Oblivion with Bells

November 14th, 2007

Stef burned Oblivion with bells for me, the latest Underworld album. My first impressions are underwhelming.

It starts strongly, in a mellow, low tempo way, with Crocodile. This track has featured in at least one Essential Mix recently, and it stoked my expectations for the album. It segues smoothly into Beautiful Burnout, a blissful number. It’s the perfect music to help detach from a crowded grey commute into London. This album’s Jumbo. And Robotperson loves segues.

But from there it’s a slow slide into oblivion. Holding the Moth is an outtake from DubNoBass. Ring-road crosses Mike Skinner and Snivilisation era Orbital. It’s poetry, but I’m just not sure that it’s good. As Douglas Adams appreciated, there’s nothing worse than bad poetry.

Overall it’s a very British sounding record. Very London, even. Much more down tempo than I was expecting; almost totally lacking in tracks to get your arms reaching for those lasers. Having said that, I’ve succumbed to the urge to play it several times. Number of listens is always the quality acid test. A grower? Maybe.

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