30/08/02 'Second Toughest In The Infants' - Underworld
This is a CD I
would not like to be separated from for too long. It's probably one of the
first albums in the dance genre I ever bought but several years later it is
clearly so much more than that. Until recently the band was composed of
Darren Emerson, Rick Smith and front man Karl Hyde. With Emerson having
recently left and the new album due soon it will be interesting to see how the
new material compares to the first three albums. I don't know whether they
can top this album which like all of Underworld's work shows a grasp of song writing
that has put them out in a league of their own. I am not exaggerating;
think of all the two or three man DJ outfits pumping out house/r&b/garage.
Think how many are still around and then think about how many have actually made
coherent long-players that dare to straddle more than a couple of genres and yet
refuse to become dated.
"Second Toughest..." hardened the dance beats and pop sensibilities of
"Dubnobasswithmyheadman" and gave us urgent, insistent, insidiously
addictive, hypnotic and above all effortlessly cool dance music for the feet and
the ears.
Listen to a clip of 'Pearls Girl'
by Underworld
Requires RealOne Player from www.real.com
(opens in new window)
If you are still having problems imagining the Underworld sound then listen to
this; this is not cheesy uplifting house and there are no screaming divas to
ruin the songs or the gimmicky use of famous guest vocalists. Karl Hyde
does the singing and his understated, almost sinister vocals
are the perfect foil to the cold, hard, ruthlessly efficient beats as perfectly
illustrated by the magnificent "Pearls Girl".
The album closes with the wonderfully downbeat, striking "Stagger" and
despite all that has gone before, this unique sounding song confirms, above
anything else, the
impression of a very talented band that give one part of the highly splintered
dance genre a very good name.
| Buy "Second Toughest In The Infants" US, UK |
Other recommended music;
03/12/02 "Born
to Run" - Bruce Springsteen
20/08/02 "Stuck
On Love" - The Arlenes
22/07/02 "The
Gasoline Age" - East River Pipe
05/06/02 "Viva!
La Woman" - Cibo Matto
16/03/02 "Lank
Haired Girl to Bearded Boy" - It's Jo and Danny
17/02/02 "New
Favorite" - Alison Krauss + Union Station
26/11/01 "Cold
Water Music" - Aim
12/10/01 "Fear Of
Fours" - Lamb
13/08/01 "De
Stijl" - The White Stripes
20/05/01 "O
Brother, Where Art Thou?" - Various Artists