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Born Slippy Nuxx

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"Born Slippy" redirects here. For the song by Albert Hammond Jr., see Momentary Masters.

"Born Slippy .NUXX"
Single by Underworld
from the album Trainspotting: Music from the Motion Picture
A-side"Born Slippy"
B-side
  • "Deep Pan" version
  • Darren Price remix
  • "Banstyle" (Alex Reece remix)
Released1 July 1996 (1996-07-01)
Genre
Length
  • 11:46 (original)
  • 9:44 (original segued edit)
  • 4:25 (short edit)
  • 3:45 (short edit 2)
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Rick Smith
  • Karl Hyde
  • Darren Emerson
Underworld singles chronology
"Pearl's Girl"
(1996) 		"Born Slippy .NUXX"
(1996) 		"Juanita"
(1997)
Music video
"Born Slippy .NUXX" on YouTube
Underworld singles chronology
"Dirty Epic"
(1994) 		"Born Slippy"
(1995) 		"Rowla"
(1996)

"Born Slippy .NUXX" is a song by the British electronic music group Underworld. It was first released as the B-side to another track, "Born Slippy", in May 1995. The fragmented lyrics 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 by Junior Boy's Own and reached number two on the UK Singles Chart. It has been named one of the best tracks of the 1990s by numerous publications.

Composition

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"Born Slippy .NUXX" features a "hammering" kick drum, distorted vocals, and "heavenly" synthesiser chords.[2] The song is in the key of B♭ Major, and the four-on-the-floor tempo is 140 beats per minute.[3] The vocalist, Karl Hyde, wrote the lyrics for "Born Slippy .NUXX" after a night of drinking in Soho, London. He wrote about his alcoholism and hoped to capture the way a drunk "sees the world in fragments."[4][2]

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."[4] The producer, Rick Smith, said the lyrics reflected "this energy of movement, and of time and place," likening them to an abstract painting.[5]

The lyrics have been misinterpreted as a hedonistic celebration of drinking.[2] Hyde did not intend the song to be a "drinking anthem" but rather a "cry for help," and was disturbed when audience members raised their lager cans during performances.[4]

Release

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Underworld released "Born Slippy .NUXX" in the UK on 1 May 1995 as the B-side to a different track, "Born Slippy."[6][7] On the 1995 CD versions of the track, .NUXX was segued with another B-side, "Born Slippy .TELEMATIC". "Born Slippy .NUXX" was used in the film Trainspotting, released in February 1996 in the UK.[6] The director, Danny Boyle, described it as the "heartbeat" of the film, capturing its "euphoric highs following intense lows."[6] 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.[5]

"Born Slippy .NUXX" was reissued as a single in the UK on 1 July 1996.[8] Boosted by Trainspotting,[5] it reached number two on the UK Singles Chart.[4] 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!"[5] The reissue was released in the United States in October of 1996.[9]

Reception

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Melody Maker named "Born Slippy .NUXX" the single of the year in December 1996, writing: "As a stomping club anthem, it whipped up a Shamanic, hedonistic frenzy — yet the lyrics, culminating in the "Lager, lager, lager, mega-mega-white thing" chant nailed everything about the Loaded, lads, birds 'n'booze culture of the mid-Nineties."[10] Music Week gave it five out of five in 1996, calling it "an anthem for a generation".[11] AllMusic wrote that it 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."[12] In 2017, Vice described "Born Slippy .NUXX" as one of the 90s' most iconic songs,[5] writing that it "mixed sublime synths with a four-to-the-floor freakout, and represented everything that was going on; it was new."[5]

In 2004, Mixmag readers voted "Born Slippy .NUXX" the fourth-best dance track,[13] and in 2011 Slant Magazine named it the 95th-best single of the decade.[14] In 2014, NME named it the 261st-greatest song.[15] In 2010, Pitchfork named it the 31st-best track of the 1990s;[16] in a redux of this list in 2022, they named it the 20th-best.[17] The Guardian named it the "most experimental and sonically extreme hit of the 90s", alongside the Chemical Brothers' 1996 single "Setting Sun",[1] and among "the weirdest chart hits of all time".[18] In 2024, the Guardian's chief music critic, Alexis Petridis, named "Born Slippy .NUXX" the third-best Underworld song.[2]

For the film T2 Trainspotting (2017), Smith created a new version with timestretched chords, "Slow Slippy".[5] He said in 2017, "We’ve 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."[19]

Track listing

[edit]

Durations vary across releases.

