Underworld
Dubnobasswithmyheadman

THE REVIEW

The title of this work is difficult to remember, but impossible to forget, just as it is impossible to forget the sounds, the ideas, and the skill of these three brilliant musicians. Finding an enthusiast or even a knower of this group in Italy, especially among the young modern-age generation, is like finding the tip of a miniaturized needle in a 5000 square meter haystack! So, you might do an experiment: take any young person or a new millennium electronic music listener, put on a pair of powerful headphones and blast "Dubnobasswithmyheadman" at full volume, the phrase you will hear is "wow whose NEW album is this? These guys totally rock!" "NEW ALBUM"! That's what you think when listening to the record, then you turn the cover and read "1993" and at that point, one can't help but exclaim the word "DAMN!!!!"

The name of the group that gave birth to this incredibly avant-garde album is called Underworld, a name that today more often recalls a certain film released a few years ago, rather than a music group. What a pity! Even now, hearing a track like "Mmm Skyscraper I Love You" is a sensational experience. You are left bewildered by those avant-garde sounds, that hypnotic Techno rhythm that suddenly leaves you hanging in desolate phrasing and suave rhythms. A perfect blend of post-rave sensibility and rock moods. Not to mention an electronic masterpiece like "Cowgirl" an incredible track filled with a robotic shuffle that makes a splash! Let's be honest.. the 90s sounds are there... but they don't remain stuck in time, it's not a revival record, the tracks are surrounded by soundscapes and instrumentations that sound at least 10 years ahead! At the very least, it gives the idea of listening to a 2001 record.

From an insipid 80s techno-pop band to representatives and pioneers of one of the most successful syntheses between electronics and song. All this thanks to the new formation of the group after the disbandment of the 80s. The entrance of DJ Darren Emerson, Karl Hyde, and Richard Smith into the group gave birth to something truly explosive, a sonic dynamite that remained unchanged over time, an exceptional idea still unmatched even by the group itself. (Despite the excellent "Beaucoup Fish" of 1998).

The opening track "Dark & Long" can initially deceive us... indeed, at the first beats we hear that "Tunz Tunz" in the background that makes us believe for a moment that we are facing yet another Techno music album... and yet.. 25 seconds are enough to change our minds... the track enriches itself with echoing sounds, futuristic pop/rock arrangements, wrapped in a club atmosphere from the 2000s, the voice, not sampled, but directly from the vocal cords of Karl Hyde, gives a dark yet suave atmosphere... everything is hypnotizing, the play of timing, the sounds that overlap in the right place at the right time... you are dealing with an amazing sense of rhythm and so much musical knowledge. What surprises the listener are the ideas.. there is one every 25 seconds! A phrasing, a sound, a special effect, a particularly elaborate instrument... everything creates rhythm, everything becomes music... everything manages to enchant you! You dance, you dance a lot... But if you sit down, because you're tired.. you realize that you can also listen to it without dancing.. because it is good music, because there is a track like "Tongue" that mixes blues phrasings and ambient airs, because there's the ending of "Mmm Skyscraper I Love You" that leaves you stunned! Nine tracks in total that make this album a masterpiece in the field of modern electronics, an album that makes you forget the date it was made. The group's subsequent works no longer reached such levels, despite their mighty sound architectures having improved over the years. (I must admit that I haven't listened to their latest album yet).

After Primal Scream's "Screamadelica," before Leftfield's "Leftism" and before the Chemical Brothers' "Exit Planet Dust," this is one of the albums that most effectively brought Rock closer to the world of electronics.

Hypnotic masterpiece.