Underworld

(a continuation from this page)

After striking out twice in the world of 80's radio-friendly pop, Karl Hyde and Rick Smith found their calling in the realm of dance music, hooking up with DJ Darren Emerson and promptly putting out a string of classic singles that gained them the notoriety and popularity that eluded them during their big-label days. Despite never having the mainstream success of the Chemical Brothers, Moby, or Fatboy Slim (outside of one huge single, "Born Slippy NUXX"), they've managed to remain high profile through a steady stream of quality material and a legendary live show. In 2002, Emerson left the group, yet Smith and Hyde soldiered on as a duo, still releasing albums every so often but also crossing over into soundtrack work, collaborations, mixtapes, and more experimental, online-only releases.

The one advantage they had over other electronic groups is in the vocals (even if that is generally secondary in house music). Instead of having to resort to mediocre crooning (Fluke, Moby) or a barrage of guest vocalists (Chemical Brothers, Orbital, 808 State), they actually had a first-rate vocalist on their roster in Karl Hyde, which gives the group a dimension that others lacked. He has an ability to make the music come alive, and his smooth, often nonsensical diction is the band's (only) defining point. He's also the reason why I suspect this music appeals to a lot of people who don't really like their contemporaries, as Underworld's music hits on a more personal and emotional level than most of the beat-crazy stuff that was going on at the time. That said, I suspect that Smith (and to a lesser degree, Emerson) is the real genius of the band, as the intricately layered music and beats are almost always first-rate.

As far as the actual releases go, their discography is fairly complicated, as the group lived on the 12" single and many of their better tracks never found an album, including their three most popular ones ("Rez", "Born Slippy NUXX", "Dark Train"). They have also released a bunch of EPs and other obscurities, some of which go longer than the actual LPs. Hopefully this page can point out which releases are the essential or important ones. With all the recent online releases, live show bootlegs, and radio broadcasts, it's become clear that the band tests out its material in many different guises before an "official" release, which further complicates things. I'll do my best to sort it all out:

Lemon Interupt - Bigmouth/Eclipse (1992)
Lemon Interupt was the name of Rick and Karl's band after they got DJ Darren Emerson (who was 18 at the time) to join up. They released 2 12" singles under the name, which are nearly impossible to find. Luckily both A-sides appear on the 1992-2002 collection. One thing you see a lot in Underworld tracks how some early, non-album tracks are a precursor to the stuff that actually makes the albums. Case in point, "Bigmouth", which is sort of a precursor to "Dark and Long", except the main hook in this one is played by Karl honking into a harmonica. "Eclipse" is a more subdued and freeform track that using female vocal samples. Both these tracks are fairly uncharacteristic of the band, but interesting from a historical standpoint.

Lemon Interupt - Dirty/Minneapolis (1992)
The first time I heard "Dirty" I assumed it was a remix of "Dirty Epic", but it's actually the other way around. Both these are dense and evolving, and "Minneapolis" is one of their better really-hard-to-find tracks, featuring funk guitar and a spacey synth line.

Mother Earth/The Hump (1992)
Karl and Rick decided to take back the Underworld name at this point, considering everyone already forgot about the Mk1 stuff. This did give the group a chance to revisit some pieces of a botched 3rd album, and this single sounds more like a hybrid of the two styles. I know that a faster-paced "Mother Earth" was indeed an Mk1 track, and it sounds like "The Hump" was too - but they've both been remixed into 90's dance music. This has the same version of "Mother Earth" that appeared on their debut album. That makes the 2 mixes of "The Hump" the chase tracks, but it's really just a generic dance tune with a funky bass line and vocal that seems like it was ripped straight from Change the Weather. Only 500 copies pressed.

Rez (1992)
This track's beeping, endlessly melodic hook made it an instant classic. The B-side is either "Cowgirl", a variation on the theme that adds vocals and is one of the most well-rounded house tracks ever, or "Why Why Why", a longer jam track that exemplifies their laid-back yet complex style of electronic music well. Limited to 1000 copies, but "Rez" is featured on a number of comps, and "Cowgirl" made the first album.

Spikee/Dogman Go Woof (1993)
The A-side is another funky, pounding dance track, this time featuring some clever vocal manipulation and a monster guitar riff in the end. Didn't think much of the B-side. Neither track appeared on any album, but "Spikee" eventually landed on the 1992-2002 comp.

Mmmm...Skyscraper I Love You (1993)
Underworld was gaining some steam when they released this fairly successful 12”. This was another lengthy (10+ minutes) single exploring Karl's fascination with urban life. Contains a memorable vocal performance and a wonderful chill atmosphere. This one also made the album. Contains a couple of remixes.

dubnobasswithmyheadman (1994)
This is exactly the brilliant full-length album that their early singles were hinting at all along. Each one of these nine tracks are multi-layered and well-thought out, and you'd hardly believe that most of these weren't even intended to be used on an LP. Underworld took a different route from their contemporaries and made an album that sounded decidedly human - Karl Hyde's vocal performances anchor the tracks well, as his voice projects a range from confident and smooth ("Dark and Long") to worried and broken ("Dirty Epic"). The mood is mostly chill, as only really one of the tracks has an in-your-face dance beat that punctuated most mid-90's electronic music - but that one is "Cowgirl", and it's still one of the very best house tracks ever created, with a great buildup, tons of vocal hooks, an exciting bleeping synth line, and a euphoric climax. It’s amazing how much progress these guys have made in just five years - "Mmm Skyscraper...I Love You" is a spacious jam that shows more creativity and songwriting brilliance in 13 minutes than most electronic acts showed in their entire career. But there is a decidedly 80's New Wave vibe to this (especially in the closer, "M.E.", which was taken from their original incarnation), as they still have the same funky sense of rhythm they did in the mk1 days - but that actually is a credit to the album, as this makes it both groovy and deep (especially in "Dark and Long", one of their more infectious tracks). Even the ambient tracks have a great vibe to them - "River of Bass" is true to its title, and the astonishing "Tongue" features a bluesy guitar riff and haunting atmospherics.

