Review: Underworld vs The Misterons 'Athens'

Electronic prog fans Underworld team up with some other people to make a compilation LP... what on Earth could possibly go wrong?

Underworld have been around since Jesus was in infants. They've not always been a dance act either (for the record, 'dance act' is a phrase that should be taken to the woods and shot). Which means, their taste in music is somewhat eclectic.

Teaming up with The Misterons (who feature Darren Price, longtime cohort of Underworld), we find ourselves with a compilation LP that is keen to show off that not everyone in the world of dance music sits around listening to the electronic pulse constantly... waiting to come up on Es and shouting "HAVING IT!"

So what we've got then is a noodly, slow burning jam of an album... slowly making its way to techno... and back again.

Basically, this a comp that will drive anyone who wants a straight dance mix mental.

Of course, anyone who has followed Underworld for a while will know not to expect anything less. I mean, the very premise of the band is slightly awkward. They're not really a band a all. They see themselves as something of an arthouse. They make films and commercials via their Tomato wing, they make thunderous techbip tracks with cut 'n' paste lyrics as well as making strange sound collages. We lap this shit up!

Well, some of us do.

Beginning with a languid, sitar heavy Alice Coltrane track, flicking into fzzzy Soft Machine kraut-esque jams, to Roxy Music, to freeform jazz, to a preposterously titled Laurent Garnier track to... you get the picture right?

This doesn't so much sound like an official compilation release on a record label, but rather, a compilation tape made for you by some record collector mates. That's not a bad thing as such. There's something refreshingly short-sighted about this. However, it does have a tendency to take itself quite seriously (but we should've expected that, right?).

In short, this is a sequence of tracks that veers all over the shop like a drunk judge behind the wheel of a Range Rover and he accidentally tuned into John Peel's late-night radio slot. Invariably, it ends up being upside in a hedge. Mercifully, this car crash is kinda fun. Somehow, this whole compilation is underpinned by a certain jazziness... which is pretty cool. There's not a hope in hell that this set of tunes will change your life, but it is a breeze to listen to. [MG]

Underworld Vs the Misterons 'Athens'
Release Date: November 24 Label: !K7

Tracklist: 01 Alice Coltrane: "Journey in Satchidananda [ft. Pharoah Sanders]" 02 Mahavishnu Orchestra: "You Know, You Know" 03 Squarepusher: "Theme From Sprite" 04 Soft Machine: "Penny Hitch" 05 Roxy Music: "2HB" 06 Detroit Experiment: "Space Odyssey" 07 Moodyman: "Rectify" 08 Osunlade: "The Promise" 09 Underworld: "Oh" 10 Laurent Garnier: "Gnanmankoudji (Broken-Afro Mix)" 11 Miroslav Vitous: "New York City" 12 Brian Eno & Karl Hyde: "Beebop Hurry"