Re: Strawberry Hotel - new album out 25th Oct
 

That sample isn’t enough for forming a proper opinion.

Re: Strawberry Hotel - new album out 25th Oct
 

Re: Strawberry Hotel - new album out 25th Oct
 

ooooh that looks like it'll be good

Re: Strawberry Hotel - new album out 25th Oct
 

Glad we're getting into new territory now and Lewis in P is a longer snippet today. Still hard to tell that much, but promising (and not criminally short/obscured like Sweet Lands was).

We seem to be quickly ruling out tracks that could be the renamed original Strawberry Hotel one. Hoping that it's Hilo Sky on Sunday. Also, Lewis in P should be getting a remix sometime based on the keychain tchotchke...

Re: Strawberry Hotel - new album out 25th Oct
 

And now we know what happened to the track formerly known as "Strawberry Hotel":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbW-M0IRtro

Re: Strawberry Hotel - new album out 25th Oct
 

YEEESSS! Was hoping this was the case and figured it was the most likely title for it. Glad to see it alive and kicking, and sounds like they re-thought the beginning somehow. Great news and this track sequence is pretty banging so far! Figured there would be more downtempo changes, but that's probably still to come. :)

Re: Strawberry Hotel - new album out 25th Oct
 

Also - we're only 7 tracks in right now; on other UW albums that would be most of the album done (and all of it for Barbara). And yet we still have just over half still to go. Think it's about to get even more interesting...

Re: Strawberry Hotel - new album out 25th Oct
 

Re: Strawberry Hotel - new album out 25th Oct
 

Genuinely excited for this album - I enjoyed some of Drift, but so far this seems more consistently compelling to me. After the RAH gig I've been waiting for those tracks to drop, and it looks like this will be something special.

Re: Strawberry Hotel - new album out 25th Oct
 

everything's sounding amazing so far

Re: Strawberry Hotel - new album out 25th Oct
 

Looks like there's going to be a SHM-CD with an extra track releasing November 1. Listing doesn't have the extra track listed. Assuming it'll be Japanese as I don't think I've seen SHM CDs that aren't? Listing is from Australia though.

Re: Strawberry Hotel - new album out 25th Oct
 

The Japanese CD with the bonus track "Velvet Does" was mentioned a bit ago in this thread. And yes, they are advertised as SHM-CD on the various Japanese retailers pages.

Re: Strawberry Hotel - new album out 25th Oct
 

interested in if anyone finds somewhere to buy that extra track in lossless once its out, doubt i'll be able to sort importing a copy.

Re: Strawberry Hotel - new album out 25th Oct
 

Hoping it follows the trend of great tracks that only Japan gets. Twenty Three Blue was so good on Barbara Barbara. I have it right after Santiago Cuatro in my hybrid version of that album.

Re: Strawberry Hotel - new album out 25th Oct
 

My preferred digital vendor is Ototoy:
https://ototoy.jp/_/default/a/281302

You do need a Japanese VPN in order to add the items to your Cart. Once they're actually in your cart, I don't think you need the VPN anymore. You should have no problems checking out with a foreign credit card (at least, I didn't the last time I used them in 2021). And you don't need a VPN to download or re-download the tracks once they're purchased and in your account's purchase history.

Sometimes, the bonus tracks are "album-only", meaning that you can't purchase the track a la carte, and must purchase the whole album. We won't know if that's the case here until release. Also, it's slightly possible that the bonus track doesn't get a digital release. The iTunes Store is the only place right now that has the album listed as a preorder, but it does not include the bonus track (yet).

Re: Strawberry Hotel - new album out 25th Oct
 

https://imusic.co/music/498803167103...berry-hotel-cd

The Japanese version is also up for pre-order in this Danish webshop.

Re: Strawberry Hotel - new album out 25th Oct
 

Re: Strawberry Hotel - new album out 25th Oct
 

This all sounds really lively. Considering the track times, I think they're focusing on the song-based approaches of Listen to their No, or JAL, or Parc, or Crocodile and building an album around it, which I think is a great idea if it's a strong batch. Fen Violet could be a good indicator of what's to come, in b-side form anyway

Re: Strawberry Hotel - new album out 25th Oct
 

I think it was Autechre that said it takes a new album for everyone to finally get used to and accept their last album for what it is.