The kicker is that there's such a genuine emotion behind this that it transcends the fun-but-deposable vibe that many other 90's electronic releases had, making it enjoyable to those who don't really like electronic music. "Dirty Epic" defies comparison - it's an actual song, but it builds up the way house music does, featuring a harrowing and memorable vocal (nearly every line is a classic) and a gritty guitar lick. Paired with "Cowgirl", it forms one of the best sides in the genre. This is essential listening - not just one of the best electronic albums ever, but also one of the best albums of the 90's.

dubnobasswithmyheadman DAT Compilation (1993, discovered in 2008)
An alternate version of the above. This was the early version of the album that was sent to a few record companies. I don’t know if they ever intended to release it this way, but if they had, the bridge between the 80’s group and the 90’s one would have been a lot clearer. There aren’t any great hidden gems on here, but it’s a good listen for collectors. Unreleased tracks are the breakbeat-heavy “Big Meat Show”, bass-driven jam “Organ”, and the smooth, Mk1-style tune “Can U Feel Me”. They’re decent, but probably more notable for the little bits and pieces of them that eventually got worked into the album tracks (in particular, “Can U Feel Me” clearly became the ending part of “Skyscraper”). There are also a couple of remixes that would later show up as B-sides (“Jamscraper”, “Dirty Fuzz”). As for the stuff that made the album, they are slightly different mixes than the official release, but only a fanatic (like myself) would notice that.

Dark and Long (JBO 19 CDS) (1994)
There were about a dozen different versions of this single release, but the two main ones were this and the more famous 6-track release. Contains an edit of the title track, the famous "Dark Train" mix, the 20+ minute atmospheric "215 Miles", and an incredibly moving ambient track, "Most 'Ospitable". That one alone is worth tracking it down - it's not just the melody that's beautiful, but the atmospherics and shimmering synth tones that really give it a stunning resonance.

Dark and Long (APR OO2CD) (1994)
This is the more common release of the single, EP, whatever - it's hard to really know what to call it given it's even lengthier than the studio album was, clocking in at nearly 73 minutes. This is exactly the kind of remix collection you like to see from an artist - the remixes include, at most, a passing resemblance to the original, and one is based on a different track ("Spoon Deep", which is a jam remix of "Surfboy"). It's mostly chill and freeform, with two of the tracks clocking in around 20 minutes, but it's worth checking out - the grooves don't really wear out, and there's enough density to keep things moving. Most of all, there's a pair of really, really great tracks here. "Dark Train" is the one you've probably heard before - based on a hypnotic vocal sample and a pair of simple, trance-like hooks (one on what sounds like a synthesized version of a string section - it's unique and hugely effective), it's breathtaking and catchy at once, and it's no surprise it turned out to be a dance floor smash as well. The other great one is "Thing in a Book", which is trance, more or less - it's a slowly evolving track that's as captivating as it is long (20+ minutes, and believe me it ain't enough). Likely cut from the LP for being too long, but trust me, it's essential listening - if there's a better example of how to properly build a track, I couldn't imagine it, and there's enough going on to make it justify its length nicely - a couple of great hooks, smooth production, and an awful lot bubbling underneath the surface (including a few snippets of vocals, but like many Underworld tracks it just uses the sound of his voice rather than actual words). So it's worth it for that alone ("Dark Train" too, but that one's available in so many other places), but otherwise can be somewhat repetitive, and like most EP's, it doesn't really flow too well, since besides the leadoff edit of the title track everything here's an extended cut.

Dirty Epic/Cowgirl (1994)
Another really long EP release, but there isn't really anything new here. Contains two extra mixes of each title track - the "Dirty Epic" mixes are just the original, Lemon Interupt version and one that reconciles the two, and the "Cowgirl" mixes are serviceable if uninteresting. "River of Bass" and "Rez" fill it out. This is a hell of a deal if you can get it for $5.99, like I did, but if you already have the studio album and "Rez" there's not much here.

Born Slippy (1995)
A three-track single. It would appear to be one 'main' track and two remixes of it, but besides title they don't have anything to do with each other. The pounding "NUXX" version would appear on the soundtrack to Trainspotting and, well, the rest is history. I would say all three tracks here are worth listening to - I won't rate it but it's one of their best single releases. The original mix combines a rolling and high-rising synth melody with frantic beats and is one of their most exciting tracks, and the "Telematic" jam to finish it out is satisfying. This marks a shift in sound for the guys away from their New Wave roots and towards the dance floor; two of the tracks are instrumental, and the BPMs are higher than they've ever been.

Second Toughest in the Infants (1996)
A move towards the more electronic sound the preceding EPs hinted at, ditching the New Wave elements and reliance on Karl as frontman in favor of lush keyboard sounds, trance-like melodies and more aggressive beats. Whereas the last album was a trip through the big city and an examination of raw human emotion, this one is a more cerebral journey, which may be alluded to by the inkblot on the cover. It's a big success, mostly due to Underworld's nearly unparalleled ability to build and evolve their tracks – the two opening tracks take up over 33 minutes combined, but they hardly seem long enough. Opener “Juanita/Kiteless/To Dream Of Love” is a now-classic house track that builds on a mechanical beat up to a fantastic two-chord guitar riff – Underworld could have easily built a career on the ideas found in this track alone. The similarly multi-part “Banstyle/Sappy’s Curry” transforms from a nervous yet lush keyboard jam to mesmerizing trance reminiscent of the superb “Thing in a Book” (based on an acoustic guitar, of all things!) There’s nothing as epic as that on the rest of the album, but it still goes strong – the climax lies in the simple and aggressive techno rave-up of “Rowla”, and the helicopter beats and frantic chanting of“Pearls Girl”, a now classic drum n' bass track. Don't count this as just another mid-‘90s electronic album – even if Karl’s role is downplayed in comparison to the last album, he’s still an essential part of this recording, with his versatile vocals becoming a highlight of every track they’re used on (which is all but the two shortest ones), and this has dated much better than similar albums. And this one sounds great when you’re in a pensive mood, too – save for “Rowla” there’s chill elements everywhere, and the last three tracks represent a progressive come-down, finalizing in the astonishing and nearly bare closer “Stagger”, which gets a lot of mileage from a haunting electric keyboard line. Another essential album, and one that still sounds ahead of its time.

