Underworld

Unless you're a real fan of the band and know every single one of their versions inside and out, it's hard to appreciate the live recording of an electronic music act. You can't help wondering how much of it is pre-programmed or exactly what parts of the mix involve some kind of improv. Either way, such concerns are quickly put to rest with Everything Everything. Recorded throughout the course of Underworld's most recent and final tour as a trio, it's an energetic set of the band's biggest tracks arranged with an intuitive sense of when and how to rock the crowd. The disc begins with the progressive/ trance-y drive of "Juanita," "Cups" and "Push Upstairs." Listening to the build-up of synth-blasts heard most prominently in the middle piece, along with the drop of Giorgio Moroder-ish Moog grinds on "Shudder/King of Snake," it's not hard to see why the crowd is feeling so euphoric. Vocalist Karl Hyde similarly adds to the band's dramatic power, as he rolls through the lyrics and works them up to get the dance floor sweating but never with the bombastic shout-outs of the Prodigy, let alone the "thank yous" that most rock stars often use to authenticate a concert recording. "Born Slippy" should be the one to generate the biggest response, given its popularity via Trainspotting, but the band's insistence on keeping the energy hyped makes it just another, albeit thrilling, part of the show.