Underworld: "A Hundred Days Off" (1 Viewer)

[Ted Lee]

time for another mini-review.
this one is a tough call. i'm a pretty big underworld fan so i'm sure i'm a little biased. if i had to describe the album, perhaps i'd say "inspired but similar" - not that that's necessarily a bad thing.
this album has all the style and substance of every other underworld album. it may not be quite as hard-hitting...perhaps a slightly more laid back tone. not quite ambient, but definitely easier on the ears then some of their other stuff.
think of an album you would love to hear late at night, meandering aimlessly on the freeway. it's got enough oomph to keep you awake, but it won't distract you from enjoying the moonlight drive and your other thoughts.
with this genre, it's always the "little sounds" that they incorporate that make the difference. i always use the term layers and texture...anyway...this album has enough of those "nooks & crannies" to keep the listener interested.
standout tracks include: two months off, trim, ballet lane, and luetin
but, as much as i like the album, i feel like i've heard it before. there's nothing that stands out from their other stuff...i don't get a sense that this album is a big change of pace for them.
so, for underworld fans, definitely give this a test drive. you may enjoy it...or you may think to yourself you've heard this all before.
i give this cd a "B-"

 

[Iain Lambert]

My four 'standouts' would have to be...
MoMove - lovely opener as always from the guys; has glorious swathes of sound you can really sink into, and even now (I've had this for a few weeks) I find something new on every listen
TwoMonthsOff - the single, great, wonderful, if you don't have it yet then why not??? Its closest neighbour is probably Jumbo, which is about as good as compliments get in my mind. You Bring Light In.
DinosaurAdventure3D - if TwoMonthsOff is Jumbo's little brother, then this is a sibling of Moaner. Massive rushing tune, and already responsible for more unsafe driving than I care to think about. Any XBox owners need this ripped for PGR background music. Now. Huge, huge tune.
Luetin - laid back (like most of the album) and lovely, send you home with a real smile on your face. Again, there are depths of sound in here that require attentive listening; it may not be a floor-filler like Dino, but its far from being something dull.
All in all, I'd say its much closer in spirit to the great Second Toughest than dubnobass or Fish, and while I love everything they do, that suits me just fine

 

[Ted Lee]

it's weird how underworld is one of the few electronic groups that i can think of who still manage to "pull it off". their stuff really hasn't changed that much, yet they are still able to put out good albums.
guess that's just a sign of a great band!

 

[Kevin Farley]

Hmm, I'll have to listen to it. I hope it's good. DNBWMHM was on my 10 best 90's discs, possibly my all time top 10. Unbelievable. Strangely, I've never heard all of Second Toughest... but I was obsessed with Born Slippy. Beaucoup Fish was/is very, very powerful emotionally and spiritually to me; I listened to that album when I found out that my mother had a stroke and was passing away. Jumbo in particular. I like to think that the opening to Jumbo is listening to God and some friends going fishing, just watching over the world. Really heavy album, I can't listen to it very often, understandably. I love Bruce Lee, too.
So, I'm definitely looking forward to hearing this, although with some trepidation that it is missing Darren. But this review from URB that I found on Amazon is pushing me to get it:

From URB Magazine
"Earth to Scott — hello? Green still means go on this planet."

I blink and look up. I'm behind the wheel of a car next to a stunningly beautiful brunette who looks oddly familiar. OK, this must be a dream. Or maybe it was the handful of mushrooms I ate last night. A car behind us honks, so I drive.

We're somewhere on the Pacific Coast Highway, heading north toward Malibu. At least that what a sign says as we whiz past it. As far as dreams go, this one was shaping up quite nicely.

"No, you're not dreaming," laughed my mysterious companion. "Don't you recognize your own world?"

Taking off my sunglasses and squinting at the rich blue of the sky crashing into the ocean's paleness and the quiet majesty of the mountains, this was definitely Southern California. But something still wasn't right.

"Here, look at this." Miss Mystery holds up a copy of URB magazine. On the cover is a picture of her, riding in a car just like the one we're in. The headline screamed: "DANCING QUEEN: Is This the Most Influential Face in Electronic Music?"

That's when I realized who she was — the girl from the infamous Mitsubishi commercial. The hottie in the white hat who pops and locks to Dirty Vegas' "Days Gone By" to sell cars to young Americans with money (or at least decent credit). The same car I realize that I'm driving.

"My name's Dusty," she said. "I'm definitely real."

"I get it now," I realize aloud. "This is just a big metaphor on how 'future music culture' and commerce have collided to create a surreal universe where Basement Jaxx soundtrack Pringles and Coca-Cola adverts and Dirty Vegas debuts in the Billboard Top 10 thanks to a hot car commercial starring you dancing around to their song. Rather creative, if I do say so myself."

"Maybe, but how does the new Underworld album fit into all of this?" she yelled over it blasting from the stereo.

"Oh, that's the easy part," I replied. "What's always set Underworld apart is the fact that their music has consistently transcended the pop culture world around them, the dogmatic use of "Born Slippy" in Trainspotting be damned. From the menacing pulse of 'Dinosaur Adventure 3D' to the glacial funk of 'Little Speaker,' A Hundred Days Off is akin to classic Detroit techno in the way it delves deeper into the machines and technology to find the humanity at their core. Like Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder at their prime, Underworld makes genuine soul music brimming with emotion and meaning."

"So what are you trying to say?" Dusty asked with a wry smile.

"I'm saying that in 2002, Underworld has outpaced the competition and released the electronic album to beat. Timo Maas' Loud is still up there, but it's safe to say that A Hundred Days Off is right at the top of the techno-pop heap."

Dusty just laughed and turned the stereo up as I hit the gas, racing into the Technicolor sunset.

Scott Sterling

Yeah. I might have to get it and reread Neuromancer for the Xth time...

 

[Ted Lee]

kevin - that's a great little 'diddy' from scott. how funny!
if you like dubnobass then i'm nearly positive you'll like a hundred days off. again, it's not as hard-hitting but it's very addictive. if you like the underworld sound then i don't think you'll be disappointed. at the very least....it is absolutely positively worth an audition.

 

[MatS]

Darren Emerson + Tim Deluxe "Episode 1" came out the same week as this cd

 

[Peter Donovan]

Has anybody listened to this CD yet? Or any solo stuff by Emerson?

 

[Ted Lee]

peter - do you mean has anyone listened to the underworld cd? i'm assuming you read the first two posts?

 

[Peter Donovan]

sorry, I meant any solo Emerson stuff.
Thanks!