Born Slippy .NUXX (1996)
Underworld’s one big break into the mainstream came thanks to director Danny Boyle, who was such a huge fan of the band that he wanted them to score the entire soundtrack to his new movie Trainspotting; unfortunately the studio said no, so he settled for using “Dark Train” and this, which combined with the movie to create such a memorable scene that the song itself became a hit and was nearly inescapable for a time. The pounding beats interspersed with Karl’s steam-of-consciousness rap combined to make a hell of an exciting rave track, but it’s not really representative of the rest of their work and unsurprisingly the band never came close to that level of fame again – but for a time they were the flag-bearers of the then-exciting movement of big-beat electronic music.
As for the single itself – this marks the first time Underworld allowed contribution from outside remixers, and they don’t really do a good job; the track is based on few fundamentals and unfortunately lends itself to dross and repetitive remixing. The good news is that the 12 minute mix of the title track is my favorite version yet.

Pearl's Girl EP (1997)
Another EP release, but this one tacks on over 50 minutes of previously unheard material. It would seem that this would be just a compilation of remixes and B-sides, but it really isn’t – although the tracklisting shows four remixes of the title track, only the “14996 version” bears any similarity through sampling of the vocals, and the only actual remix is “Cherry Pie”, which takes the music from “Rowla” and turns it from house thrash into an epic and sometimes beautiful track by way of a few extra synth lines and a couple changes in key. If nothing else, this shows that Underworld could have made another album similar to Second Toughest in the Infants if they wanted to – the harsh and pounding “Tin There” is one of their busiest and harshest tracks yet, and “Oich Oich” pins gorgeous synth melodies on top of a funky, driving bass line and a nice vocal section – both are top-notch cuts that could have easily made the album. Otherwise, there’s a lot of the same good stuff you’d expect – there’s a slowly building cut that intertwines a number of themes into a mesmerizing whole the same way “Thing in a Book” and “Banstyle/Sappy’s Curry” did (“Deep Arch”), an echoey, bluesy jam that recalls “Airtowel” (“Mosaic”), and a minimal and deep sounding groove track like “Confusion the Waitress” (“Pearls Girl (14996 Version)”). The only real curveball is the short but lush “Puppies” which incorporates a heavily-modified vocal over an ethereal three-note melody – it’s also essential. If you liked Second Toughest you owe it to yourself to get this; maybe it’s not really a “follow-up”, and you may want to program out the original and edit version of the title track, but it shows that even their B-sides were brilliant and carefully done, and in some cases even better than the A-sides (wouldn’t Second Toughest have been better with “Oich Oich” on it and “Cherry Pie” instead of “Rowla”?). Don’t overlook it.

Beacoup Fish (1998)
After two albums and a bunch of EPs stuffed with densely layered and deep electro, Underworld emerge with the side of the group that “NUXX” hinted at – a more stadium-house oriented beat-heavy sound. They do retain the chill vibe of Underworld past for one track – “Cups” begins as a smooth and jazzy keyboard groove, slowly building to about the 9-minute mark whereupon it suddenly and unexpectedly transforms into a brilliant and rousing synth anthem that sounds like it’s straight out of Jock Jams. That sets the pace for the rest of the album, as a number of these tracks are aimed straight for the dancefloor - “King of Snake”, a vocal-heavy anthem with a great vocal line and an acidic bassline ripped from “I Feel Love”, “Moaner”, a frantic and unsettling track with a big climax, “Push Upstairs”, built off a simple piano riff and a driving chorus, and “Kittens”, which is a whirlwind of beats and a twirling synth line. The surprising thing is the amount of replay value much of this has – the idea behind “Kittens” is simple, but the execution is so great that it’s wonderfully addictive. The album’s major highlight is “Jumbo”, which gives you the best of both worlds – with a big bass line and a vunerable, ridiculously great vocal, it’s a winner from all angles and has got to be one of their best tracks ever. Yet as good as some of the individual tracks can be, as a whole this doesn’t stand up as well as the last two albums, with a couple tracks that strike me as filler (“Push Downstairs”, “Something Like a Mama”), plus it’s not as immersive as it could have been – “Cups” and “Jumbo” aside, this album was really clamoring for a great downtempo track in the second half. But if you still like the late 90’s big beat scene – that is, stuff like “Block Rockin’ Beats”, “Praise You”, and “Battleflag”, this ought to be the first album you get from these guys.

Moaner (1999)
This was on the soundtrack to Batman and Robin, but I don't remember it in the movie. Contains the title track in three different lengths and a "Relentless Legs Remix" which is a fast groove built on continuous funk guitar. Has the same feel of the original but all the hooks are different. At first I didn't even recognize that the vocal sample was from the same place. I paid $5 for this at a used CD place because of the big "import" tag - it's really not worth it.

Push Upstairs (1999)
From here on Underworld would go to a more conventional format for their singles - instead of the generous hour-plus EPs we got before, now we get the original, 2-3 outside remixes, and sometimes a B-side. To be honest I don't think the outside remixers have really treated Underworld's material well - they don't really capture the vibe well. This one contains the B-side "Please Help Me", which features a great vocal performance - I suspect it was the original version of "Skym". You can find all the Beacoup Fish singles (minus Moaner) on the often very-reasonably priced Singles Box Set.

Jumbo (1999)
I thought this track lended itself well to remixing, and many of the remixes capture the lush vibe of the original. The Deep Dish remix is well worth hearing, though it's not on most versions of the single.

King of Snake (1999)
Contains a remix by the band themselves as well as one by Fatboy Slim. This was another track that lended itself well to remixing. Although it is just a remix single the tracks do flow into each other, which is rare for this type of release.

Bruce Lee (1999)
The last single. This one was pretty decent - it has a Salt Lake City Orchestra mix of "Cups" which takes the first part and adds a more upbeat and funky rhythm to it - it's definitely one of my favorite Underworld remixes.

