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

[crank]

And seriously, honestly if you look at the output of your other favorite bands, are you seeing the same sort of bits and pieces floating about?

I think not.

They produce FAR faster than "XyZ" band.

[34958hq439-qjw9v5jq298v5j]

I know UW has been generous, but it's still disappointing. I mean yes we do have Silver Boots from the radio show, but in the form of a 96kbps MP3 which is really low. The reason why it sucks is because even though I did like OWB, I think the newer, unreleased material is just as good as the best of the old stuff. If I could sequence a UW album just based on the unreleased stuff I know of I could cobble together something just as good as their classic material. They've definitely released some good stuff in the last 6 years 'officially', but it is frustrating to know that they have so much quality stuff in the vault that may never see an official release.

I can believe that they're bored of the LP format, so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, but it just seems weird to think that great stuff like "You Do Scribble" might never see official release...how many groups just sit on tracks like that??

[Dunwho]

Was just thinking OWB was released October 2007 they toured that album right up until Australia at new years 2009..

and now there is talk of a release in 2010 of a new album (a lot has been sed about everything but lets just say an album is on the way)

2007 to 2010... three years isnt bad.. considering 2002 to 2007 between the last two.

And we're all just presuming YDS or Bamboo etc etc will never be released properly.

And if we consider the majority of fans dont spend their days on these forums and on the website then there is no over exposure, and everything seems fairly normal, they are a band working on some new material and it will be released whenever...whatever that release is.

Just gotta forget about it and before you know it there will be lots to enjoy.

Kinda like watching a kettle boil i guess

[ThingInABook]

Originally Posted by 34958hq439-qjw9v5jq298v5j

I know UW has been generous, but it's still disappointing. I mean yes we do have Silver Boots from the radio show, but in the form of a 96kbps MP3 which is really low. The reason why it sucks is because even though I did like OWB, I think the newer, unreleased material is just as good as the best of the old stuff. If I could sequence a UW album just based on the unreleased stuff I know of I could cobble together something just as good as their classic material. They've definitely released some good stuff in the last 6 years 'officially', but it is frustrating to know that they have so much quality stuff in the vault that may never see an official release.

I can believe that they're bored of the LP format, so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, but it just seems weird to think that great stuff like "You Do Scribble" might never see official release...how many groups just sit on tracks like that??

seconded. i lost most of the unreleased stuff by just not paying attention to underworld live and i'm just catching up with the "new" stuff. to have one of these tracks in my media player implies that i must illegally download the track or ripping it using audacity, then editing the thing to manage to get decent sound quality. in case for webcasts, it gets more difficult.

i do love the new tracks and the different variations of them, but not having them in a 'proper way' (as single-serve tracks) can get a little annoying. i love my cds and vinyls very much, thank you. adding the fact that i also lost most of u/w mkI and mkII because i live at the end of the world and getting stuff over here is almost impossible.

[jose m]

Originally Posted by Dunwho

Was just thinking OWB was released October 2007 they toured that album right up until Australia at new years 2009..

and now there is talk of a release in 2010 of a new album (a lot has been sed about everything but lets just say an album is on the way)

2007 to 2010... three years isnt bad.. considering 2002 to 2007 between the last two.

And we're all just presuming YDS or Bamboo etc etc will never be released properly.

And if we consider the majority of fans dont spend their days on these forums and on the website then there is no over exposure, and everything seems fairly normal, they are a band working on some new material and it will be released whenever...whatever that release is.

Just gotta forget about it and before you know it there will be lots to enjoy.

Kinda like watching a kettle boil i guess

word !

[TheBang]

I think part of the problem is that the output this year, so far, has been far below what is has been recently.

From 2005-2008, there was a staggering amount of output: Live show audio and video downloads, Live albums, radio broadcasts, album, singles, digital EP's and singles, Books of Jam, ArtJams, live concert broadcasts.

This year has been pretty quiet in comparison:

One live concert webcast
One radio webcast (short and no new UW material)
Some YouTube videos
Downpipe
Manic Street Preachers

I personally would like to have seen some more material. Maybe a digital single, a Riverrun, and a Book of Jam or two?

[jose m]

"enough is never enough"

[big screen satellite]

Originally Posted by jose m

"enough is never enough"

uw should use that as a lyric

[ThingInABook]

well, karl couldn't said it better:

"Yeah, we tell you about the writing of new material & sometimes the process spans a long time, but when you spend most of your time jumping through skyholes to carry the groove in person & sweat to the joyous peoples of the planet you don't get anything like the time you need to finish what you started. I could articulate an even greater complaint but we got a grin & groove to chase & one foot to lay down infront of another. Let's get sweaty honey..."

perhaps they're more interested in the live aspect of things. getting all that energy in a plastic disc can get difficult.