Underworld: Beaucoup Fish

apologies ahead of time if this is a "jumbo" landslide

cups!

KING OF SNAKE

"moaner" was the first underworld track i heard, the 10-minute cut off of the batman & robin soundtrack. i was 10, maybe? it absolutely scared the shit out of me.

Tough choice... Jumbo is A+ but so are King Of Snake and Cups!

"Jumbo" all the way.

It's a timeless classic

"Jumbo" reminds me of Wire. Every Damn Time.

Actually, the only track i "don't like" so much is Moaner.

However, last time I played this (it's permanently in the car), I turned it down slightly and found it was alright.

Every Track, man! Every one!

Voted Kittens, could easily have been several others.

This is tough, though I think I prefer to thinking about listening to this album to actually listening to it. Cups or Moaner.

This album's aged incredibly well, and I could vote for almost any of these tracks, but it's "King of Snake."

great record. "Jumbo" FTW.

This album is not so much a set of 11 named tracks to me as a series of moments. e.g. Cups is not my favourite track, but my favourite moment might be that bit 9 minutes into Cups where the synths come in and you think it's a totally different track.

That said, King of Snake packs the most moments per track for me, with Jumbo in second and much love to Bruce Lee and Kittens also. So, voting KoS.

I'm voting "Winjer" so it doesn't get shut out

fuck "Bruce Lee"

twenty four hours its the k-k-k-ing o' snake

Which one is the slow ballady one?

Cups, purely for the moment when it all explodes.

Always liked the chillout portion of "Cups" better than the synth anthem coda.

Which one is the slow ballady one?

either "Winjer" (which isn't really slow) or "Push Downstairs"

this whole album is amazing except for "Bruce Lee"

am I the only who one likes Bruce Lee? ;_;

(but not enough to vote for it)

I'm alright with it.

Dobropet mix is maybe the creepiest thing ever.

Is 'Skym' the "do you still feed the animals?" one? That song is absolute dogshit.

yeah, and Skym might also be Mark G's "slow ballady" one: beatless singing over contemplative piano chords, throbbing sci-fi engine room synths later, poor becoming moderate, Viking, Dogger

(Skym is definitely on my "non-amazing" list but I do like the synth sound. its presence after Winjer is probably why I thought I didn't like Winjer and was doubly surprised by Dan's post until I put it on and went "oh, yeah, this one is good actually")

"Winjer" and "Kittens" were the songs that made me stop just dismissing this album out of hand and really LISTEN to it, at which point I realized that "Push Upstairs" wasn't the plodding mess I'd claimed but was actually bludgeoning awesome.

Yeah, it's light relief "winjer" ...

Slept on "Push Upstairs" for years before recognizing just how expansive it sounds in just 4 short minutes.

^^^^ I'm tempted to vote for it actually b/c everyone habitually underrates how fucking amazing it is.

That said I could really vote for any of the first four.

just randomly listened to this yesterday for the first time in years. Gonna vote for obvious one: Jumbo, though it could just as easily have been one of 5-6 other tracks depending on my mood.

if you're wondering who voted for Something Like A Mama, it was me.

"Jumbo" reminds me of Wire. Every Damn Time.

I get this. "The 15th" , "Map ref..." "Kidney Bingos" side of Wire?

yep. with a side order of "Eardrum Buzz"

Voted for Jumbo after some thought. If it had been the jedi's sugar hit mix of Jumbo then no thought would've been required.

spent time with this again for the first time in years. it brings up lots of good memories. I'd forgotten how much Cups changes over its 11+ minutes. I don't remember thinking there was a standout track when I was listening to it regularly, but Jumbo sounds the best to me now

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

the first time in my life i have felt the power of my one single wavering vote going here rather than there.

i (i...i...i...) like Skym

i too enjoy skym, and since i managed to not even vote in my own poll, maybe i should have gone with that

glad I chose to vote "Winjer"!

my vote came down between skym and something like a mama. could have gone either way but it came down to 'something, salty'

for Spotify users; the entire back catalogue has suddenly popped up there. even the live album and compilations.

Even the Jumbo remixes? I was looking for them there last week.