Everything, Everything (2000)
Live shows are a huge part of a dance group's reputation, which can be tough for musicians who build their music primarily on machines. Through the 90’s (and certainly the 00’s), many groups preprogrammed their shows to the point where even the “moments of spontaneity” were exactly the same from show to show, which can take away from the excitement of a live show. Several groups such as The Orb did buck this trend – they hooked up the turntables and machines and performed shows that seemed like a live mixing session. Underworld worked a little differently, as they seem to write two or three versions of all their songs anyway, and have a vocalist besides. So there's plenty of room for improvisation, especially as Rick plays a lot of the keyboards live. Having travelled extensively on a now-legendary tour over the course of the two years since Beacoup Fish dropped, Rick holed himself in to splice together the band’s “grand statement”, a live album and DVD that would piece together some of their best performances into one "full show". They definitely know how to put on a great live show - the crowd noise elevates these tracks to new heights, and above everything there’s a certain freshness that you don’t get in the studio recordings. Every track here is really already a “classic” on the UW-scale, and I honestly cannot say that anything, sans “Cups” (which is merely the 3 1/2 minute outro, used mostly as a segue) is any worse for the wear – in fact, you’ll most likely end up preferring these versions, as “Push Upstairs” and “King of Snake” get big punch-ups, and the slimmer “Juanita/Kiteless” sounds like a definitive and more managable version of the already great original. Oh, and the closing mash-up of “Rez” and “Cowgirl” works as magnificently as you’d think it would, rounding out the set in a way that’ll leave you sitting in awe. Perhaps it’s not the perfect representation of Underworld’s live show – there’s not much of the improvisation they’re known for, and only really one chill moment (“Jumbo”), but as a single disc of house music that puts a lid on the whole genre, this is pretty much perfect, and if you were a fan of these tunes before, this is their pinnacle. Any doubters of the legitimacy of live electronic music simply must listen to this.

Cowgirl (2000)
This marks the second release of this single, probably intended as a promo item for the above release. The "radio edit" is in fact an edit of the Everything, Everything live version. Unnecessary, but the Bedrock remix is worth hearing, and let's not forget just how strong the source material is.

Bootleg Babies (2001)
Not an official release. But a great one regardless – anyone with more than a passing interest in the band ought to pick it up (it’s not for sale, but there are lots of sources on the web, as it was originally distributed through the unofficial Underworld mailing list, RTSR). Basically what they do is piece together bits of RTSR’s favorite bootlegs and edit them together to give them the feel of a single concert, similar to what Rick did for the official live release. Which means for most of the tracks, you’re getting one of the best or most interesting performances on tape (meanwhile, some are really nothing special at all). I guess for the RTSR guys that generally means whichever one lasts the longest, but that’s not really a bad thing – most of these lengthy renditions really do add something to the studio versions, and the epic feel most of the tracks take on give the album the sound of Underworld bringing the house down over and over again. And many of these performances have that “one-night-only” feel – “Dark Train” sounds surprisingly fresh with reggae guitar, “Confusion the Waitress” and “Skyscraper” take on new light, the original “Born Slippy” will make your heart race, and the epic, 17-minute closing “Rez/Cowgirl” somehow manages to be more captivating than the one on Everything, Everything. There's downsides though - being made from bootlegs, the sound quality can be dodgy at times ("Born Slippy .NUXX", "Juanita/Kiteless", and "Moaner", which is particularly bad) - this could really benefit from some professional treatment. Plus, for a comp aimed squarely at the hardcore UW fans, it's a little disappointing to see all the same tracks that appear on every bootleg anyway instead of some of their better improvs or jam sessions that made some of the original boots noteworthy. Still, this is way more fun than any 2 1/2 hour bootleg compilation has the right to be, and a lasting testament to just how adventurous and downright amazing these guys could be live. For the agreeable cost of free, this is a must-have.

A Hundred Days Off (2002)
Darren Emerson left the band before the beginning of the sessions for this album, leaving Rick and Karl to work as a duo for the first time ever. Emerson's role in the group was always a little fuzzy, and it doesn't seem like a big deal for him to cut loose until you realize that the last single they released before he joined was "Stand Up". Can they cope without their DJ? I suppose Rick and Karl probably wanted to find that out too, and when they dropped the brilliant and uplifting “Two Months Off” as the first single, the answer was a resounding ‘yes’. It's easily the most bright-eyed and upbeat single they've ever released, with a big synth line and vocal chant, and a huge, multi-layered percussion section that explodes in the final minutes. But besides that amazing single, the album turned out a little weaker than we’ve come to expect from these guys, although that’s really not much of a complaint – most electronic groups would have been happy to release something of this quality in a year when electronic music was facing something of a crisis (it was out of the public eye, not being played in nightclubs, acquiring almost zero new talent while the old stars burned out – in retrospect, Emerson really did leave at the right time). There are a few definite keepers here – opening “Mo Move” is one of their deepest and most cerebral yet, rolling out a confident and hypnotic groove right off the bat. The closing “Luetin” brings it full circle, establishing a simple bass line over sputtering drum fills, building tension in an otherwise downtempo track. Prior to that there’s the short and smooth instrumental “Ballet Lane”, in which a gorgeous keyboard melody underpins a chill rhythm, showing a neat direction the group could have gone in but didn't.

So there are four truly great tracks here that are all keepers, but in between the album starts to run into some problems. Okay, so the second single, the thrilling “Dinosaur Adventure 3D” does nearly carry itself on an exciting vocal performance (as he has been from the start, Karl is downright amazing on this album), but it’s “Moaner”-like atmosphere and copping of one of the “Dark Train” hooks marks the first time this group has ever seemed to be reaching for ideas. And though “Twist” and “Little Speaker” are lush-sounding and groovy pieces of electronica, the minimal approach covers up some of the things these guys do so well. That’s the flaw here – for example, there are good ideas lurking in the trip-hop slow jam of “Sola Sistim”, the repetitive piano pounding that concludes "Little Speaker", or the country-flavored twang of “Trim”, but they seem more concerned with the production rather than fleshing out the material, resulting in a great-sounding but ultimately underdeveloped album. Still, that is a great sound, and the album will grow on you quite a bit; the only disappointment is that they've released an album that's merely good instead of being great.

Two Months Off (2002)
It seems like we're not getting the huge double LP-sized releases 'on the side' anymore, as Underworld decides to release their singles in a slim, 20-minute-max format to take advantage of the new UK chart rules. The atmospheric and worldly "Headset" recalls their earlier B-sides (which is a good thing), and the remixes keep a general high quality.

Dinosaur Adventure 3D (2003)
Here a couple more interesting B-sides start to emerge; the 16-minute "Ansum" is their longest piece in quite a while, although it's more of an Eno-esque ambient number than an epic like "Thing in a Book". "Like a Swimmer" was the other one. The remixes on here are pretty interesting too. Like many UW singles, there's a billion different versions out there, none of which (as far as I know) collect all the remixes/B-sides.

