Bleep

Having shifted the tides of UK rave culture several times over by Y2K, it seemed perfectly appropriate for Underworld to have earned a little paid time off. By then paired back down to the original duo of Karl Hyde and Rick Smith, 2002’s A Hundred Days Off does carry the subtle air of being on the dole, or at least off the coast of a remote island somewhere. Indeed there’s something distinctly tropical about this record’s headier first half, all shakers and maracas on top of those pulsing kicks and electric piano runs. However, the back half drops you right back to the warehouse, especially those air raid siren synth stabs on the hardcore-flavoured ‘Dinosaur Adventure 3D’. All in a day’s work for Underworld in their imperial phase.