Underworld October 17, 2007

Everyone who has lived and loved dance music in the last 15 years has had an Underworld moment. Maybe it was hearing Rez for the first time at a Boys Own party in 1993 or Two Months off on an Ibiza terrace ten years later. Here, for the sake of argument, is Underworld's Underworld moment.

At the heart of it was one song in particular, named after a greyhound, inspired by a drunken night out in Soho, originally released to minimal acclaim as a B-side, then immortalised in Danny Boyle's Trainspotting, Born Slippy became the soundtrack to the year. It also epitomised the contrasts and tensions which have always defined Underworld: between those jackhammer beats and celestial chords, between the"lager lager lager lager" and the "dirty numb angel boy", between the geezerish and the godlike.

Underworld came to life in Romford, Essex in 1989 when Rick Smith and Karl Hydewere looking for a DJ to collaborate with. They found Darren Emerson, DJ, stockexchange runner and drinking buddy of Rick's brother-in-law. Underworld were always going to be different. In an era when most dance acts had the lifespan of a mayfly and about the same charisma, Underworld had far more wide-reaching ambitions. Their inspirations included the electronic innovations of NewOrder, Kraftwerk and Brian Eno on one hand and the flexibility and improvisation of reggae sound systems and Miles Davis on the other, but not Guru Josh.

www.underworldlive.com

Official Website: http://www.roundhouse.org.uk/whats-on/productions/underworld-1300