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APHEX TWIN VS UNDERWORLD LIVE
 

PostModernVancouver from gorgeous Vancouver, Canada on 2001-10-11 13:17 [#00040220]



Heres a really rare review for you all
NME October 12-1996

AMOUR THE MERRIER

UNDERWORLD/APHEX TWIN At Big Love.

Otmoor Park, Oxforshire

"We should have been here months ago when the summer was
just a wee baby, not brave-gale force winds and downpour as
we struggle from tent to tent.
Not that anyone's been put off as the, er, 'field-full'
signs are out, and everyone of the Love's sizeable tents are
full.
No sell out , no chill-out seems to be the message and
there's no let-up to the intensity anywhere.

Something that APHEX TWIN, who's slogged around more then
his fair share of equally 'mental' affairs in tents before
he threw in the live towel three years ago, can appreciate.
So we get just a precious few moments of warning-a huge,
timestretched voice breathing "A....Phex"from the bowels of
hell-and then its headling into the inferno, jungle drums
scrapping with digital torture and unnervingly bittersweet
melodies.

Chaos ensues for a matter of minutes until he finally
appears on the huge video screens behind the stage, lying
flat and prostrate, fiddling with a miniscule smattering of
metal boxes.
People start pushing to the front to catch a glimpse while
the music-so new, naturally, that it's not even on his next
LP.. 'Richard D.James', continues to torch all that's come
before it in terms of ingenuity and downright head-singeing
punk power, even if we're still doubting he'll be able to
pull off such a resolutely unvisual feast.

But something happens by the time he reaches "Laughable
Butane Bulb' , and it's a gobsmacker of immense
proportions.
Three female body builders wearing miniscule bikinis and
Cheshire cat grins enter to huge roars and begin flexing
their muscles while Aphex continues, apparently oblivious.
It's a freakshow for sure, but it's a thoroughly fitting
accompaniment to the develish majik belching out of the
speakers.

It's a divisive, disturbing and thoroughly punk rock display
that UNDERWORLD , for all their Zeitgeist-catching
lager-than-lifery, could never hope to match.
From the moment go they're treated like conquering heroes
and, by cleverly dropping a euphoric snatch of 'Born Slippy'
into their opening montage of fierce techno thuggery,
tighten their grip on any stragglers too.

On paper, Underworld have a lot going for them-they're
strikingly unpretentious, they deliver exactly what's
required of them ( ridiculous metallic banging without
respite)-and yet in the flesh, with every last metal-bashing
second of their hour-plus set arriving so predictably you
could set Big Ben by it, they're about as appealing as a
naked mud wrestling session with Norman Lemont.

Like Oasis, they're a reliable rallying point while all
around them head for more challenging , futuristic waters.
So gather round, enjoy the thrill of sticking you arms in
the air at precisely the same time as 8000 other people and
yelling "Lager, lager, lager", despite the fact you havent
had a drop all night, and feel reassured.
Dont feel worried that, give or take a few words and clangs
here and there, there's nothing much between 'Dark and
Long','Born Slippy', all of 'Second Toughest In The Enfants'
and indeed anything they play tonight."





 


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