Unoriginal, I know, but I'm going to talk about more electronic music today.
U is for Underworld. The british electronic group, not the movie series... or the mythical realm of death. The first songs I heard from Underworld were in 90's movie soundtracks. Cowgirl from Hackers, and Born Slippy from Trainspotting.
After that, I just had to listen to Second Toughest of the Infants,
Beaucoup Fish,
and A Hundred Days Off.
Needless to say, if you don't like dance music, you will likely not get a lot out of them. In which case... your loss. There's something about the repetitions and layers of repetitions, that just has me going "Ohh, god... cool" and I'm not even high!
Here's an example that always sticks out for me:
Underworld - moaner by Dolls 2
As is quite evident, one of Underworld's trademarks is the use of spoken word vocals. It's something that nobody else seems to pull off to the same effect, and while some might find it pretentious or contrived, I quite like it.
I enjoyed those three albums immensely for quite some time, and they're still some of my favorite records.
But after all that came Oblivion with Bells.
I don't know what to say about this one. Nothing stuck, like with previous albums. I may have to listen to it some more, to see if it grows on me. All I can say though, is that when I heard it for the first time, it was a bit of a let down. I've never felt that way about an Underworld record before. The first one I picked up was 100 Days Off, and I was dancing around like an epileptic kinkajou from track one!
I don't know what it is with Oblivion with Bells, but something is missing.
Thankfully though, they really turned it around with the latest record, Barking.
Just... oh my god! Definitely a return to form, in my opinion. It was one of those times where I knew instantly that I wouldn't want to stop listening to this.
Once again, I was drawn in from track 1: Bird 1
Though I mentioned earlier that I enjoy the spoken word vocals, I also have great appreciation for Karl Hyde's singing voice. It's nothing too fancy, but it's warm, and very appropriate for the sound of Underworld.
Now, I think it's worth mentioning that this band has a penchant for including female vocal soundbytes that seem extraneous, and might be deemed nothing more than filler. On first hearing these bits, my reaction was "why?" But on listening to the tracks again, I think the inclusion really does add to the experience. This album has it's obligatory sample song, and maybe it's the one song everybody else skips, but I love it.
Moon in Water.
While the title, and vocals seem to intentionally conjure up a specific image in one's mind, the music itself seems to have an identical effect, while stirring up an intense sense of longing. This song becomes much more than the sum of it's parts. The same can be said for any song, I suppose, but all the pieces fit together so perfectly, and while it's by no stretch my favorite song, it is one that I greatly enjoy for it's simultaneous simplicity and complexity.
Also worthy of note is the song Louisiana.
Maybe just a ballad, but Underworld doesn't do this sort of thing very often. Unsurprisingly though, when they do, they do it right. They roll my heart up in a carpet, and they throw it off a bridge.
Well, that's my review of Underworld, and so far, the first one I've given myself the time to really dig into. I know it might not really look like it, with the overuse of youtube videos, but I think there's a lot more, and a lot more in-depth written content here than in previous reviews. Normally I don't bother saying so, but I encourage everyone to give me some feedback on this one. Obviously my reviews are just for fun, and a way to (hopefully) share some good music with other people, but any pointers would be appreciated.
