NME article: 3 LPs worth o' material - but how?

[Dunwho]

Originally Posted by dubman

while they've released about three albums worth of material this decade, which aint bad by a shot, plus a book and gallery shows and online texts and 2 live albums, which is even better, the ratio of teasing to material still seems way unbalanced. consequences of updating more than most other bands, maybe. more talk equals more on-the-minute hype with the same process that builds and discards tracks not worthy enough, and now letting us see all this happen is driving us nuts because we like what they're letting atrophy (or polish until it's bad).

okay. but KoS raises a legitimate point that nothing out of the little previews we actually get are going fucking anywhere. their newness wears off for them before they appear to be happy with it so it gets left behind, and a great big vacumm takes its place. they are such friggin artists about this, creating for the personal buzz of it, it all seems fluid, it's all a jam, but when it comes to releases they're just not what they could be because it's a release, and whether it's because it's "the real deal" or because they're using the format as a project for a different kind of sound they may not be totally fluent with, it just struggles to be as dynamic as their methods.

plus, they mention 12" like they're artifacts but hey-hello you can still release material (some of it your best, even) on these things and use sites like bleep and boomkat like many many many people of note still do these days, because people download these now. not as singles from an existing work but as a work on its own. 12" are for those ideas that are relevant and dont need an LP for filler, express something new, and can make a whole lot of hype for any kind of larger release without resorting to press talk gibberish.

but they should and probably do already know this, so what the fuck are they sitting on?

in four years we've had one album and a shitload of talk about various avenues and experimental modes and loud days in the lemon and shutting in, and little in the way of follow-thru. streaming tracks in an audio section wont get you anywhere. the riverruns should have been EP releases in their own right, and while the online avenue may have been appropriate for experimental work, it also got lost, as they didnt have enough people salivating at the time to really hunt it down and give a damn.

i'm done fellating this band as if every scrap is a treat. they are if the output is great but their big result in the last 6 years has been eviscerating good raw ideas into stately finished ones. i never thought i wouldnt give a shit about beautiful burnout when it finally came, but there you have it, it's only "nice".

It's hard to argue with anything you have said there.. except to say that it is really how as a fan one expects Underworld to be...

I see them as a band always in motion and in constant flux, therefore the internet based steady stream of this and that with the odd big release is normal to me. This may be because i wasn't a fan in the Dubno, STITI, Beaucoup days when there were releases, and have always had this internet based interaction with the band.

But the lads may consider 10+ live albums, a remix album and two live online live performances (Oblivion Ball/San Fran) along with all the books of Jam.. also the Scenius thing, Downpipe, that Book Karl Wrote for, a remix for... That band i can't remember the name of.. as fairly significant releases...

Also they had the Art Jam in New York! Have been on tour and have been playing new material and updating the live setup...; they have done loads of interviews!

What you may consider teasing I consider just part of the process. And i would also consider the live albums, books of Jam and a lot of the writing that Karl commits to the site (especially those long pieces around march/april 09) as fairly significant releases..

..its just how you look at it i guess