It's getting funnier to me that this duo continually evolves faster than we're collectively ready for. Every new LP on the horizon conjures this comparison image of the Tomato-based typographic long jams from nearly 30(!) years ago, even though they've doggedly proven that their 'world is bigger than that. It's annoying as fuck when that next step doesn't jibe with us, but even when it does I have this uncertainty of "is this what it is now?" and I'm stuck between how artists move and what I waaaaant.

After this long, it seems like Rick has been working to bond past and present into one Grand Work that is :Underworld, and usually correcting/expanding our own terms of what that means. It takes some trust, a small example being: if we collectively hate the Drift sampler cover, it's more rewarding to think on why it was chosen instead of crossing our arms about it being lazy.

I don't think this situation is unique to Underworld. There's a perpetual (and necessary) disconnect between artists and audiences, in which we find our fandom through a successful blend of hype and marketing that keeps us attached to an idea, which immediately creates tension with how artists work. We make an ethos out of that idea, and it almost never aligns with where the work could go.

So what's with the uneasy legibility here? why so straightforward, cordoned off? White on neon? Let's think on what it could be, and see how it meshes with what we're hearing. It could just be a miss, but it's more fun this way.

Re: Strawberry Hotel - new album out 25th Oct
 

Yeah, that is definitely said about Autechre releases (both by them as mentioned, and by their fanbase explaining them). I've realized over the years that Autechre is my second favorite artists after Underworld (not that it matters, but for me they do both have a rich, deep catalog with a lot of breadth, openness on sharing stuff, and focus on graphic design tie-in).

And as shocking and jarring as each new release has been with Autechre, it's always felt very much them each time, even if the leap in music was a lot to process (plus the alien-ness/breaking-new-ground feeling on first listen is really looked forward to in a time-stopping way).

Underworld has always been more comfortable I guess, as I know and expect they can and will go anywhere musically and still retain all their elements and essential feel - it's more an excitement at what they'll do this time and having new variety. The new graphic design era can be jarring, but I'm a big fan of Tomato (like I am for The Designers Republic) and it's always felt like still them and an evolution each time.

Drift really pushed outside that feeling some, but the nature of the project helped it feel more casual/purposeful and the individual track covers felt more coherent, and I guess that partially prepared for the sampler cover to feel less leftfield (definitely bland and disappointing still, along with the final name).

Strawberry Hotel has been an interesting rollercoaster so far and still a lot to go. Mainly the tracks played out a year ahead of time and the design from their single drops all felt really classic and epic, like a later evolution of Mk2 type stuff. I think I was just thrown by the album cover and short track times, as it seemed to break that idea (we love our long UW tracks). The long gestation and lack of communication definitely added to it (and only in relation to how forthcoming/inclusive it has been in the past, not that it's required).

I will say this buildup with the album snippets has exceeded any expectations on the music and been wildly fun (it's been a lot more consistent and dance-based than expected for this many tracks, figured we veer off more). The album cover not being Tomato probably explains to me why it felt so leftfield (but so were the singles and they didn't for some reason). The music is what matters and it has been really exciting so far, can't wait to hear the full tracks. I'm also probably too invested in this as an outlet currently, but it is one of my favorite things and not sure how much more it will happen. Here's looking forward to the remaining two weeks!

Re: Strawberry Hotel - new album out 25th Oct
 

been contemplating the "do not shuffle" message. It got me wondering whether the tracks may be blended or sugue at all. I then started wondering if that impacted the track times we have discussed.
I could be looking for things I want to see,..

Re: Strawberry Hotel - new album out 25th Oct
 

Since the track lengths for the 4 already released tracks are the same as the album versions, my guess is that the album is not segued.

Perhaps the "do not shuffle" is more to encourage an uninterrupted listening experience, or that R&K feel like their final track order is critical to the album journey.

Will be interesting to see how the Japanese CD bonus track either works with that order, or against it.

Re: Strawberry Hotel - new album out 25th Oct
 

Japan retailer bonuses:
https://www.universal-music.co.jp/un...ws/2024-09-30/

CD shops: postcard
Amazon.co.jp: Mega jacket
Tower: clear file
HMV: stickers
Disk Union: Can badge

Re: Strawberry Hotel - new album out 25th Oct
 

Nice! Thanks The Bang. Think that my CDJapan order will include the postcard. Not sure what the clear file and can badge fully are. And I see the mega jacket has a white border on it, but the big question is: is it a mega mega white thing? ;)

Re: Strawberry Hotel - new album out 25th Oct
 

A "clear file" is like a translucent or transparent file folder that can hold looseleaf papers. I think they're popular in Japan, as that is where all the clear files in my house have come from.

