hear high quality recordings of a lot of the samples they use live when improvising. I find it more interesting than enjoyable.
Pearl's Version 2 has an awesome 4 to the floor touch half way through which I love.. They do that when jamming live before seg-waying into another track.. always gets me going. It also has a touch of the 1996 european gig which is always a good thing
The vocal version of Rowla is really different.. great fresh perspective on it.
D & B Thing is what I feel the essay in the Book is getting at in terms of the sounds and feelings they were living with at the time. That breakbeat sound has a huge effect on the album as a whole and while I can see why this track never went to the full release it has so much in there that is like a blueprint for the album.. really fun and adventurous.
Tin Pearl is my new "I'm in a rush get out of my fucking way" song... love it.
Overall I am delighted I cashed out for this.. I love this era of Underworld and I think this collection captures it well