Over the last decade, it has increasingly become Underworld’s off-shoot projects that have been where most of the action has happened and which have then informed the big releases. Their download only EP series in the interim before Oblivion With Bells was a very free flowing series, fragments of which were refined by the time of the album proper. Since then, a series of remix sets and demos have popped up in download form on their website to give a small behind-the-scenes look at process. Athens could well be the next installment in this artist at work policy. If so, the future looks like it has the potential to disrupt Underworld focused expectations as it is a very clear left hand turn. Billed as a clash between Underworld and the Misterons this, in effect, means the Underworld core of Karl Hyde and Rick Smith with regular collaborators Darren Price and Steven Hall.
Athens is basically a compilation album, with a slight nod to the idea of a mix album, but without the strict structure that would imply. The surprises come with the track listing, which weighs heavily in the direction of space-jazz – Alice Coltrane, Soft Machine etc. Mahavishnu Orchestra appear early with ‘You Know You Know’ which trainspotters might recognise as the source for some samples in Massive Attack’s ‘One Love’ from all those years ago. Underworld’s contemporaries also feature, though Squarepusher’s ‘Theme From Sprite’ really could have been made in the 70s jazz-fusion fringes, while Moodymann always makes his future sound like retro space ages. Some more electronic/dance leaning tracks come later in the set care of Laurent Garnier and Miroslav Vitous, though even here, there is a nice idiosyncratic shade to proceedings, with afro-beat percussion and camp disco respectively.
The blandest track is probably the contribution by Underworld themselves, ‘Oh’ being a fairly paint-by-numbers exercise in the kind of layered buildup that Underworld have made their own. Originally released on the A Life Less Ordinary soundtrack 12 years ago, it does come across as an outtake as opposed to one of Underworld’s key tracks. The other track of specific interest to Underworld fans will be the closing ‘Beebop Hurry’, conceived by Karl Hyde and Brian Eno as they prepared for their recent Sydney Opera House improvisation performances as part of the Luminous Festival. Unfortunately, the promo copy stops mid-track after 3 minutes, but what is heard sounds like an uptempo but laid back (dare I say jazzy) Underworld track with Hyde in fine stream-of-consciousness form, “You’re skinny and you still wear black/Bring back the colour”, “I got a bus to catch/Wait in the sun/With a view of a tattoo/Disappearing down your jeans/Click”.
If Athens is any indication of a possible direction for future Underworld material, there’s great promise. As a listening experience in and of itself, it’s eclectic yet makes sense and has plenty of music that is left of the alternative mainstream that would normally be associated with artists of Underworld’s stature. It’s also reportedly the first in a series. On this basis, that series promises to be intriguing.
Adrian Elmer
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