Underworld
Beaucoup Fish

By Rob Selina
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CD: V2 6 38812 70422 1

  Techno seems to have a bad reputation among audiophiles. Add a little industrial to the mix, and you might as well be talking about the devil himself. Well you know what, Underworld have both those traits and sound great. These guys have a darker sound that sets them apart from most of the other techno bands out there. The addition of lyrics to many of their tunes make them stand out even more. Granted, many techno songs have a couple of lines, but nowhere near what your average pop song has. The human voice is one of the most musical instruments, and only a few musical styles are successful without it. What I like the most about Underworld though is that they managed to take a fairly lifeless, emotionless, and superficial musical genre and add meaning and soul to it. I feel emotionally moved by Underworld's songs.

From a musical perspective, the albums' sound is best described by Trevor Morais who is credited with "All the hitting things done in a live, lose and sexy way not to dissimilar to drumming but better." I don't know if I'd refer to it as being better than drumming, but definitely different. There is a certain sexy overtone to the music though, and it has this loose, effortless, silky presentation though that is quite captivating. The music sounds quite soothing for the most part, but that's a gross generalization since about half the CD is quite energetic in nature as well. Every song on this disc is quite unique, sharing some of the same general characteristics, but at the same time completely different. My only criticism of the disc is that only ten out of the eleven tracks on the disc seem to go together. The last song "Moaner" sounds like it was created while the band was in a different mind frame, very angry and frustrated. It doesn't fit in with the peaceful and intellectual feel of the other songs. This is a minor detail though, and it's a great song anyway.

As far as the sound quality of the album goes, it's a little better than most techno discs. It has a good clean sound and still sounds synthetic and artificial, but nowhere near as bad as some recordings do. There is a certain richness to it that makes it sound a bit more natural. Better than average sound quality and absolutely excellent original and moving music put this CD in the outstanding category. Give it a listen with an open mind and you will not be disappointed.

Enjoyment: 90

Sound Quality: 65