This is it. This is the sound that a shitload of bands before and after tried to hit, the kind of repetitive, meandering, subtle, evolving electronica that I have heard so many failed attempts at, that resulted in watery, indistinct records for miles. Here though, everything is expertly put together, and Underworld has a masterful sense of human perception and feeling, of arc and flow and melody and sound, like a less-tacky Moby (who I actually think is really talented in certain ways) stretched in artistically along every dimension. The composition is mostly of the loops-come-and-go variety, in opposition to all the linear bending that's so hot today, and there's not even much knob twiddling along the way, but it's an album that sets out to do what it does, and does it with a deft touch.
Most impressive is the album's overall arc, full of hyperslick transitions, managing to be as chilled out as, well The KLF's Chill Out at some moments, and then in full on banger mode another, wringing almost unbearable tension from the relentless loop loop loops without you even knowing how you got there. Part of the success comes from the unusual album structure, leading off with two fifteen minute epics before a suite of 6 or 7 minute "short" songs. Not that you notice the song breaks, but it gives the album a certain psychic feel that leaves you feeling strapped in and shot towards something.
Most important is the fact that this is what all long-and-repetitive music should be, whether its electronica or art rock or whatever: it melts time when you don't listen, and is worth listening to when you do.
The major downside is the approach to vocals, with a bit too much of that breathy euro pretentiousness that makes the whole thing feel a bit twatty when you think about it. Luckily, when this is on, you don't find a whole lot of time for thinking about such matters, what with the whole universe being out there and all, and you shooting out into it 4/5
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment