Strawberry Hotel - Dirty reviews

[Dunwho]

Hello all... Been a while!

First couple of full listens this week. Overall I am positive - think its a really confident release with a strong direction and lots of the different directions they've been going in since OWB seem to be resolving into a clear Underworld (Mk.4?) sound.

Main positives:
Ottavia is a triumph of an experiment. It has such drama in both the reading and the music. I really enjoy listening to it an imagining the stage performance.

They appear to have landed on a progressive techno sound which I personally really enjoy. At its core most songs have a central groove or melody/pattern that they grown and augment throughout. I think of Rowla, Moaner, Spoonman in those instances... But on top of this they've seem to have resolved a sound they developed for Barking and BB which has this more refined structure that is bass melody driven. Barking was a very confident album in a direction I really disliked (chorus/verse pop type consumable tunes) and this seems like a confident thrust in a different direction. An experimental, dance focused experience that I can imagine would be fantastic to hear live.

Negatives:
I think it is too long and the balance of bangers to the fore and more experimental to the back is not my favourite. I feel the album could have ended with Ottavia and by then i start to get quite tired... With a 9 min trance tune still to come I found it just dragged a bit. Felt like a full album and then 4-5 bonus tracks. I'd almost cut out 2-3 tracks and bring forward some of the songs near the end to break up the energy slightly.

But overall I really like it.

Let me try and place it:
1. STITI
2. DUBNO
3. BF
4. OWB
5. SH
6. AHDO
7. BB
8. Drift
9. Barking

Was not sure to include drift there... 'd almost also include rhe riverrun series then... But i'd love to just emphasise how bottom of the list of everything Barking is.. its right down there... Underneath the Radar is higher than barking in my book.

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Listened for the first time last night. Found it really impressive. I can get why old school fans wouldn't like it, it really does not sound like UW albums of the past, it sounds like they rebuilt everything from the ground up this past decade and this is sort of the culmination of that. Yet at the same time it's stuffed with references to old Underworld tracks, not just lyrically but a lot of the exact sounds are there. Kinda adds to the dreamlike vibe of the album, it sounds very new but it still constantly reminds you it's Underworld.

The sequencing of the album is pretty interesting to me. It flows together but in an odd way. Very stream-of-consciousness. I agree with the other comments that the last 5 tracks feel like a separate EP. Great stuff - "Gene Pool" especially - but I think the album does work with "Ottavia" as the final track too.

[purlieu]

Originally Posted by Dunwho

Overall I am positive - think its a really confident release with a strong direction and lots of the different directions they've been going in since OWB seem to be resolving into a clear Underworld (Mk.4?) sound.

This is a great point, ad something I agree with. I wouldn't say the last few albums sound tentative or scared, but they don't sound as confident as the band at their peak. BB's shortness, Barking's safeness and collaborations, Drift's lack of willingness to commit to a distinct album. SH definitely sounds like it knows what it is and why it is that.

[iamneorev]

Originally Posted by Dunwho

Let me try and place it:
1. STITI
2. DUBNO
3. BF
4. OWB
5. SH
6. AHDO
7. BB
8. Drift
9. Barking

01. Second Toughest In The Infants
02. Beacoup Fish
03. Dubnobasswithmyheadman
04. Riverrun Trilogy
05. Drift
06. Strawberry Hotel
07. Barbara Barbara, We Face A Shining Future
08. Oblivion With Bells
09. A Hundred Days Off
10. Barking