Strawberry Hotel - Dirty reviews

[iamneorev]

Originally Posted by Dunwho

Let me try and place it:
1. STITI
2. DUBNO
3. BF
4. OWB
5. SH
6. AHDO
7. BB
8. Drift
9. Barking

01. Second Toughest In The Infants
02. Beacoup Fish
03. Dubnobasswithmyheadman
04. Riverrun Trilogy
05. Drift
06. Strawberry Hotel
07. Barbara Barbara, We Face A Shining Future
08. Oblivion With Bells
09. A Hundred Days Off
10. Barking

[StrangeLastName]

For me, this album is obviously a product of their Drift experience... experimenting, playing, exploring. It feels like more of an "artist" album, if that makes sense. Like more of an overall artistic statement, rather than a collection of big club bangers. Which is GOOD. I'm sure they don't want to just keep making Rez and Moaner over and over forever. And honestly - I already have plenty of those from them. Anyways...

“Black Poppies” gets better with each listen. I’d love to hear some combination of the album and string versions. “Denver Luna” might be my favorite track from them since “Beautiful Burnout” If this kind of piece is what Drift gave us, the whole project was worth it. “Techno Shinkansen” feels like a one-off piece that was kind of shoved into the album to fill it out. I like it, but it feels out of place to me. I really love the closing chimey section of “Sweet Lands Experience”… makes me wish that section was longer. And while I wouldn’t put “Lewis in Pomona” on a personal playlist or anything, it feels good in the middle of the album.

“Hilo Sky” is my favorite new song on here. The intro has some familiar Underworld ambient synth, and when it really kicks in, it’s one of the highlights of the album for me. It reminds me of “Always Loved A Film”, which is a plus for me… I don’t share the same disdain for Barking that many of you seem to have. It feels like such a joyful album to me.

Burst of Laughter is a fun little 6/8 four-on-the-floor combo, short and sweet. King of Haarlem’s okay, very STAR-like, which I didn’t love either. I find Ottavia to be a cool little palate-cleanser and transition into the back portion of the album. I don’t know that we need the Denver Luna (acappella) on there, because together with Octavia it does seem to chop the album into two pieces.

But man, Gene Pool is great. So glad we get 9 minutes of it. I hear some Brian Eno influence towards the end. The last few songs are good, enjoyable, but they haven’t made a huge impression on me. I have to admit that they do feel a bit like added bonus tracks.

Overall, probably my favorite album from Underworld since Oblivion With Bells.

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As to the “off-key” vocals... I don't LOVE them, but I know that it's an intentional choice. It's not like they didn't notice or don't care. Rick's attention to detail and melodic ear is not going to just let that slide. I think the dissonance is the point. (The medium is the message after all.) It's like Bob Dylan belting out long held notes that sound wrong, until you realize that half the time he's actually singing jazzy 7ths and 9ths... or is just trying to sound like a desperate and crazy person who can only scream to be heard.

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Also - to whoever talked about editing the album tracklists... I cannot imagine editing Barking and removing Diamond Jigsaw! I love that song, especially the turn to the minor chord at 2:20… One of my favorites from the album.

[ultradave]

Originally Posted by potatobroth

Really? He can hold a LOW note, but almost every high note on this album sounds 'wrong' to me. Or intentionally wrong? Which is totally baffling. I just heard Velvet Does for the first time and oh man, its just more of this weird out-of-key singing.

I was basing that comment on previous live tracks. I highly doubt his vocals have deteriorated since seeing them live earlier this year. There is a distinct and I'm pretty sure intentional quirkiness to his vocal style for this release. I think UW have earned any right to experiment however they'd like at this point. I do dare say that I would love to have a full Instrumental version of Strawberry Hotel. There's a whole lot of great going on in the background of most of these tracks.

[thee carp dreamer]

Morning all,

I've been listening to the new album - I think it's probably their best one since the 90s. When I listen to a new Underworld album, I want a mixture of the familiar and unfamiliar, the new and the old. I want it to sound like an Underworld album but not a rehash of previous sounds. Which is why I think this one is so strong.

It reminds me of the Riverrun releases - occasionally challenging, sometimes slow burners but ultimately rewarding.

The lyrics make reference to classic Underworld songs without just copying what went before. Some tracks borrow phrasing (possibly subconsciously) from tracks like Skym or Puppies, and tiny phrases from STITI era tracks, but use vocal processing in a new way. I also thought Ottavia reminded me of Dirty Guitar or Little Speaker - like the vocalist hadn't realised that the mic was on.

The beats are a mix of new and old too - Techno Shinkansen uses the 707 cymbal crash from almost every UW song in the 90s, but the tracks often have an ebb and flow rather than an obvious "drop", giving it a more balearic feel in parts. The synths work in a similar way too, swelling and releasing on tracks like Gene Pool.

I think it's a step up from Drift, which I think occasionally suffered from a lack of self editing and the need to create when sometimes it felt the ideas were being forced instead of naturally occurring.

However - not sure we needed driver luna acappella (sic) or Oh Thorn! in the track listing, and I think and the colour red and Techno Shinkansen were ideas that could have been explored a bit further.