1992-2002 (2003)
As far as I know, this is the one "Greatest Hits"-type release on the market, though it's really more like an anthology. This is a great buy for all sorts of Underworld fans, since it includes their big non-album singles ("Rez", "Nuxx", "Dark Train"), the early Lemon Interupt singles ("Bigmouth" and "Dirty"), and the early "Spikee" single. There is one track not mentioned here, "8 Ball", which was released for The Beach soundtrack. It's a bass-heavy slow groove with a great, upbeat, guitar-filled ending, and in my opinion would have been one of the best tracks on A Hundred Days Off. Besides that, it seems like all of these tracks are the singles in the order of their release, in their full 12" version ("Push Upstairs" appears in a rare 9-minute edit, adding an extra verse). This is a neat decision for posterity but is kind of confusing on the album - they give you the full mixes of "Dirty Epic" and "Cowgirl" that segue into each other on the album, but here they appear on different discs. Still, there's no disputing the quality of the material on this album, and I can imagine a new fan being blown away by the sheer amount of excellent material on these discs.

Born Slippy 2003 (2003)
Yep, here comes another half-dozen remixes of UW's one recognizable tune, thanks to Rick's 'brilliant' (?) idea to add a piano line to the track. From this moment on they'd segue into it when playing the track live.

Lovely Broken Thing (2005)
One thing Underworld is known for, especially post-Everything, Everything, is letting their fans know what they’re up to by way of dropping unreleased and unfinished tracks into live sets and their bimonthly-or-so radio broadcasts. In the absence of 70-minute EP releases, the band has accumulated a number of extra tracks, and decided to polish them up, mix them together, and sell them online through a series of short, sub 30-minute releases which they dubbed “the RiverRun project”. That’s good news for the fans who had been patiently waiting for three years, but this one unfortunately sounds like a collection of unfinished B-material at times. There is one amazing standout in the opening punched-up electrofunk of “JAL to Tokyo” which takes a heavily vocodered rant and runs it among a sputtering and tense bass line. But the rest is hit-and-miss – “Lenny Penne” takes a quick version of Kraftwerk’s “Numbers” beat and adds a sloppily-assembled vocal mantra on top, unfortunately sounding like a badly-encoded MP3 – it’s definitely missing something, which they found a couple years later when it surfaced as the far superior “Bamboo”. But there’s still interesting material here; “Peggy Sussed” seems nothing more than an interlude, but the interplay between the guitar and harsh synthtones is fascinating, and “Billy Goat” shows there’s little wrong with just having a good beat. It’s very listenable and the good parts give this some replay potential, but besides “JAL to Tokyo” (which could have been a big single and doesn't sound too at home on this release), it really does sound like you’re digging through Underworld’s garbage can at times, and much of the material seems like it’s only here because it wouldn’t fit elsewhere.

Pizza For Eggs (2005)
When the announcement for the Riverrun project was made, I was hoping that it meant Underworld would be creating something like “Tarkus” or “Supper’s Ready” – that is, 20+ minute compositions that are really made up of around six individual songs with no real beginning or end, linked together with instrumental passages and references to earlier parts of the track. Or, at least something to justify the fact that they’re distributed as just one long MP3 (although I split them all up into their respective parts) and are obviously meant to be heard all at once. The last one had a few elements that suggested this, but this one actually has a little more than just fade out outros and fade in intros. Indeed, there seems to be a bit of a theme here – “Food a Ready” was obviously meant to segue into “Back in the Fears”, and this 7+ minutes of New Wave-inspired brilliance is some of Underworld’s best music in years. They bring back the vocal tricks as a backbone to “Food a Ready”, and “Fears” is based almost entirely on Karl’s multitracked vocals. It goes from here to a showcase of tribal drumming and pounding, with “Vanilla Monkey” being the weakest point due to overcompression on the bongos and vocals, but it still works as a transitional piece with a keen sense of rhythm. Better is “Ancient Phat Farm Coat”, which features what sounds like a small African percussion ensemble playing against a hypnotic and repetitive piano line. It ends with the somber “Play Pig” which has a vulnerable vocal among the same type of percussion, making this more of a coherent (and solid) release from beginning to end. Of course, I do wish it were longer, and that the tribal pieces could have developed into something epic, but for a small-scale MP3 release, this is surprisingly good. It does exactly what the series was set out to do – release a set of less commercial, somewhat unfinished and underproduced material strung together to create a coherent musical experience. Fans who lamented the loss of the hidden gems the band would often release in the days of dubnobass and Second Toughest should look here.

Live in Tokyo (2005)
A triple (!) live set preserving Underworld’s performance at the 2005 Electraglide Festival. Originally released only to those who attended the concert, it then came out as a very limited release, with only 7000 copies made. It would have made perfect sense to put this in download form – after all, it’s very good sounding (and a clear improvement over the bootlegs, even the better sounding ones), contains a few new tracks, documents a great performance, and contains three hours of music…and yet they didn’t - given the amount of hardcore fans the band has, did they really not think it would sell? Luckily there are rips out there, since this set absolutely tears, and even if it’s not as frequently jaw-dropping as Everything, Everything was, it presents Underworld live in a way that represents what you’d get with an actual show – the band did not really just play one epic after another, instead usually deciding to bridge 4-6 minute interludes between them (which were usually jam versions of something in the band’s catalog, and in some cases new tracks). That’s really the great element at work here – it sounds like Rick really is mixing and in some cases playing the material on the fly (the small differences in the quick synth lines in tracks like “Kittens” make me wonder if he’s actually hammering it out on a keyboard). There are actually 3 people on stage (Darren Price has been joining the band live as of late) and you get the sense they’re all hard at work, mixing and experimenting between and during the tracks.

At 3 hours, there’s something to satisfy everyone – they do the classics (“Juanita”, “Dark Train”, “Rez”, “Born Slippy”), load the final hour of the concert with crowd pleasers (“Moaner”, “Jumbo”, “Push Upstairs”, “King of Snake”), drop some of the RiverRun material (“Jal to Tokyo”, “Peggy Sussed”, “Lenny Penne”), in one case dramatically expanded (“Back in the Fears/Flatz”), with a few improvisations along the way to give the fans something new (including Price’s “Yard Beat”), along with one amazing and epic new track that could be their next big single (“You Do Scribble”). What’s amazing is how the newer tracks work with the older ones, and are often even highlights of the set (okay, “Lenny Penne” is still pretty lame). What’s even more amazing is that it never seems overlong at 3 hours – they don’t seem to lose their energy or ambition towards the end, and after the final beat hits, my sentiment is always “let’s hear it again!” Perhaps not for the uninitiated, but for those who loved Everything, Everything and wished for more, this is the holy grail.

