ahundreddaysoff | Underworld (2002)

It has taken me five years to acknowledge ahudreddaysoff as the spiritual successor to Beaucoup Fish. I think when it was first released in 2002, I was still basking in the greatness that was, and remains to be, Beaucoup Fish. I wouldn’t rush to call many electronic works high art, even though I listen to a fair amount of it, but All of Underworld’s albums are articulate and graceful, and now five years on, I include ahundreddays off.

All of Underworld’s albums are journeys, from beginning to end they each carry the listener through movements of futurism as expressed in music, through emotions both grand and intimate, in such a powerful and unique way that it’s essentially a subculture unto itself. There simply isn’t any other music around like it. As Underworld fans, we tend to be a breed unto our own, not only for the slamming dancefloor friendly anthems, but for the spiritual mellow tones of the urbanised life. Underworld, for me, is the sound of the city – any city, every city, as its sounds create cityscapes, streets, skyscrapers, markets, concreted foot-paths, crowds of people and moments of emptiness. They are songs of trains, trams, cars, driving, walking, breathing, living, loving and heartbreaking in the city. It’s about exploring in the city, even cities you’ve known your whole life. Exploring isn’t always about discovery of territory, you can explore territory you’ve known well but discover new emotions, inspirations, sometimes new people.

Underworld in their expressions of cityscapes are as unique as BT’s expressions of the astronomical with his essential work This Binary Universe. They stand alone in a market full of mediocre works and insincere albums.
It’s amazing that I chose today to finally fully embrace this album – a new one is due out on the 14th which I’ve pre-ordered.
Nice.

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