.. ah no.

I've had this album for 12 years and that line - "telephone breath between us/there are no borders between us/only these wires" still gives me chills.

Love this as workout music. "Push Upstairs" is so great. I love that weird grunting noise.."wuugh....wuugh"

results otm

yes.

cups is so good

it really is

I remember buying the CD in '98 (I was 12) and thinking it was some kind of joke...making us sit through this overlong chill track before finally busting into an anthem (to be fair, Fatboy Slim was pretty much my ideal back then)

obviously I've recanted a bit on that position, if not for Jumbo this would be my favorite track on the album. Salt Lake Orchestra remix is excellent as well.

push downstairs is underrated

Salt City Orchestra mix is my favorite too. I actually really dislike the Pens part of the track and wish there was a live recording of just Cups without Pens at the end.

BF's turn to get the full on remastered, 4CD deluxe version

http://www.underworldlive.com/news/2017/07/underworld-beaucoup-fish-2017-reissue/

thought for a minute there it was a 20th anniversary release, very slightly relieved to realise it's only been 18

just remembered i bought this on minidisc when it came out

Wonder if this will be the last to get this sort of treatment as not sure the demand would be there for a 4CD version of AHDO?

4cd version of everything everything pls

I wonder if any of those tracks on disc 2 are "Five Points" or "Cappe Ffuno". Would love it if the "first part" of KoS was on here (disc 2 track 7?) as well. In all a bit disappointing, those remixes were pretty readily available back then and I think outside remixes of UW material is much less interesting than UW's own remixes (which often turned them into different tracks entirely)

Wonder if this will be the last to get this sort of treatment as not sure the demand would be there for a 4CD version of AHDO?

I heard the plan was to do all of them. I think the OWB one could be quite interesting (since that intersects with all the Riverrun stuff) and Barking is gonna have a lot of stuff on it that I've been wanting for a while (most likely?). Not sure how they get to 4 discs of AHDO material, there were like 3 B-sides and 5-6 remixes, plus they weren't doing a lot of shows then either......who knows!???

^^^^ I'm tempted to vote for it actually b/c everyone habitually underrates how fucking amazing it is.

That said I could really vote for any of the first four.

― Tim F, Wednesday, 6 July 2011 15:11 (six years ago) Permalink

I saw this thread in New Answers and immediately wanted to complain about "Push Upstairs" being underrated, but oh look there's me of six years ago being OTM.

Can't think of many discs I own that need a remaster less than Beaucoup Fish. Still sounds massive tbh

"Jumbo" reminds me of Wire. Every Damn Time.

― Mark G, Wednesday, 6 July 2011 08:55 (six years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I can hear this although it's always reminded me of Joy Division, specifically 'Isolation' (it's that bright three-note synth figure that pops up a minute or two in).

'Isolation' was more linked to "Map Ref" for me, along with "Family Man" Mike Oldfield/Hall&Oates if you will..

man Wire never sounds like "Jumbo" to me and if they did I'd listen to them way more often

unless someone can link what song specifically it's reminding them of

however there is a Yukihiro Takahashi song that's clearly very inspired by "Jumbo" and it's really excellent

 In all a bit disappointing, those remixes were pretty readily available back then and I think outside remixes of UW material is much less interesting than UW's own remixes (which often turned them into different tracks entirely)

And the thing is they were still doing self-remixes at this point! The "Relentless Legs" mix of Moaner is one of the best things they ever did imo (and almost certainly unavailable nowadays unless you want to spring for a Batman promo single), and the Bruce Lee single had something called the "Dobropet" mix that was just this wild, frightening sound collage. If "Jedis Sugar Hit Mix" of Jumbo merited an Abbey Road remaster then I can't see how those don't.

Yeah, as I said upthread, "Dobropet" was a terrifying headphones experience.

...unless you want to spring for a Batman promo single

I bought that 12 at the time. Seem to remember there was also a "Long Version" which was actually a couple of minutes shorter than the "Album Version".

Was surprised it ended up on BF as it was released a couple of years earlier.

"Push Upstairs" merited another half dozen votes.

