Beaucoup Fish

Mojo - Ranked #18 in Mojo Magazine's "Best of 1999" Mojo - "...BEAUCOUP FISH proves that the real deal with electronic music is not that it is fast and crazy....but allows for perfect recall of sounds and moments....music like Underworld's can have a texture as rich, emotive and individual as memory itself." NME - "...Underworld's third LP brought still more soul to their mix and was a lesson in flexibilty to the increasingly homogenous militia." Muzik - "A brutal, bruising take on the band's unique techno template....the melodies were infectious as ever. Trance tunes, swirling basslines and stupendous piano chuggers..." CMJ - "...showcases a more mature, album-oriented Underworld, travelling from over-the-top club maelstroms to ominous, gothic ballads to choppy, experimental rap..." Muzik - Ranked #10 in Muzik's "Albums Of The Year '99" CMJ - Ranked #14 in CMJ's "Top 30 Editorial Picks [for 1999]." Rolling Stone - 3 1/2 Stars (out of 5) - "...darkly physical grooves that seduce psyche, body and soul without resorting to instant hooks or easily understood concepts..." Entertainment Weekly - "...picks up where founding fathers like Brian Eno and Kraftwerk left off by concentrating on pared-down, melodic pieces, complete with what could be constured as verses and choruses....marks yet another engrossing chapter in the perpetual evolution of techno..." - Rating: A Spin - 7 (out of 10) - "...the British trio hit on a formula that mixes agression and gibberish in just the right proportions..." Q - 3 Stars (out of 5) - "...Beaucoup Fish finds them continuing down an individualistic path as they pull in strands from electronic influences such as Kraftwerk...Giorgio Moroder...and Yello..." Magnet - "...Rather than adopt the happy faces of house, the saintly roar of modern minimalist/classical, the bugged-out rhythms of drum 'n' bass or the sloped dope of dub, the first great album of '99 revels in all these styles....[Underworld] seems to be funkin' for nirvana..." Mojo (1/00, p.30) - Ranked #18 in Mojo Magazine's "Best of 1999" CMJ (1/10/00, p.5) - Ranked #14 in CMJ's "Top 30 Editorial Picks [for 1999]." Muzik (1/00, p.69) - Ranked #10 in Muzik's "Albums Of The Year '99" Rolling Stone (4/29/99, p.68) - 3 1/2 Stars (out of 5) - "...darkly physical grooves that seduce psyche, body and soul without resorting to instant hooks or easily understood concepts..." Spin (4/99, pp.157-158) - 7 (out of 10) - "...the British trio hit on a formula that mixes agression and gibberish in just the right proportions..." Mojo (03/99 p. 84) - "...BEAUCOUP FISH proves that the real deal with electronic music is not that it is fast and crazy....but allows for perfect recall of sounds and moments....music like Underworld's can have a texture as rich, emotive and individual as memory itself." NME (4/3/99, p.41) - "...Underworld's third LP brought still more soul to their mix and was a lesson in flexibilty to the increasingly homogenous militia." Entertainment Weekly (4/16/99, pp.56-57) - "...picks up where founding fathers like Brian Eno and Kraftwerk left off by concentrating on pared-down, melodic pieces, complete with what could be constured as verses and choruses....marks yet another engrossing chapter in the perpetual evolution of techno..." - Rating: A Q (4/99, p.107) - 3 Stars (out of 5) - "...Beaucoup Fish finds them continuing down an individualistic path as they pull in strands from electronic influences such as Kraftwerk...Giorgio Moroder...and Yello..." Magnet (4/99, pp. 81-82) - "...Rather than adopt the happy faces of house, the saintly roar of modern minimalist/classical, the bugged-out rhythms of drum 'n' bass or the sloped dope of dub, the first great album of '99 revels in all these styles....[Underworld] seems to be funkin' for nirvana..." Muzik (1/00, p.69) - "A brutal, bruising take on the band's unique techno template....the melodies were infectious as ever. Trance tunes, swirling basslines and stupendous piano c

Every few years an album comes along that effectively defines a short piece of time. Underworld, the infinitely patient trio from Romford that manages to put out such a period-defining album every couple years does it again with BEAUCOUP FISH. The simple leitmotifs that grow, repeat and build on each other make up the symphony that is every Underworld song. In a return to a more vocal-oriented style, Underworld moves toward a more traditional song structure. The addition of live instruments makes this a more organic-sounding record than most in the electronic dance genre.
The bubbling loop that permeates the opener "Cups" finally jumps to the forefront and takes the song in an entirely new direction with a syncopated coda of synth stabs and chopped-up vocal samples. The two-part "Push", with its pseudo-evangelical rant and the late-night-driving "Jumbo" (which brings to mind 10CC) mix vocal samples with a wash of strings and keyboards. The dissonant guitar samples at the beginning of "Shudder/King of Snake" give way to a distorted loop. BEAUCOUP FISH-mature, complex and well worth the three-year wait.|