Saturday, September 09, 2000

Underworld's career thus far can be summarized by a delicious irony. They were boundary breakers in 1993-4 when they incorporated rock into their techno, at a time when everyone else produced pure, "banging" techno. Now, everybody else wants to incorporate rock elements into their dance music, and Underworld are producing pure, banging techno. The recent departure of Darren Emerson, the only member who had dance music credentials from the inception of Underworld Mark II, merely adds to the irony. Thus, with the live release "Everything, Everything", the band had a golden opportunity to introduce newer fans to older tracks like "Dirty Epic", "Spikee" and "Mmm Skyscraper". To rehash those relics from the days when their live sets were as predictable as the stock market. The days when they were known as renegades (or traitors, depending on the viewpoint) by triggering samples with guitars. Instead we have been treated to a set consisting almost entirely of (still excellent) tracks from their third, and least original album "Beaucoup Fish". "Rez" seems to be the lone survivor from the old days, indeed, omitting it from the live Underworld experience would be nothing short of criminal. But "Everything, Everything" could have been much more.