What's next for UW?

[holden]

After the monumental work on the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics, the boys surely deserve a break!
But, there's the Spain show coming up... wondering if we'll hear anything new?

Also, amazingly, it's been 2 years already since "Barking" was released. It was 3 years between "Barking" and "Oblivion with Bells", so maybe we're getting closer? Then again, they took 5 years between AHDO" and "OWB", although the RiverRun series formed a stopgap of sorts, plus some soundtracks...

So, what do you think will be the next musical project(s) for Rick and Karl (and Darren)? Will they keep with the collaborative dance of "Barking" era, or rstick to producing themselves? Will Darren Price be more involved in the writing ( i think his tracks keep the harder edged dance vibe going)? Will they further explore the ambience of "I'm a Big Sister" and moments of "AHDO"? Or, will they surprise us all again?

And anyway, it's been really quiet around these forums. Discuss!

[jetpig]

The diaries have made mention of new music as well as an upcoming tour and "new cultures". Danny Boyle is making a DVD of the opening ceremony and I'd be rather surprised if the boys weren't helping work on that too. With the lack of much other information, it's hard to make a guess at what's next. I'd say it's a little to close to the olympics to be expecting the unveiling of a new project, but I'm certainly hoping that whatever tour is put together brings them close to the west coast of the US, even if it's not a 'new' culture.

[ndrwrld]

moar dogtags.

[potatobroth]

Originally Posted by ndrwrld

moar dogtags.

*Please allow Nine to Never months for shipping

[holden]

Maybe it's useless to try to predict, since Underworld have changed their sound and surprised us at every turn.

Personally, i like (good) surprises!

I vividly remember hearing new tracks dropped during radio shows, the excitement of trying to figure out if the Mr. & Mrs. Christmas had anything to do with "J.A.L. to Tokyo" when it was first played, whether UW were behind "Good Day Today", etc.

When the dust settles, i'd love for a Christmas-time radio show or maybe some new tracks posted on UWLive. Or am i living in 2005?!

[Champiness]

Originally Posted by holden

When the dust settles, i'd love for a Christmas-time radio show or maybe some new tracks posted on UWLive. Or am i living in 2005?!

If you are, we all are. And I wasn't even on here in 2005.

[big screen satellite]

i'm not sure Underworld are necessarily what some of you guys here want them to be anymore - whatever that may be...

yes they make music - yes they made dance music, i'm sure they'll play some more gigs, but music is just part of what they do, and i think having read between lines in the electronic magazine article. they do intend to move into more productions like stage and film and i'm not sure they'll be doing a deadmau5-like residency banging out EDM or even a significant tour again (i might be wrong)

as much as we love them and they love the fans, i think they seem to be happy doing what they want rather than what we ever demand they should do. ricks work during the olympics was astounding and ended up exhausting him. karl is doing ahis rt - together they have done this for years - but perhaps they're doing things and moving a little bit more leisurely nowadays - after all - you can't top the olympics.

i think we'll here from uw again, but i'm not sure that a proper album is what they intend to do for a while - hope i'm wrong - and its just my musings on the matter....

[jetpig]

While I'm a relative newbie to UW (I was first introduced to them and EE right around Barking's release) and I'd love to see another heyday, I think you might be right, Mr. Sattelite. I, however, don't really think that's gonna be too bad of a thing. I don't think they'll stop playing gigs for a while yet, for one. I don't think they'll give themselves a crazy touring schedule anymore, but I understand them to love playing live too much to give up on it completely in favor of purely large scale productions. I'd really like to see a small trickle of sounds here or there, but I'm not particularly optimistic about that as any large scale projects they might embark on would likely come with an NDA that prevents them from sampling material out. I also don't think we've seen the last album, or release rather, from them for that matter. They've been very tied up in projects that have worn them out and demanded a lot of them and I wouldn't be surprised if they wanted to do something a little more self-paced for a little bit.

I guess just don't think they'll completely leave behind the form and situation that afforded them their successful, professional lives. I'm sure they've not forgotten they're roots and while they undoubtedly won't be as active as years past with their fans, I don't think they're done giving just yet.

From yesterday: http://www.underworldlive.com/diary/...20th-september

[holden]

Originally Posted by big screen satellite

i'm not sure Underworld are necessarily what some of you guys here want them to be anymore - whatever that may be...

as much as we love them and they love the fans, i think they seem to be happy doing what they want rather than what we ever demand they should do

I agree, too, as what you're saying was kind of my point for starting this thread. UW have continually changed their approach and their output has expanded from improv-heavy gigs to multimedia to, as you correctly point out, a cultural touchstone on the global stage. Perhaps the only time they played it safe was "AHDO", as that wasn't much of a stylistic departure from "Beaucoup Fish". Having been a dedicated fan since ~2001, i've seen/heard their evolution live and caught up on the rest through the back catalog, countless concert recordings.

We all have very strong memories and emotions with certain periods along Underworld's career, and yeah, i would like to relive some of that magic again, but i am definitely looking forward to whatever's next. Plus, it's fun to speculate...

[ultradave]

Originally Posted by holden

UW have continually changed their approach.

Very true. UW have evolved greatly since dubno, which was basically the catalyst to Rick and Karl's music creativity. Their medium has changed as well from Karl's artwork to Rick's cinematic compositions. One thing I noticed with the Olympic production was the familiar sound elements throughout. I don't ever think R&K will ever lose touch of the dancefloor roots, however, the way they express their creativity has matured greatly.

I'm sure they'll be back in some way or form.

But even if they did decide to call it quits after all these years (as many have mentioned, what will top the Olympics? Maybe playing a live show on the moon... just imagine listening to "Between Stars" on the moon...), they've left a great legacy and influence to many electronic/dance artists, as well as some great music productions.

Really, who here doesn't still listen to dubno in it's entirety? 2 more years and that LP will be 20.