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  #1  
Old 02-25-2019, 07:56 AM
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How you got into and what you love about UW (split thread)
I still like Barking. I agree that it doesn't really have that "Underworld" sound to it but it's still pretty damn good, despite being something of a missed opportunity. I am a bit bitter that they never released an "un-remixed" version as so many of the tunes were excellent in their original form - are we ever gonna see a studio version of "You Do Scribble" w/ vocals? Or ALAF/Silver Boots? Or "Diamond Jigsaw" with that "Jump" synth and massive chord change? Or do we just have to piece it together from low-quality rips?


OWB on the other hand...man that one just keeps getting better with age doesn't it? I remember being pretty nonplussed with it on its release date but it's really held up remarkably well. It's one of the best sounding albums I own.

[Mod note: split from Drift Ep 2 predictions thread]

Last edited by TheBang; 03-07-2019 at 02:13 PM. Reason: split thread
  #2  
Old 02-25-2019, 07:19 PM
dubman
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Re: Drift Ep. 2...wishes and predictions
I have two hearts for OWB. there's a clarity and refinement that i can appreciate, but that same refinement is what makes it sound tepid and estranged. as a statement on its own it's worth exploring, and when compared to AHDO it had definitely achieved a more distilled level of that sound, but the raw energy is gone. I talked earlier about how a band's sound can have an essential vitality that feels like a blueprint for the future; the strange places it could grow from and the life that gives its listener. I always think of the Pearl's Girl EP when I think about this. That it pursued and executed this convalescent polish out of these many branches was a kind of death i didn't quite register at the time, and was finally nailed into my head with Barking and the collabs with High Contrast. They had "arrived", and it didn't work for me at all.
of course i tried to be optimistic about it all. you can't repeat the past and it wasn't a bad album, and there were definite threads from the past to weave together here. but aging it finally laid out what it really meant to me, and i don't revisit it very often.
  #3  
Old 02-25-2019, 11:06 PM
khouri
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Re: Drift Ep. 2...wishes and predictions
The only album that doesn’t contain one of my favorite Underworld songs ever is actually Barbara. The rest of them have at least one.
  #4  
Old 02-26-2019, 03:01 AM
purlieu
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Re: Drift Ep. 2...wishes and predictions
Quote:
Originally Posted by dubman View Post
as a statement on its own it's worth exploring, and when compared to AHDO it had definitely achieved a more distilled level of that sound, but the raw energy is gone.
Yeah, it's a difficult album to compare to their earlier works (particularly the '90s ones), because it feels like a different beast altogether. For me it's effectively their 'ambient' album, based more around moods, melodies and textures than energy and beats. On that front it's a total winner, and that's probably why I like it most, being more into downtempo stuff than dance music. It's probably in my top 10 albums of all time.
  #5  
Old 02-26-2019, 07:19 PM
holden
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Re: Drift Ep. 2...wishes and predictions
Great discussion and analyses. I wonder...is your favorite UW era that in which you became a fan? If so, how do you categorize what came before and after?

As example, I came in around Beacoup Fish, and admit it's still my favorite album. Exploring their back catalog, I think I preferred STITI to Dubno at first, back then. Moving forward, I preferred AHDO to OWB over Barking ( though River Run was amazing). Given the long break, BBWFASF feels like a reset.

Anyway, my point is we may like/dislike aspects of all their releases, but we probably judge them all against a favorite era.

Thankfully, like RiverRun, Drift seems to be totally breaking the mold, few ties to what was.
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  #6  
Old 02-27-2019, 09:18 AM
purlieu
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Re: Drift Ep. 2...wishes and predictions
I got into them with NUXX, so it was that, Pearl's Girl and the b-sides which made me a fan. Can't remember whether I bought STITI before or after Beaucoup Fish. Bizarrely, STITI never clicked with me until I got the remastered box. I always found it hugely underwhelming after the opening two tracks.
OWB and Dubno are my two favourites, and Barking my least favourite, but I'd struggle to pick between the others, quality-wise. They all have their strengths and there's not much in it for me.

Last edited by purlieu; 02-27-2019 at 09:22 AM.
  #7  
Old 02-28-2019, 07:15 AM
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Re: Drift Ep. 2...wishes and predictions
Beacoup was my first one too. I got it because of an Amazon review on the Lo-Fidelity Allstars album - "sounds like they are trying and failing to do what Underworld did on Beacoup Fish". And I loved that Lo-Fis CD, so I figured BF would be good


For me the big one was Everything, Everything. I had actually never heard "Juanita", "Pearls Girl", or "Rez/Cowgirl" before that. I remember buying that at the age of 16 and cruising around town in my shitbox Ford and just having the time of my life. I thought it was the best CD ever made. I went back and grabbed the other albums - dubnobass became my favorite, it just hit me in all the right ways (something about being a hybrid of electronica/New Wave/prog ?), STITI I also loved though I agree there's sort of a step between the first two tracks and the rest (Pearls Girl aside)


So yeah - I was one of those who was disappointed with a lot of their duo stuff as it came out, but when I go back and relisten I'm kinda floored by AHDO and OWB (particularly the latter). Like yeah, it's not quite as banging but the overall sound design is excellent. There's something really pleasant about them. Every time I hear OWB I feel like it must be their best effort (next to dubnobass perhaps, though that's mostly nostalgia talking). BBWFASF is probably 3rd then. I dunno. It's all great!
  #8  
Old 02-28-2019, 10:21 AM
dubman
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Posts: 2,569
Re: Drift Ep. 2...wishes and predictions
Quote:
Originally Posted by holden View Post
Great discussion and analyses. I wonder...is your favorite UW era that in which you became a fan? If so, how do you categorize what came before and after?

As example, I came in around Beacoup Fish, and admit it's still my favorite album. Exploring their back catalog, I think I preferred STITI to Dubno at first, back then. Moving forward, I preferred AHDO to OWB over Barking ( though River Run was amazing). Given the long break, BBWFASF feels like a reset.

Anyway, my point is we may like/dislike aspects of all their releases, but we probably judge them all against a favorite era.

Thankfully, like RiverRun, Drift seems to be totally breaking the mold, few ties to what was.
something about Beaucoup Fish will always be a fave because that was my intro (listening to push upstairs and bruce lee on loop at the Tower listening station because who... who has a 12 minute song wtf) but it is a very silly album.

I nabbed up the others and loaaaathed STITI. it was so boring, I was so bored, it was "difficult for no reason". a year later I'm 15, walking through the rainy woods, and I "got it". still my favorite album of theirs or anyone else's.

but man, EE... that brought so much together for me.

thanks for going along with my thread hijack guys
  #9  
Old 02-28-2019, 10:57 AM
darkvoice
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Join Date: Apr 2006
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Re: Drift Ep. 2...wishes and predictions
I got a few double pearl girl and born slippy CD singles from the record company and I started pluggin them during my holiday in Crete Greece. I jumped around like a maniac to make people understand this music.

Ahdo I first listened while biking in Amsterdam with a xtc pill. Hot weather and chill time. First summer in my first home after my parents. These make memories mixed with music. Feel it again typing this.

Wish for drift series is more of these memories please!
  #10  
Old 02-28-2019, 05:37 PM
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Re: Drift Ep. 2...wishes and predictions
back when I used to play a ton of online poker I used to listen to "Push Upstairs" on loop. "push it, push it, owwww"...hell yeah baby
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