ALBUM REVIEW: Underworld ‘dubnobasswithmyheadman’ (Super Deluxe Box Set)

When dubnobasswithmyheadman arrived in 1994, it redefined the concept of dance/rock fusion by sounding like the future had arrived in the present. Like New Order in the previous decade, Underworld showed indie rock bands how to make electronic music with guitars. Melody Maker hailed the album as “the most important album since The Stone Roses and the best since Screamadelica… a breathtaking hybrid that marks the moment that club culture finally comes of age and beckons to everyone”. This wasn’t hyperbole; dubnobass is a beast of a record, an accomplished fusion of different genres that sounds unlike anything else, and yet remains as accessible as any great pop album. (For a full appreciation see our For The Record piece.)

To celebrate the album’s 20th anniversary, Underworld have raided their hard drives and extracted some previously unreleased material and rare alternate mixes, all of which are included in this super deluxe boxset. At £50 it’s not cheap, but in addition to a newly remastered version of the album you also get the obligatory b-sides and remixes, plus a nice book (the PR company were too stingy to give us an actual boxset, so you’ll have to take our word that the book is nice).

What we can vouch for is the quality of the bonus material. As well as classics such as ‘Rez’, ‘Spikee’ and ‘Dogman Go Woof’, there’s also a range of demos and remixes, including the ‘Dark Train’ mix of ‘Dark & Long’ that you may remember form a well-known Scottish indie film. Best of the previously unreleased stuff is ‘Birdstar’, a demo from the dubnobass period: listen carefully and you can hear elements which were subsequently used in other Underworld songs, as well in a number of classic Underworld remixes, including Bjork’s ‘Human Behaviour’ and ‘Black Sky’ by Shakespears Sister. For the Underworld obsessive, this is an essential purchase.

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Paul Sng

@sng_paul

Paul Sng

Paul Sng

Editor-at-large, Brighton. Likes: Lee Hazlewood, Lee Hazlewood songs and Lee Hazlewood's moustache Dislikes: Celery, crap nostalgia and people who raise their voice when speaking as if they're asking a question?