I’m a Big Sister, and I’m a Girl, and I’m a Princess, and This Is My Horse (2006)
When Underworld announced the Riverrun project, a lot of us wondered what, exactly we were getting – would they be a bunch of B-sides and unfinished tracks blended together, or would they take the format to different heights by writing music specifically for it? Of course, having teased us with unfinished and unreleased tracks on radio shows for many years, the prospect of UW having an easy outlet for them is nice, but on the flip side, the opportunity to hear Rick & Karl experimenting again and coming out with something that just wouldn’t fly as a normal UW release is even more enticing. Well, that’s what you get here – if any of this stuff was taken from the vaults, it must have been seriously retooled. This one takes advantage of the “30-minute track” format better than the other two – all the individual pieces flow together and do create a sonic journey. This just may be one of Underworld’s most ambitious pieces yet; thoroughly ambient, and mostly beatless, relying on atmosphere rather than melody. The release’s high point is “Showlder” and “Wedge”, which blend together to create an utterly transfixing 12 minutes of underwater ambient – Underworld have not created sounds this beautiful in over a decade! There’s a backbone in an otherwordly synth line, or something sounding like clanging bells, but there’s much more going on – chimes, vocal samples, and what sounds like Karl singing a hymn in the background - even after a dozen listens, there are still things to be discovered in the mix. It’s extremely calming, but characteristically dense, while absolving any sense of tension. I could definitely see using this in a nightly sleep routine (which I actually used to do). That’s definitely the best part, but all of it is good – opener “Peach Tree” intertwines a couple of synth pads, seeming to create random melodies out of the result, and “Mowed Path” is a beat-driven meditation on Karl’s vocals. And if you’re still awake by the end, there’s a pleasant and very uncharacteristic piano piece (“11 Hundred Hertz”) as an epilogue. Although this is completely unlike most of the group's best work, it still shows Underworld as a band to get excited about.

The Misterons Mix (2006)
A free 30-minute mix of RiverRun tracks (including a remix) by an outfit called the Misterons. I'm not sure who they are, if they're just Underworld under a different name or what, but I do think Darren Price is involved. This was given out free to anyone who purchased all three of the RiverRun releases.

Breaking and Entering (with Gabriel Yared) (2006)
A soundtrack to a Jude Law film. Gabriel Yared is a famous film composer who has been scoring films for three decades, but as far as I know doesn’t really have a definitive work. This is very ambient and low key music, with a bunch of dreamy synthesizers but also some real instruments. You can hear a lot of processed acoustic guitar and a decent amount of percussion ("Monkey Two") along with some piano and strings. This is a very pleasant sounding album with very little tension although it is unsettling at times ("Monkey One", which has an X-Files feel). I feel like I'm underrating this one a bit, but it's fairly structureless and not very memorable. I have no idea why, for example, the tracklisting is split into 16 pieces instead of 8 (or 32). It doesn't really sound much like Underworld, but there are some traces of their sound, particularly from the Riverrun releases (mostly "Mowed Path"), and you get to hear a few of Karl's vocals (mostly wordless, though). In the very end you get to hear an acoustic guitar version of "11 Hundred Hertz" which is a real treat. Overall it's a good listen and has a great sound, but there really isn't much of a hook to it, and the music doesn't go anywhere. When the piano lines come in to "Mending Things" along with faster drum beating and some guitar noise, that's about as exciting as it gets. The best track here features something of a guitar hook and a good vocal ("Happy Toast"), starting out murky but slowly coming to the foreground. I wish there were more tracks like that - most of this is just formless. The good thing about is that this music is fairly inscrutable and if nothing else is good on the ears. However it doesn’t quite overcome the common problem with most soundtrack albums that the music in itself isn’t substantial enough to be consistently listened to as a standalone. Probably only for the completionists, but still pretty enjoyable.

Oblivion With Bells (2007)
While 85 minutes of internet-bound EP material and a triple-live set was certainly generous, the big question was “when is the next album coming, and what’s going to be on it?” Through live sets and radio broadcasts, many fans were already privy to a handful of potential hits and other great tracks – “You Do Scribble”, “Always Loved a Film”, and “Parc” were three of the best tunes we’ve heard from them this decade – but none of them appear here. However, the first four tracks have all been around in some form or another, and they do comprise the brunt of the album – the frantic, dark tunnel visions of the tribal “Beautiful Burnout” is the album’s epic, and the snappy bass growl and warm vocals of “Crocodile” are addictive enough to make it the album’s best track, standing along “JAL to Tokyo” and “Two Months Off” as their must-hear singles of the 00’s. Elsewhere, we get a more sparse and less beat-driven approach than we’ve seen on any of their albums thus far – there are no house stormers on the order of “NUXX” or “Moaner”, as the second single actually veers a lot closer to alt-rock (“Boy, Boy, Boy”). It’s Underworld’s attention to detail and lush production that keeps the train on the rails, serving as an anchor to some of their stranger ideas – “Glam Bucket” is glimmering trance, with the backing synths sounding like drops in a bucket, “Holding the Moth” overdrives a simple bass line into a sparse dance groove, and “Ring Road” builds a freestyle rap (!) into a surprisingly decent chorus. There’s one short ambient piece that seriously rivals the best parts of Another Green World (“To Heal”), which is certainly welcome despite being out of place. The problem is that there isn't much weight in the second half - there are a few shorter tracks that do little (though "Good Morning Cockrel" is a beautiful piano piece), and the closer, though satisfying, seems to hold up a “to be continued” sign as it trails off (“Best Mamgu Ever”). Considering the amount of time since their last full-length and the number of great tracks that have gone unreleased this is all perplexing – if you pooled together the best stuff they’ve done over the last five years there is definitely a masterpiece (or two) to be assembled. Instead, this feels kind of stopgap – it’s not up to the ridiculous standards they set for themselves in the 90’s, but it never really aims that high, as it's part of the whole "throw it all out there" attitude they've developed over the last couple of years. The end result is still quite good, but anyone expecting something with energy should probably pick up Barking first.