A can badge is just a metal badge with a pin on the back so you can affix it to clothing. Something like this, likely: https://www.justbuttons.org/1-square...xoCwyMQAvD_BwE

Re: Strawberry Hotel - new album out 25th Oct
 

Re: Strawberry Hotel - new album out 25th Oct
 

Interesting - none of the singing in it yet, but get to hear the backing music. Assume this will be something of a choral piece as mentioned, given the source material for it and Esme's singing background.

I went and actually looked at the album credits on the back cover images that had been mentioned early and noticed something that I haven't seen commented on any yet: the whole album is credited as Produced by Rick and Esme, which is different and notable.

The Hilo Sky snippet shows her pretty involved with Rick in the production for that track and seems to be inspiring him (and I'd imagine he would find the collaboration with her really important and enjoyable). I'm wondering if having another perspective involved has inspired this album to feel a little different.

Re: Strawberry Hotel - new album out 25th Oct
 

Re: Strawberry Hotel - new album out 25th Oct
 

I find it curious that beatink does not handle the release this time. Guess that was not possible. They also did not handle summer sonic.

Re: Strawberry Hotel - new album out 25th Oct
 

Any idea what exactly a mega jacket is? I wonder if I should order that or go to HMV.

Found out: https://www.amazon.co.jp/b?node=8004683051
Hm… like having an LP without the LP part.

Re: Strawberry Hotel - new album out 25th Oct
 

Underworld moved to Virgin Music for Japan last year, who handles all their releases for the rest of the world.

It's actually halfway between a CD size and LP size:
https://imgur.com/ER3bty8

Re: Strawberry Hotel - new album out 25th Oct
 

Thank you on both. Really makes the decision which version to get not so easy lol.

Re: Strawberry Hotel - new album out 25th Oct
 

Re: Strawberry Hotel - new album out 25th Oct
 

They broke their pattern of alternating color and B&W videos! Ah well, some interesting comment about being different from Drift, but can't fully make it out. Gene Pool is sounding a bit different, but assume it's an odd section and some tracks may be turned off or levels different, hard to tell. Can't wait to hear Friday's with that most unusual track title. :)

Re: Strawberry Hotel - new album out 25th Oct
 

'Oh Thorn!' I think is another interlude 'DL acapella' type track if I had to guess. As much as I normally don't like interlude tracks because they just take up space to me, 'acapella' was different, so hopefully 'Thorn' is just as interesting

Re: Strawberry Hotel - new album out 25th Oct
 

Re: Strawberry Hotel - new album out 25th Oct
 

For mailing list, 24th October. Will we be getting Oh Thorn! as a track the day before the album?

Also: Karl's voice with autotune sounds really... wrong.

Re: Strawberry Hotel - new album out 25th Oct
 

Ha! This is a really odd one. Guess it will have vocals of a sort and also surprised by that odd file name. Will there be any relevance to give us this short track right before the full album? Or is that text some leftover idea that's not happening?

With these previews ending next Tuesday, I'm wondering what's in store between then and the album date. There's still the SH Listening Party item on their store. Guess we'll see. Roll on Sunday!

Re: Strawberry Hotel - new album out 25th Oct
 

Actually the Listening Party got removed from the Store recently. The "SH" that's on there now is something else. If you look at the URL, it says "sh-leak"...

Re: Strawberry Hotel - new album out 25th Oct
 

Wow - yeah, the store's actually quite a mess of items now under All Collections. Sad to see the listening party disappear, was hoping that was a broadcast that would bring us together.

Other releases are all gone from the CD & Vinyl section other than SH, but most had already been sold out. Did find one interesting hidden item still on the store that I had missed getting reprinted in April if anyone is interested: Karl's I Am Dogboy book.

I actually got this separately a month ago from a seller on Abe Books (thankfully for cheaper), and have been slowly enjoying it more than anything in a long time. So vividly narrative and poetically explanatory, it's adding a huge richness and poignancy to what seemed innocuous things (like the reason for Karl's striped shirts and Adidas love, his white Les Paul guitar and love of playing rhythm/disdain for lead, etc.) Really can't praise it enough - always liked his diary writing, but this both mirrors his fractured poetic technique from songwriting and is also a coherent multi-layered sequential journey through his life and viewpoint. Deeply rewarding.