Underworld – Born Slippy

I've already left a comment about a release of .NUXX, but I do just want to mention how astounding this track is, since it's my favourite dance tune, ever.

What makes this track so genius is how little it has and how much it does with it. Most tracks you'll hear will require massive breakdowns or some kind of build to get everyone moving, and this doesn't have that. All it has is a driving kick drum and some sick-ass percussion, with some synths on the side.

And yet, it's crafted so perfectly that just from the drums alone, even without Hyde, this song gets everyone moving. So many years on, I still cannot place what makes this track work. It's a kick drum and percussion. If it were any other song by any other artist, I'd be sat down waiting for the song to get going. But here, this song, in its nearly 12 minute entirety, has me up and moving the whole way through. How, using such little instrumentation, these guys were able to do that, is beyond me. And as a drummer myself, I have mad respect for them for taking my home instrument and creating art like this.

No wonder Underworld's my favourite dance act.

Everyone loves Born Slippy .NUXX, but it's available lots of places. The real gem here is the Alex Reece remix of Banstyle. Great late 90's intelligent D&B remix. Never fails to take me back. For me, it's the sound of Tokyo on a warm Sunday afternoon in the late 90s. A good place to be.

Possibly one of the best songs ever made yeah yeah

To appreciate this tune at it's most potent, you have to see it work its wonder to that special moment in Trainspotting where Renton finally makes his decision to steal the drugs money and run. It captures the moment beautifully and will send shivers down your spine - guaranteed. It is a moment where the 2 worlds of film and music complement each other so well.

Of course, it sounds amazing in the middle of a dancefloor just about anywhere.

For me, it really is all about those chords in that breakdown and those lyrics which don't make a lot of sense but you sub-consciously sing along to them. That breakdown does things that many techno records cannot - unite people in a special way that only makes sense in a sweaty nightclub at 0100hrs on a Saturday night/Sunday morning.

This is an amazing record and it undoubtedly a modern classic that will be around for a very long time to come. I can only imagine what Underworlds response was in the studio when they put this together. Respect to this record.

There have never been that many anthems in dance music in the same way that rock music has enjoyed. Tracks rarely unite any dancefloor and have people punching the air, and those that do are usually forgotten all too quickly. This might have something to do with dance music being so fragmented and the fact that vocals and any form of house music rarely make good bed fellows. Thankfully 'Born Slippy' fills this gap very nicely and in some ways has become dance music’s very own 'Sweet Child O' Mine' or even 'Living On A Prayer'. Anybody who has witnessed 'Born Slippy' on a variety of dancefloors from legendary techno clubs such as Universes Voyager club night back in 1996 through to student discos that you might not it to having gone to, will testify to this.

Those who are tired of the beer boys chanting along to the lyrics can mix the track in after the vocals and still have a few minutes of excellent Carl Cox type funky techno beats to play with.

There was a HUGE fuss about this record after it appeared over the 'Renton steals the money and does a runner' final sequence from the film 'Trainspotting' with its pounding beat, twisted yet uplifting chords and its bizarrely infectious lyrics.
Initially Underworld resisted from re-releasing it, but it was too much of a buzz and Radio 1 Essential Selection host Pete Tong vowed to play it on his show every week until it was released.
Eventually Underworld and JBO relented, and a Top 3 chart placing and people in cheesy clubs up and down the land where chanting 'Lager Lager Lager!'