British techno band Underworld was one of the most prominent electronic music outfits to rise out of the “Electronica” craze of the late 1990s. They had been popular in the UK for much of the 90s, but broke later in US markets.

The group originally consisted of Karl Hyde and Rick Smith, who recorded new wave songs in the early 80s under the band name Freur, releasing two albums to limited success. They split in 1983, with Karl Hyde working on guitar sessions for Debbie Harry and Prince. Hey reunited in 1988, forming the band Underworld for the first time. They released their first album “Underneath The Radar” on Sire Records, and in 1989 had another release entitled “Change the Weather”. Neither met with much success, but the seeds of what they would become were sown: Karl provided catchy and interesting guitar work over electronic backing programmed by Rick. This first incarnation of Underworld toured with Eurhythmics in 1989.

Here is the title track from Underneath the Radar. If you are an Underworld fan, you will probably notice some similar sounds to some of their early techno work, as well as Karl’s unique voice.

In 1992 Karl and Rick joined forces with fellow Brit and DJ Darren Emerson, and renamed the band Lemon Interrupt. They released their first set of singles that year, Dirty, Minneapolis, Bigmouth, and Eclipse, all released on Junior Boys Own (JBO) records. They reverted to the Underworld name in 1993, and subsequently released the songs that would first gain them significant notoriety in the dance music scene: Rez and Mmm… Skyscraper I Love You. It was certainly good timing on their part, as electronic music had already gained a strong following in the UK thanks to the advent of the British rave scene, which was at that time just starting to emerge in the United States. Those singles and others were compiled into their first full techno album, Dubnobasswithmyheadman, which made it on to the UK pop charts. Having come from a more traditional band background, the group was unafraid of performing their music live, something that was difficult for many electronic musicians of the time. They also did their own graphic design work under the alias Tomato, creating film, commercials, and ads for clients like Nike, Sony, Adidas, and Pepsi. 1994 saw Underworld touring with System 7 and Orbital on the Midi Circus tour, highlighting the live capabilities of electronic dance music. In 1995 they released a single entitled Born Slippy that would be their rocketship to fame – it was featured prominently in the Scottish drug epic film Trainspotting, a film whose notoriety and controversy would garner a worldwide audience for Underworld’s music. They released their second full-length techno album in 1996, entitled Second Toughest In The Infants, again to much success, as well as critical praise. Underworld also began doing remix work for groups like Depeche Mode, Bjork, Simply Red, Leftfield, and Orbital. After Trainspotting became an international success, Born Slippy was re-released in the UK, debuting at #2 in the charts.

In 1999 Underworld released their third techno album, Beaucoup Fish. The album was not as well received as the previous two, in no small part due to the fall of the Electronica craze in the American music pop scene. Underworld toured extensively after its release, and put together a DVD and live album, both entitled Everything Everything, during that tour. The album served both as a ‘best of’ as well as a prototype for digital recording of concerts, with great success. The DVD certainly stands in my mind as one of the best recordings of live concert footage, which is cleverly intermixed with film art done by Underworld’s Tomato graphic design project.

In 2002 Darren Emerson left the group to focus on his DJing career, leaving Karl Hyde and Rick Smith a duo again, for the first time since 1989. They recorded a fourth techno album as Underworld in 2002, entitled AHundredDaysOff. It met with moderate acclaim, and certainly follows an evolutionary progression from where Beaucoup Fish left off, pursuing more  variety in musical styles and soundscapes.

Underworld have long been proponents of the internet, releasing a great deal of live recorded material in mp3 format for fans to download free of charge. They have maintained updated online journals through much of the last 5 years, and regularly appear on radio shows in the UK and online, including the infamous John Peel Sessions.

Tracks played:

Cups from Everything Everything
TwoMonthsOff from the album AHundredDaysOff
Born Slippy/NUXX, from the soundtrack to Trainspotting