Drift Ep. 2...wishes and predictions

[crank]

Is it me or does it seem like these tracks need a bit more mastering/ noodling to bring up volumes, etc? It just seems like they could do with a bit of polishing?

[taotsu]

Yeah, same impression here. Not that they feel unfinished, but much more raw.
I could also see them finished though if Episode 2 is overall more raw and less “produced”.

[philth]

Got sent a digital promo today Drift Episode 2. Only contains the 1st 3 tracks, but it does say there is a release date of March 7th, so full quality downloads are coming if you're willing to pay.

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given the description of this week's track as "unfinished" i'm guessing they'll be busy the next week or so...

[crank]

What exactly does a digital promo look like?

[philth]

Originally Posted by crank

What exactly does a digital promo look like?

Like the screenshot attached.

[taotsu]

Facisnating

[dubman]

I guess posting this here works as well as anywhere else but the thing I'm most relieved by in all of this is that I get to stop being a hater-ass bitch.


Barbara Barbara was one of those very good albums with tons of caveats for me, and I still suspect that i like it because i liked that it was Underworld making it. It felt like they've barely pulled a good one out of the hat, always skirting that line between vitality and re-animation. I was grateful but I still skipped the tour for the second time in a row (which would probably get me slapped by high school me if he knew).


and that was the most I've liked anything of theirs since the Riverruns.


For as much as i indulged in it, because your 20s is great for that, I hated starting the cycle of a new release with optimism, then trying to be nice to myself and the output, then feeling baffled, a little hurt, and finally just mad. I spent the years after Barking calming down and making peace with the realization that whatever a listener understands from a band is mostly about the process the listener is going through, and not much to do with the band itself. Energy spent grousing about their post-EE output will keep putting that in sharper relief, so I did what I could to cut the shit and thank them for the time i did love. I was trying to learn a lesson in how being a fanatic just betrays everyone involved.


then they have the nerve to present not just a functioning sound for 2019 but a creative blueprint with a future. i feel that specific energy i haven't heard in a long time. the one that talks as much about what could be than what is. the one that doesn't barely cross the finish line with a 39 minute album but could go on and bloom in weirder places for some time to come. they're doing it publicly and with verve, and it feels great.


2019 has been a lousy year for me in music so far. most of my major anticipations have crumbled when "what could've been" turned into "what it is". In this limbo where i don't know what I'm looking for, my BB/Drift playlist has been a great constant. That this band is back to being my fallback when little else works is a fucking odd sensation to have today.


I'm not looking to return to fanboyism and moving expectations though. What they're getting out of this, and what it means later on, that's for them. the wheels might fall of for me anytime. BUT: I haven't been expressing the subterranean joy of consistently liking these weekly releases. even the duds don't cause any kind of reaction worse than "just not my bag". It's an odd place to be in, almost as if there's something else to learn in a 20 year trajectory that looks like this.

[crank]

yeah, there are very few acts that manage to reinvent themselves WHILE staying totally relevant after their peak. (I'm looking at you u2)

Bowie did it and I think Cash did it but beyond that I really can't name anyone.

But yes that's a great assessment.

[purlieu]

As my favourite Underworld album is OWB I can't entirely relate, but I agree that both episodes so far have had such an energy and spark to them that it's hard not to just feel a huge sense of joy from them. Barking was a horrible time to be an Underworld fan, and although I really like Barbara, it's not one I put on regularly. But there's a real freshness to the current material.