Home | Songs By Year | Songs from 1996


Born Slippy Nuxx

Buy Born Slippy Nuxx now from Amazon

First, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the song. And once you've experienced the song, tell everyone what you thought about it.

Wikipedia article




"'Born Slippy .NUXX'" is a song by British electronic music group Underworld. It was first released as the B-side to an unrelated track, "'Born Slippy'", in May 1995. The fragmented lyrics, by vocalist Karl Hyde, describe the perspective of an alcoholic.

After it was used in the 1996 film 'Trainspotting', "Born Slippy .NUXX" was issued as a single on 1 July 1996 and reached number two on the UK Singles Chart. It has been named one of the best tracks of the 1990s by numerous publications.

Writing



Vocalist Karl Hyde wrote the lyrics for "Born Slippy .NUXX" after a night drinking in Soho, London, hoping to capture the way a drunk "sees the world in fragments". The vocals were recorded in one take; when Hyde lost his place, he would sing the same line repeatedly, creating the line "lager, lager, lager, lager". Hyde, who was struggling with alcoholism, said he did not intend the song to be a "drinking anthem" but rather a "cry for help". He was disturbed when audience members raised their lager cans during performances. Underworld producer Rick Smith said the lyrics reflected "this energy of movement, and of time and place", like an abstract painting.

Release



Underworld released "Born Slippy .NUXX" as the B-side to an unrelated track, "Born Slippy", on 1 May 1995. It does not feature on an Underworld album, but it was included as a bonus track on reissues of 'Second Toughest in the Infants' (1996). In the United States, the song was released in October 1996.

The song became a hit after it was used in the 1996 film 'Trainspotting'. Director Danny Boyle described it as the "heartbeat" of the film, capturing its "euphoric highs following intense lows". Underworld initially refused permission to use it in the film, as they disliked how their music was often used in negative portrayals of clubbing, but Boyle persuaded them after showing them a clip.

"Born Slippy .NUXX" was re-issued as a single in the United Kingdom on 1 July 1996. Boosted by 'Trainspotting', it reached number two on the UK Singles Chart. Smith was shocked when BBC Radio 1 played the track on breakfast radio, and said: "I thought, music is moving, culture is moving, it's spreading. It's meaning things outside of just the context of on an amazing sound system in a club or on a PA system in a student hall. It was very nice!"

Critical reception



British magazine 'Music Week' rated the song five out of five in 1996, describing it as "an anthem for a generation". On the 1995 release, Brad Beatnik from the magazine's 'RM' Dance Update wrote, "Messrs Emerson, Hyde and Smith bung a few breakbeats on board for a dazzling ride through rich, colourful techno terrains. For the first minute, you might think the boys have gone all jungle on us but no those lush synths cruise in to perfectly balance the thwacking beats."

Impact and legacy



AllMusic wrote that "Born Slippy .NUXX" was "simply one of the best slices of electronica one will find. Musically austere in its emotional textures, the song becomes a nearly unstoppable force ... Dance music is rarely so artistic and enjoyable in the same instance." 'Vice' described "Born Slippy .NUXX" as one of the 90s' most iconic songs, writing that it "mixed sublime synths with a four-to-the-floor freakout, and represented everything that was going on; it was 'new.'"

In 2004, 'Mixmag' readers voted it the fourth-best dance track, and in 2011 'Slant Magazine' named it the 95th best single of the decade. In 2014, 'NME' named it the 261st greatest song of all time. 'Pitchfork' named it the 31st best track of the 1990s. 'The Guardian' named it the "most experimental and sonically extreme hit of the 90s", alongside the Chemical Brothers' 1996 single "Setting Sun", and among "the weirdest chart hits of all time".

For the film 'T2 Trainspotting' (2017), Smith created a new version with timestretched chords, "Slow Slippy". He said in 2017, "Weve been playing 'Born Slippy' live for 20 years, and the reaction from the audience is so strong it's almost overwhelming. It's never got tiring to perform or play. It's what it triggers in people."

Track listings



1995



'UK CD single'

# "Born Slippy"

# "Born Slippy .NUXX"

# "Born Slippy .TELEMATIC"

'UK 12-inch 1'

# "Born Slippy"

# "Born Slippy .NUXX"

'UK 12-inch 2'

# "Born Slippy .TELEMATIC"

# "Cowgirl" (Winjer Mix)

1996



'UK CD1'

# "Born Slippy .NUXX"

# "Born Slippy .NUXX" (Deep Pan)

# "Born Slippy .NUXX" (Darren Price Mix)

# "Born Slippy .NUXX" (Darren Price Remix)

'UK CD2'

# "Born Slippy .NUXX" (short)

# "Dark + Long" (Dark Train)

# "Banstyle" (Alex Reece Mix)

'UK and US 12-inch single'

:A1. "Born Slippy .NUXX"

:B1. "Born Slippy .NUXX" (Darren Price Remix)

:B2. "Banstyle" (Alex Reece Remix)

'Australian CD single'

# "Born Slippy .NUXX" (short)

# "Born Slippy .NUXX" (Darren Price Mix)

# "Born Slippy .NUXX" (Darren Price Remix)

# "Born Slippy .NUXX" (Deep Pan)

# "Banstyle" (Alex Reece Mix)

Charts and certifications



Weekly charts



Year-end charts



Certifications



"Born Slippy .NUXX 2003"



"'Born Slippy .NUXX 2003'" is a version of "Born Slippy .NUXX" re-released by Underworld to promote the album '19922002', originally released in 2003. New remixes were commissioned for this release, along with a new video, compiled by Danny Boyle of clips from his film 'Trainspotting'. This release reached No. 1 on the UK Dance Singles Chart during the first week of November 2003.

Track listings

'UK and European CD single'

# "Born Slippy Nuxx" (2003 edit) 3:58

# "Born Slippy Nuxx" (Atomic Hooligan Remix) 7:19

# "Born Slippy Nuxx" (Paul Oakenfold Mix) 8:11

'European 12-inch single'

:A. "Born Slippy Nuxx" (2003 12-inch version) 7:01

:B. "Born Slippy Nuxx" (Paul Oakenfold Mix) 8:11

* The US 12-inch single switches the two sides.

Charts



References



Category:1996 singles

Category:1996 songs

Category:1999 singles

Category:2003 singles

Category:Dance Pool singles

Category:Logic Records singles

Category:Number-one singles in Italy

Category:Songs written by Darren Emerson

Category:Songs written by Karl Hyde

Category:Songs written by Rick Smith (musician)

Category:TVT Records singles

Category:Underworld (band) songs

Category:V2 Records singles

Category:Wax Trax! Records singles

Buy Born Slippy Nuxx now from Amazon

<-- Return to songs from 1996



This work is released under CC-BY-SA. Some or all of this content attributed to http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1099009981.