Sunshine: Music From the Motion Picture (with John Murphy) (2008)
A soundtrack to a Danny Boyle film about a group of astronauts who deliver a nuclear bomb to the dying sun in order to get it "kick started" (I guess). The film itself is ridiculously epic and one of the best sci-fi films I've seen in years, drawing inspiration from movies like 2001: A Space Odyssey and Solaris (the original one). Then again, you could count the number of good sci-fi movies that have come out this decade on one hand, so that's not necessarily a full endorsement. As for the soundtrack, it's pretty typical soundtrack fare, with plenty of strings and lots of crescendos, but without a real recognizable main theme. As such it makes great mood music (especially if you’ve seen the film), but isn’t really useful outside of that context. But basically, it’s good stuff – it’s unsettling and nerve-racking in the right ways, and does benefit from Underworld’s incredibly gorgeous “To Heal”, which Boyle wisely decides to use at the film’s key points. The way it’s interspersed with one of Capa’s most memorable lines in the absolutely does send chills down your spine ("Capa Meets the Sun"). But for the most part, I think Murphy is the one who is responsible for most of the soundtrack fare, and he sticks mostly to strings, ominous metallic noise, and a bit of musique concrete as done on the 2001 soundtrack ("Freezing Outside - Harvey"). It's tense music but I don't think it quite works without the film. Underworld's contributions are the more atmospheric, ambient stuff, some of which they've done before ("Trey's Fate" draws heavily from their live-only "Small Conker and a Twix"). Nothing on here is as good as "To Heal", but Murphy's "Sunshine" theme comes close, and is really one of the few tracks here that works on its own (the short and pleasant "Mercury" is another one). Not to say this is lacking, but it was clearly written for the movie and only really tells half the story on its own. Overall I think three stars are a little low, so add half a star if you've seen the film and another half if you're a fan of soundtracks in general.

The Bells! The Bells! (2008)
I’m pretty much convinced by now that Underworld is another band that really does not know what their best material is – I remember Karl talking about how “Jumbo”, one of their most beloved tracks, almost got cut from Beacoup Fish! Case in point, “Parc” (or “Darc” as UW themselves titled it a couple years ago), one of their most lush, evocative, and creative tracks of the last decade, got relegated to this forgettable Japan-only remix collection! And it doesn’t even seem too worked up from their self-released-online Amsterdam performance – just overdubbed! But it’s well worth tracking down – like “Crocodile”, there’s a steady groove and a terrific vocal performance, but what separates “Parc” is that it’s more New Wave than electronic, with a significant amount of guitar jamming and Karl’s unfiltered vocal taking center stage – it almost sounds like a really good modern day Freur track. Maybe I’m getting carried away here, but it’s just bizarre that something so great be put here – the rest of the collection consists of seven overlong and unimaginative outside remixes of Oblivion tracks, with only the Innervisions Orchestra Mix of “Crocodile” holding my interest, and even that one can’t shake the impression of being a toss-off. It’s kind of typical of these remix albums – the remixers don’t really seem interested and just intersperse tired beats with a few elements of the original, throwing maybe half a good idea in there somewhere – not necessarily bad on their own, but definitely not good to listen to all at once. I really don’t know how to rate this – the remixes are easily forgettable, but “Parc” is an essential and really should have made the album.

Downpipe (w/ D. Ramirez and Mark Knight) (2009)
A download-only single that marks Underworld's first collaborative effort in a good while. I have no idea if Karl and Rick did any of the music or just the lyrics, but either way it's a great effort - metalic, watery synths and a pulsating bassline that would just kill in a club setting. Needless to say, Karl's vocal part is exciting and pushes the tune forward surprisingly well. Even if they didn't write the track, it's as essential as anything they've put out this decade - apparently it's even being worked into the live set now. The other tracks include an instrumental and radio edit, both of which are pointless, as the epic scope of the track can't come through in just 3 minutes.

Athens (2009)
Basically a mixtape (like their entry in the Back to Mine series which I do not have), focusing mostly on jazz and fusion, detailing a few of Karl's influences. The tracklisting is impressive - there's Squarepusher, Soft Machine, Alice Coltrane, and one of my very favorite Roxy Music tunes ("2HB"). Among the stuff I haven't heard, I really dig Osunlade's "Promise" and the "New York City" track towards the end. For the collectors, you get to hear the group's early horn-based jam "Oh" (kind of in line with "Bigmouth") that was relegated to a soundtrack, and there is a new track credited to "Brian Eno and Karl Hyde" (!!) called "Beebop Hurry", which is a chaotic jam featuring Karl reciting a poem over a frantic and varied backing. It's good, but frustratingly cuts off abruptly after three minutes. It may be worth tracking that piece down, but I'd sample this compilation before you buy it...it's basically a jazz mixtape that happens to be mixed (pretty well I might add) by a member of Underworld, and I suspect some fans might not like this at all. Credited to Underworld and the Misterons, and once again I have no idea who that is (Google only really connects them with Underworld).

Scribble (2010)
A new single to be included on the upcoming album Barking. Like "Downpipe" (and apparently, almost all of Barking), it's a collaboration, this time with drum n' bass producer High Contrast. It's not exactly the "You Do Scribble" we've heard live for the last five years - it's clearly based on that, with many of the same noises, but it's transformed into an uplifting and euphoric track that is their best single since "Two Months Off", and I'm just basing that off the radio edit. Sadly, "You Do Scribble" does not appear on the single.

Always Loved a Film (2010)
The second single from the album. Features D. Ramirez and Mark Knight again. I like the redone version quite a bit, it's given a big dancefloor makeover and should work well as a single. But it's worth mentioning that we've been hearing different versions of this track for 7 years now, some of which have been amazing, and none of them appear here - just the standard remixes.

Barking (2010)
Here it is at last; the album Underworld has been hinting at for the last five years but never yet followed through with. If you've been following the group, you have to notice that besides "Two Months Off" they haven't had a real banging club-ready tune during the whole last decade; and this is from a group that was famous for tracks like "Born Slippy .NUXX", "Cowgirl", and "King of Snake". We heard snippets of this side of the group on and off from 2005 on; the first was a fast-paced drum n' bass track they dropped live called "You Do Scribble". It was assumed to be the next single and it was going to be massive, even recalling "Rez". And then - nothing. Oblivion With Bells didn't have it. The Riverruns didn't even have it. And Underworld continued on, as we heard lots of new stuff during live shows and radio broadcasts, including at least six versions of "Always Loved a Film", but the plans for an "actual" release were vague.

