Re: DRIFT Series 1 - New album, Nov 1, 2019
 

right, but to be fair they didn't really know where this project was going when they announced it. correct me if I'm wrong but they'd already announced it as a 1xCD / 2xLP before half the material had even been written. at some point they probably realized they had more good material than they could showcase in an hour & changed the focus of the project to be about everything instead of just the one disc. I don't think they wanted the public to see it as "an album with a lot of B-sides".

Re: DRIFT Series 1 - New album, Nov 1, 2019
 

Which interview was this?

Re: DRIFT Series 1 - New album, Nov 1, 2019
 

yeah after running it through a few times it's more representative of the series than what I initially wanted out of the album. I'd replace drum street with something that at least led up to the two big bangers though. it makes the first two tracks feel unnecessarily leaden.

they took pains to make it feel like a compilation though, didn't they? I'm sure they know the difference between constructing an album and having a good playlist, and it seems they opted for the latter when it'd make sense to me to face the commercial challenge of making an album statement out of it. there's an art to that too, after all. it's not just a craven market constraint.

Re: DRIFT Series 1 - New album, Nov 1, 2019
 

I also made the album sampler playlist on YouTube. It will be a very strong album!

Re: DRIFT Series 1 - New album, Nov 1, 2019
 

Well of course it's gonna feel like a compilation if you've listened to the EPs a bunch (as I have). No way around that. I'm curious how it'll sound to people hearing it for the first time.


also we'll have to hear what edits they make on the actual product. Clearly the tracks are edited and maybe remixed some. It'll probably flow quite nicely. I wouldn't expect anything less from them

Re: DRIFT Series 1 - New album, Nov 1, 2019
 

Every album is a compilation of tracks, we just don't know the pool from which they're drawn until later, if at all. With Drift, we've seen behind the scenes, gotten a sense for tracks that have been trouble, have come together quickly, have sparked improvs, been road tested, been reworked, etc.

In retrospect, the strongest albums always seem so deliberate and focused. But take for example the Pre-Dubno DAT... What if that was the final album? To me, with benefit of years of admiring dubno, it sounds disjointed, full of works-in-progress and uncertain how to move from mki to mkii. But how many bands approach a new record with thematic or conceptual focus anymore (ever)? There's always experimenting, choices. For me, Drift has been a peering into the creative mindset of R&K, and it's illuminating. Some are finished and fantastic, others seem like deadline best efforts, and of course, subjective taste on the part of the listener.

Anyway, if we didn't have a look/listen at the year long process of creating, culling and compiling, and just had the sampler/LP, I think we'd be pleased, as the tracks are varied, well produced and appeal to a wide spectrum of genre fans. I think the compilation actually holds together very tightly, pretty sure I can mix the tracks continuously and convince myself it's a concept album (!) and there are really no duds (though that's a judgement call and even classic ALBUMS have them).

Tl,Dr: Drift gives us a look at what it must be to create an album. The "Sampler" without this Drift process is the finished commercial album we're accustomed to and wed then debate each track's merits. We've just never before seen so much of the material available for compilation (and likely Underworld has never been this prolific). Called sampler, compilation, proper album, whatever... it's great music, and now we have so much source material to rearrange into personal playlists and debate/enjoy.

Re: DRIFT Series 1 - New album, Nov 1, 2019
 

4:05 here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9A_2Rlos9fw
"Great, except when you have to say things like 'We're gonna release an album', because then it becomes perceived in a normal way. Like 'Oh, of course, so all of this is about an album'. It's like 'No, actually an album is a gift along the way, but we're going to carry on doing something else every week after that.'"

Re: DRIFT Series 1 - New album, Nov 1, 2019
 

good post holden - I've never thought of Underworld as having an album mindset the way many of their contemporaries do. they make albums because they have to and in most cases those albums are fantastic, but we all know there's so much great stuff outside of that. not just the rare stuff but their most famous tunes as well. I don't think their creative process necessarily leads there and they've said so themselves many times (including in the interview just posted). I agree with Karl, for all this to just lead up to another album seems anticlimactic. I'm glad the focus seems to now be on the entire series, not just the hour or so "best of".

Re: DRIFT Series 1 - New album, Nov 1, 2019
 

by the way, I'm not sure if this means anything or not, but did anyone else notice all the "Film Edit" tags are missing now? this potentially means different versions of Appleshine & Dune plus a lot of the stuff on EP5. though EP5 ain't out yet. so who knows if "Mile Bush Pride" actually did get extended.

Re: DRIFT Series 1 - New album, Nov 1, 2019
 

The album thing is interesting, because at certain points it's really felt like the 'album' was a definite end product - the lack of b-sides to Beaucoup Fish, the entire Barking process... the closest thing to what we've had in the last 52 weeks is probably the Dubnobass era, which provided us with 33 tracks in less than two years (plus some radio edits), over the course of various 12"s, singles and CD EPs.