at a glance...

Hometown: London/Romford
Year Formed: early 1980's

Members:
Karl Hyde -vocals
Darren Emerson -decks, beats
Rick Smith -instrumentation and stuff

Notes:
Rick Smith and Karl Hyde formed the nucleus of some marginally-successful but best-forgotten white funk groups in the early '80s, and even threatened to embarrass the Underworld moniker with more novelty funking as the new decade approached. Thankfully, they hooked up with whizkid DJ Darren Emerson in the early '90s and concentrated their efforts on the music of the British clubs. Dubnobasswithmyheadman was a huge critical success, and with the "Cowgirl"/ "Rez" single taking clubland by storm, Underworld established themselves as major players in British dance music. Yet, little prepared them or the world for "Born Slippy," a single re-released after its use in the movie "Trainspotting", which rocketed to number two in the British charts, rendering Underworld unlikely pop stars and virtually overshadowing the otherwise well-received second LP, Second Toughest in the Infants.Beaucoup Fish is their latest release

Links:
Underworld Photo Gallery

Nothing ruins a perfectly good dance track faster than vocals. One minute you're grooving to a mysterious funky dubplate, the next some wailing diva is imploring you to take your love high-igh-igh-errr! Which simply will not do.

Danish disco queens, Belgian rappers in studded leather vests, downtown soul divas...vocalists have added little besides a cheesy aftertaste to the evolution of techno and house. Underworld are the exceptions, and Dubnobasswithmyheadman was the first album to effectively integrate lyrics into the dark post-acid funk of British clubland.

Karl Hyde's vocals slip in and out of these songs, never intrusive, a working cog in the monstrous undercarriage of the Underworld groove. And what a delicious groove it is - prog-house prodigy Darren Emerson and multi-instrumentalist Rick Smith borrow from techno, house, funk and dub to create a deep techno that will warp your floorboards.

"Dark & Long" gives it some hard, sinister funk for openers, with Hyde murmuring lasciviously inside an epic house tune that is indeed both dark and long. "Mmmm Skyscraper I Love You" is a further step into shadowy corners, and "Spoonman" adds momentum where most dance albums start to flag. "Cowgirl" brings the climax, a truly genius build-and-release that still kills the dancefloor. Prefiguring the manic magic of "Born Slippy," it's still the best thing they've ever done, and reason enough, if you still need one, to buy this album tomorrow.