Disco de Underworld: “Beaucoup Fish”

Beaucoup Fish kinda strays from Underworld's previous two albums, the highly-appreciated dubnobasswithmyhead and Second Toughest in the Infants. It's still definitely an Underworld album, replete as it is with guitars, sultry dance beats, and Karl Hyde's insistent, stream-of-consciousness vocals; in fact, if there's any difference, it lies in the tracks being a little closer to the mainstream--shorter in length, catchier. But not too mainstream, thank god. Don't worry Britney won't be doing Underworld covers any time soon.

"Push Upstairs" with its driving, repetitive piano sample is an instant highlight. That song's followed by the lovely, almost elegant "Jumbo," which glides along like a treat: "I need sugar; I need a little water, sugar" the song begins (well, after a short treatise on a vest on sale at Walmart) and later on we're listening to a coupla guys in a boat: "I've never fished here; but I caught beaucoup fish in Reverend Lake," one of 'em says. What these disparate elements have to do with one another, who can tell, but if you've ever seen the video, it manages to tie everything together quite nicely.

"Shudder/King of Snake" continues the album, again incorporating some kooky, yet entertaining sound-bites and a sample from a Donna Summer song.

Certain fans of Underworld from the early days are gonna hate the herky-jerky "Bruce Lee," no doubt, but it's a lot of fun nonentheless. Sure, it may stray further into hip-hop territory--but not that far and the lyrics are still dictinctively Hydeian.

"Cups," "Push Downstairs" and "Moaner" are all loads of fun, too, with the snazzy, jazzy "Cups" really living up to the epic hype it's been given here. And "Kittens" I'd probably like even better if I were deeper into Drum and Bass. It's all good.

Overall, Fans of Underworld's previous work should enjoy the progression on Beaucoup Fish; and newcomers to their work may actually find this album more accessible than the previous two.

Underworld walk that very fine line between boring and hypnotic brilliance that many people not deep into DJ/dance culture think is not so fine. Underworld build repetitive rythyms and synths into subtle, slinky anthems. This fact is illustated pricipally on tracks "Push Upstairs", "Jumbo" and "Kittens". "Kittens" happens to be a brilliant and hypnotic eight minute build up of driving syncopated percussion tracks into which a menacing bassy synth and organ like synths are added. The first time I heard the opening two to three minutes, I thought to myself "this is why I don't like this music." Yet as the percussion became more and more complex, and as the synths grew into an almost Middle Eastern sounding frenetic epic, at the climax of which, the precussion drops out leaving the organ like sound to reach spiritual-like heights, followed by a diving back into driving percussion, I realized that this was THE track of the album, a great great composition, not just a dance tune. For other intros into Underworld try the mixing of "Rez" with "Cowgirl" on the live album "Everything/Everything"- another WOW track, and then think about repetitive not being the same as boring.

I have been listening to Underworld since 1993, and this is their finest work to date. the album opens with "Cups" a gentle song that builds into a dance track... "Push it" and "King of Snake" take the album into the heart of dance music... Karl's voice is amazing and to the average listener you might believe that it is all tricked up, but he can throw it naturally... believe it or not...

However, the most impressive feature of this album is that what you hear on the album is EXACTLY what you're gonna hear when their live... I have heard they are planning a North America tour in the near future to follow their "mini-tour" of last spring, and if your interested in attending, pick this up first... truly amazing!

This CD never fails to impress me with the breadth and depth of it's genius.

I've heard a lot of people who don't like this CD compared with the first two, 'Dubnobass...' and 'Second Toughest in the Infants'. Now, I love both of these CD's, but 'Beaucoup Fish' is to me the ultimate statement from Underworld MKII. It just seems to encapsulate quite nicely everything that makes Underworld one of the most essential, unpredictable, and unforgettable bands in any musical genre today.

If you like bands as disparate as the Chemical Brothers, Radiohead and Captain Beefheart, I can't see how this disc can fail to put a smile on your face.

At first listen I was taken aback by the cheesey synth vamp which opens Cups, but it lasts only a moment... a 'false start' if ever there was one, before the song kicks into its escalating 4/4 build. How to pick highlights in an album of highlights? There's King of Snake, Kittens, Moaner... the softer side represented by Wynjer and Skym... hell, even Bruce Lee, (which for the life of me sounds to be a satire of 'Big Beat' stuff like Fatboy Slim) still has more life than 99% of the faceless dance music clogging up the clubs today.

If you're tired of the shallow thrills of trance and two-step, give Underworld a try... truly a dance album for 'grown ups'.

This album has been deeply misunderstood...The muted production, the reptitive, cyclical nature of some of the songs and the dry delivery of the vocals might seem irritating at first, but it's all for effect. Beacoup Fish requires patience to appreciate; it's very deliberate and very calculated.

While a lot of electronica is just designed to sound pretty or be danceable, there's a core of substance in Beaucoup which becomes aparent after several listenings. These songs describe real scenes, characters and situations, even if their language is always vague, and the overall effect is cohesive. A song like 'Cups' perfectly describes the sweep and weird beauty of urban life, while the punchier 'Push Upstairs' and 'Bruce Lee' are remarkable because, for all the violence and energy implied in their lyrics, they have the same sterile sound as Cups. The album is human life seen (or heard) through a filter of sterility and detachment.

More objectively, while 'Cups,' 'Jumbo' and 'King of Snake' are great, there are some weak songs on the album, all toward the end; so, four stars.