Can't think of many discs I own that need a remaster less than Beaucoup Fish. Still sounds massive tbh

― Anne of the Thousand Gays (Eric H.), Friday, July 28, 2017 2:21 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah, the original still sounds loud, clear and powerful.

man Wire never sounds like "Jumbo" to me and if they did I'd listen to them way more often

unless someone can link what song specifically it's reminding them of

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OrxQ5cKaOQ

As for this album, the first four tracks are unfuckwithable and I never really understood some of the muted response to them. The rest of album is decent here and there.

Jumbo – Jedi’s Sugar Hit Mix

yessss

'Cups' fucking bangs.

"Ramajama" uploaded here

https://soundcloud.com/underworld/tracks

starts off like a Dark & Long remix but then turns into (I think) part of the KoS live jam they did back then. pretty epic.

* Not available in the UK *

:(

Or Australia, though it has appeared on spotify

after a period of soul-searching i have decided this is my favorite underworld record at the moment (previously it was second toughest til death)

"Ramajama" on the deluxe edition is revving me up lately.

And this is definitely their best album, even if Second Toughest has the nostalgia of the moment I discovered them.

Arguably Everything Everything has damaged my love for their second and third albums by mashing together most of their best moments into a single superlative running-mix.

you mean fourth and fifth?

(sorry to sound like that guy)

Arguably I've listened to Everything Everything once and placed it back on the shelf, never to listen to it again.

But I know I've spewed my antipathy toward the live album (specifically in relation to the Second Toughest material) elsewhere. Back to how awesome the first four tracks on this album are, absolutely in the same league with Discovery's opening salvo.

disappointed that neither "Five Points" nor "Cappe Ffuno" are on this. I wonder how deep their archives are really.

are they planning a boxset for A Hundred Days Off? because as far as I know there's only like, 2 or 3 B-sides and a couple remixes of "Two Months Off"

But I know I've spewed my antipathy toward the live album (specifically in relation to the Second Toughest material) elsewhere.

btw despite my complaints about what's not on there I still think the second disc of this is pretty great. love stuff like "Orange Bed" which mixes in elements of several album tracks

any 90s bootlegs you'd recommend?

Blue Mountain, which used to be on underworldlive.com, is pretty excellent. You can find it on slsk

Not to speak for Yesca but the 1994 Sheffield Octagon gig is a great show from around the time of the Dark & Long EP that seems to capture what they were talking about:
https://youtu.be/2ukd28MVvtU

Though the idea that UW lost something particularly substantive (apart from, like, 20-minute versions of "Juanita") on the Beaucoup Fish tour seems like a weird take considering how remarkably fluid their set lists and performances were up until around Barking. If the gigs documented on their circa-Oblivion Live Here Now releases aren't "live mixing spectacles" then I don't know what would qualify.

Also the RTSR tracker is a phenomenal resource for all your Underworld bootleg needs:
https://tracker.rtsr.org

yea the 2005 Electraglide gig is probably my favorite UW live recording ever, even more than the vaunted European Club Gig from 96.

I think that the Oblivion With Bells boxset will be massive, when/if they get around to it. the more time passes the more I've come to think of 05-07 as the group's real peak.

god i can't believe that was a decade ago. and yes, it is excellent. thanks for the recommendations.

Totally agree re: their peak being 05-07. In particular, the radio shows and live jams were incredible. Extremely creative period.

yea just imagine how much great stuff the deluxe boxset could have - "Bamboo", "Parc", "You Do Scribble", "Silver Boots", "Swing Up High", maybe "Phonestrap". that material alone could comprise a top-notch UW album.

any 90s bootlegs you'd recommend?

BEHOLD:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_HoEQ7ThvE

The "Dark and Long" sequence on that is awwwesome, as is the live playing of "Cherry Pie" and the original "Born Slippy".

Now that live version of "Juanita" I can get behind.

I still like this gig too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2p2VL2pKC8

Got the box today, including a download code. Went to redeem site, but now I need to create an account first? No. Fuck your data mining bullshit.

BEHOLD:

Thank you very much.

'Cups' is still an absolutely, thoroughly incredible track.