Barking is the result of all these uncollected tracks. If you're a die-hard, then you've likely heard at least one version of almost everything on here. The only real unknown is "Hamburg Hotel", an improvised two-step instrumental that was actually written in a hotel in Hamburg and played the next night. But there's a twist - Underworld decided to collaborate with an outside artist on all of these tracks save for the quiet piano-led "Louisiana". The first single was "Scribble"; the live track we were all familiar with, molded (with help from High Contrast) into a completely new song - the skittering drum n' bass beat was now played fairly straight, and there's a new vocal line and new main hook. The result is one of the best and most euphoric songs these guys have ever done, but it's a little unusual for Underworld; this is pop. Diehard fans can rest assured that none of the other tracks get warped as much as that one; yet the outside producers can't help but limit the ceiling for this album. What was once a tense and dark jam with an intriguing shifting bass line turns into a straightforward feel-good, club-ready banger ("Always Loved a Film"). What was once a beautiful keyboard meditation turns into mixtape-ready house with a kick drum ("Moon in Water"). Overall, the collaborators do a fine job, and this is better than your standard remix fare; but there's a reason that Underworld is head and shoulders beyond most of their peers. This version of "Moon in Water" is more immediately gratifying, but it lacks the depth and the strange resonance of the radio broadcast version we heard, and the off-putting Applespeak voice didn't need to be replaced.

That's really typical of Barking as a whole - it's immediately satisfying, club-friendly, and will likely leave you with a big grin. There are a couple of undeniable stompers on the second half that could be huge; "Between Stars" is an addictive and overloaded electro-stormer that benefits greatly from the increased production, and "Diamond Jigsaw" is a New Order-style guitar jam. I missed the synth-rocker style of the live version, but Paul Van Dyk generally goes a good job with it, even if he totally botches the big chord changes in the chorus. And "Bird 1" is a real winner, dark and apprehensive in the same ways "Dark and Long" was a decade and a half ago, and it only gets better with repeat plays. I guess in the end the collaborations have their good and bad points, as obvious as that sounds. Can you get by on massive hooks and killer beats alone? That depends what you look for in the group, but in general if you liked Beacoup Fish, this should sit well.

Bird 1 (2010)
A Beatport-exclusive single; the idea was to make all the source tracks available and invite the public to remix it, then release the most popular remixes as the single.

Rick Smith - Bungalow With Stairs 1 (2010)
This is a soundtrack to one of Karl's art installations, and the album was only released in limited quantities (mostly to those who actually attended the exhibit). Despite the 2010 release date, most of this music was completed in the 90's, and you can recognize some of the sounds that found their way to Beacoup Fish (particularly for the tracks "Winjer" and "Something like a Mama"). The sound is generally ambient (although a few beats do find their way in, sometimes crashing through the scenery), with astral droning noises providing most of the backing for the "vocals", which are mostly computerized. It sounds like all the voices here are computer generated, then drawn out and sometimes chopped up. Apparently some of the actual words come from mundane conversations that Rick has had with his collaborators, but they sound positively unsettling when computerized and processed. The 7-part "Tokyo <> London" is filled with these kinds of snippets backed by all sorts of pulsing keyboards, which has its spontaneous moments but mostly keeps minimal. "Dreeve" and "Van Halen Van Halen" are steady keyboard drones, and they seem to contain actual conversations. You can imagine most of this dialogue spoken naturally, but here everything is perfectly spaced out with no inflection, giving it a dreamlike, surreal atmosphere. I think this would be pretty excellent for any situation where you don't have to pay much attention to it, and if it weren't for the beats, it would be an excellent album to drift off to sleep to (however, the 20-minute "Dreeve" and the 13-minute "Van Halen Van Halen" are long enough). The stories being told are interesting in themselves, but the fact that the voices are not human and don't "speak" normally does weird things to the brain, causing it to latch onto little nonsense phrases instead of trying to figure out what the story is actually about. That said, you can have some weird dreams if you do let yourself fall asleep while this is on. For an album like this it's probably best to ignore the actual score, since there's not much music on the thing and there isn't enough going on to actively listen to. But the effect this album can have on you really is something.

Frankenstien - Music from the Play (2010)
Another collaboration with Danny Boyle. More orchestral - not many electronics.

1992-2012 "The Anthology" (2011)
With UW's services being tapped for the 2012 Olympics opening ceremony, this preemptive anthology release (1992-2002 was released in 2003, for reference) hints that they probably won't be releasing any singles in 2012. The first two discs are a repeat of the last anthology, but with a few tracks removed to make room for "Crocodile", "To Heal", and "Scribble", which is strange because the short "To Heal" doesn't fit in (beautiful as it is), while you'd think Barking would get a few more entries (at least "Always Loved a Film"). Disc 3 is a rarities disc, most of which come from the early days, including a mix of "The Hump", "Minneapolis", and "Why Why Why", all of which are very hard to find legitimately. There's also a demo of "Big Meat Show" (a rejected dubnobasswithmyheadman track, and a different mix than what appears on the DAT) which only shows just how far they've come since their early days. Otherwise, there's some of Underworld's actual best material of the decade in "Parc" and "JAL to Tokyo", both of which should have made the "actual" anthology. This is a great buy for the more casual fans (especially as it was released very cheaply) as almost everything on the first two discs is essential, and the third disc shows a lot of the band's "alternate sides".

A Collection (2011)
This is more of a true "best of", starting with a bunch of the collaborative tracks they've done in the last few years ("Downpipe", "Beebop Hurry", "The First Note is Silent") and working backwards (for the most part). There are a bunch of "2011 edits" on here, but nothing to get too excited about as the edits are just edits proper, no additional mixing. Maybe a good introduction to the group but like Orbital's similar collection Works you have to keep in mind that these tracks were never meant to work as a true 4-minute single. So a lot of the good moments don't really feel earned (stuff like "Jumbo" just cut right to the big climax) and most of the big tracks seem rushed, as they end right when you're starting to get into them.