[.ca] Beaucoups Fish!

From Amazon.com:
A stunning album of smart, dance-pop craft, Beaucoup Fish blends stomping beats and meandering, binary dream worlds into a cohesive and heavenly revelation. It's another work filled with Karl Hyde's singsong talk-vocals ("Push Downstairs") floating over DJ Darren Emerson's sinewy, house-style rave-ups ("King of Snake"), a sound that has distinguished them since 1993's Dubnobasswithmyheadman. On Beaucoup Fish, however, that sound slips around tracks that do more than patiently await the next thick coat of rhythm, building simple songs into a digitized, epic whole. There are eruptions of ecstatic melody on songs such as "Jumbo," while jerky dance tracks such as "Bruce Lee" open whole new avenues for bursting layers of rhythmic ambience. Underworld are doomed to be haunted forever by "Born Slippy" (popularized via the Trainspotting soundtrack), the world's first international rave anthem, yet Beaucoup Fish goes well beyond such timely phenomena, and works instead to free electronic music from its computer-age constraints. --Matthew Cooke

The much-anticipated return of Underworld after 1996's landmark recording Second Toughest in the Infants, Beaucoup Fish is infused with subtle, lean rhythms, memorable hooks, and a youthful, sensuous energy. Alternately sinister and sweet, the endless DJ creativity on display is an ecstatic revelation. --Matthew Cooke

Underworld's finest:
It is amazing to me how many reviwers skip over or just barely mention the song on this album that, to me is the shining jewel. "Jumbo" was the song that i heard that started my undying love for this band. It's so layered and complex and just absolutely breathtaking in it's execution. If there was ever a song that sounded like what love sounds like, this is it. I can not heap enough praise on it. "Winjer" has been mentioned a few times, and it is my second favorite song on the album. Brooding, moody, lonely and a bit sad. Beautiful. The rest of the songs are pretty darn good, as well, with only one exception. I'm really not partial to "Bruce Lee" and pretty much skip it every time I listen to the album. I have had this album for 4 years now and it still gets much play. It still feels fresh and new to me, like nothing i hear anywhere else.

The bands masterpiece:
In my opinion, and that's all reiews are any way...opinions, this is the bands best album. Even though Underworld will be remembered most for the intense "Born Slippy" this CD contains tracks that are better than tat, if you can imagine. Stand out tracks include: "Push Upstairs", "Shudder/King of Snake", "Kittens" and the best Underworld track ever - "Moaner". If you've never heard any of this I can't beleive you're a techno fan, buy it! Oh and as requested, I want to recommend another instrumental CD, a killer instrumental CD, by Mr.Deviant called "Techno Obsession". It's a killer mix of power rock and hard dance music. Check it out if you don't fear any conspiracies.

Mood Music:
This album has been deeply misunderstood...The muted production, the reptitive, cyclical nature of some of the songs and the dry delivery of the vocals might seem irritating at first, but it's all for effect. Beacoup Fish requires patience to appreciate; it's very deliberate and very calculated. While a lot of electronica is just designed to sound pretty or be danceable, there's a core of substance in Beaucoup which becomes aparent after several listenings. These songs describe real scenes, characters and situations, even if their language is always vague, and the overall effect is cohesive. A song like 'Cups' perfectly describes the sweep and weird beauty of urban life, while the punchier 'Push Upstairs' and 'Bruce Lee' are remarkable because, for all the violence and energy implied in their lyrics, they have the same sterile sound as Cups. The album is human life seen (or heard) through a filter of sterility and detachment. More objectively, while 'Cups,' 'Jumbo' and 'King of Snake' are great, there are some weak songs on the album, all toward the end; so, four stars.

Mediocre:
Underworld might be inovative and not afraid to mix the genre's with very fresh sounds. "Born Slippy" was on of the best things to come out in 1996. However, i don't feel that "Beaucoup Fish" is that special. The hit single "Push Upstairs" for example, was repetitive and dull. I took a closer look at the album and there were a few good songs on this album though. "Jumbo" a slow quite beautiful song. Same with "Wijner" and "King of Snake" which is a meliodic dj with cool beats, very inovative and still fresh. "Moaner" and especially "Something like a mama" is drum and bass, nothing new but allright. The album had a few moments but it doesn't give anything new either, many songs are too repetitive and too ordinary aswell. There are certainly other electro bands that has created better albums then this, hence even Underworld themselves.

Great artists, prefect production, but rather dull:
Although I am a huge music fan and I can appreciate most genres, when it comes to electronica I generally tend to like what may be deemed too commercial for hard-core fans. Although the band release its first record in the late 1980s, like many I knew nothing about them until their absolutely sensational hit single "Born Slippy" shook up "Trainspotting," which also happens to be one of the most original movies released in 1996. That song has an energy that is rarely found in commercial electronica and it still sounds amazing after all these years. After liking "8 Ball" from "The Beach," I decided that Underworld deserved to be heard more carefully. Although I understand that this release may not be among Underworld's best, I have no other point of reference, except that of the two aforementioned singles and some songs that friends have introduced me to. At first listen I actually liked this CD, but although it is rare for me, the more I heard it the less I liked it. It is flawlessly produced, but it lacks passion. "Cups" starts out like a placid "Café Del Mar"-like song, it never reaches goes anywhere. "Push Upstairs" is energetic and I would love it, instead of just liking it, if it did not sound so much like "Born Slippy." "Jumbo" is a good journey. I love the "I Feel Love"-like synth of "Shudder/King Of Snake" and although it's my favorite song of the release, it does not inspire nor energize me. The rest of the songs are not that different, with maybe a little Gregorian chant here and traces of energy (i.e the beginning of "Kittens"), but mostly tired and repetitive sounds that are passable at best. After listening to this release I guess my biggest problem with it is that it mixes acid-house and trance and does not go for the complex ubber beats that I loved in songs that I have heard from their previous releases. There is nothing wrong with trance or acid-house, but there are "capable" artists in those genres that do it better, In my view Underworld should keep challenging themselves and their audience with the loud passion and quiet power of their best work. This release only gets 2 stars from me, but you may want to check out their earlier work and the "Born Slippy" remixes are a must!!!

• Cups
• Push Upstairs
• Jumbo
• Shudder/King of Snake
• Winjer
• Skym
• Bruce Lee
• Kittens
• Push Downstairs
• Something Like a Mama
• Moaner