1995 UK 12-inch 1[20]
No.TitleLength
1."Born Slippy"8:57
2."Born Slippy .NUXX"11:37

Charts

[edit]

Certifications

[edit]
Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[46]
Born Slippy Nuxx 		Platinum 600,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[47] Gold 400,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

"Born Slippy .NUXX 2003"

[edit]
"Born Slippy .NUXX 2003"
Single by Underworld
Released27 October 2003 (2003-10-27)[48]
GenreDance
Length3:58
Label
Songwriter(s)
  • Rick Smith
  • Karl Hyde
Producer(s)Underworld
Underworld singles chronology
"Dinosaur Adventure 3D"
(2003) 		"Born Slippy .NUXX 2003"
(2003) 		"JAL to Tokyo"
(2005)

"Born Slippy .NUXX 2003" is a version of "Born Slippy .NUXX" re-released by Underworld to promote the album 1992–2002, 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

[edit]
UK and European CD single[49]
No.TitleLength
1."Born Slippy Nuxx (2003 Edit)"3:58
2."Born Slippy Nuxx (Atomic Hooligan Remix)"7:19
3."Born Slippy Nuxx (Paul Oakenfold Mix)"8:11


European 12-inch single[50]
No.TitleLength
1."Born Slippy Nuxx (2003 12-inch version)"7:01
2."Born Slippy Nuxx (Paul Oakenfold Mix)"8:11


US 12-inch single[51]
No.TitleLength
1."Born Slippy Nuxx (Paul Oakenfold Mix)"8:11
2."Born Slippy Nuxx (2003 12-inch version)"7:01

Charts

[edit]
Chart (2003–2004) Peak
position
Belgium (Ultratip Bubbling Under Flanders)[52] 13
Belgium Dance (Ultratop Flanders)[53] 12
Italy (FIMI)[54] 44
Scotland (OCC)[55] 24
UK Singles (OCC)[56] 27
UK Dance (OCC)[57] 1
UK Indie (OCC)[58] 4
US Dance Club Songs (Billboard)[38] 9

References

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  1. ^ a b Petridis, Alexis (14 February 2004). "The rebirth of art rock". The Guardian.
  2. ^ a b c d Petridis, Alexis (4 January 2024). "Underworld's 20 best songs – ranked!". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  3. ^ "BPM and key for Born Slippy (Nuxx) by Underworld". songBPM.com. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d Lynskey, Dorian (24 February 2006). "Born Slippy was a greyhound we bet on". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Godfrey, Alex (24 March 2017). "How 'Trainspotting' Made Underworld's "Born Slippy" One of the 90s' Most Iconic Songs". Vice. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  6. ^ a b c "From the Crate: Underworld "Born Slippy"". Insomniac. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  7. ^ "New Releases: Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 29 April 1995. p. 39. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  8. ^ "New Releases: Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 29 June 1996. p. 31. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  9. ^ Sexton, Paul (23 November 1996). "Junior Boy's Own Underworld Sent Overground with 'Slippy'". Billboard. Vol. 108, no. 47. p. 13. The relentless, hard-edged club cut, originally released here in May 1995 and in the U.S. in Oct. '96...
  10. ^ "Singles Of The Year". Melody Maker. 21 December 1996. p. 68. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
  11. ^ "Reviews: Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 22 June 1996. p. 12. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  12. ^ DiGravina, Tim, Born Slippy Nuxx 2003 - Underworld, AllMusic, retrieved 16 August 2020
  13. ^ "What is the greatest dance track of all time?". Archived from the original on 2 August 2013. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
  14. ^ "The 100 Best Singles of the 1990s". Slant Magazine. 9 January 2011. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  15. ^ "Rocklist.net....NME The 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time.. 2014". Rrocklistmusic.co.uk.
  16. ^ "The Top 200 Tracks of the 1990s: 50-21 - Pitchfork". pitchfork.com. Archived from the original on 9 May 2015. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  17. ^ "The 250 Best Songs of the 1990s". Pitchfork. 27 September 2022. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
  18. ^ Lester, Paul (11 July 2008). "What's the weirdest chart hit of all time?". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  19. ^ Dazed (31 January 2017). "How do you follow Trainspotting's iconic soundtrack?". Dazed. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  20. ^
  21. ^ "Underworld – Born Slippy". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  22. ^ "Underworld – Born Slippy" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  23. ^ "Underworld – Born Slippy" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  24. ^ "Underworld – Born Slippy" (in French). Ultratop 50.
  25. ^ "Top RPM Dance/Urban: Issue 9726." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  26. ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 13, no. 29. 20 July 1996. p. 13. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  27. ^ "Underworld: Born Slippy" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat.
  28. ^ "Underworld – Born Slippy" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  29. ^ "Íslenski Listinn Topp 40 (20.7. – 26.7. '96)". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). 20 July 1996. p. 42. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  30. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Born Slippy". Irish Singles Chart.
  31. ^ "Top National Sellers" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 13, no. 42. 19 October 1996. p. 18. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  32. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 36, 1996" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  33. ^ "Underworld – Born Slippy" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  34. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  35. ^ "Underworld – Born Slippy". Singles Top 100.
  36. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  37. ^ "Official Dance Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company.
  38. ^ a b "Underworld Chart History (Dance Club Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  39. ^ "Underworld Chart History (Japan Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  40. ^ "Jaaroverzichten 1996" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
  41. ^ "Rapports annuels 1996" (in French). Ultratop. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
  42. ^ "Music & Media 1996 in Review – Year End Sales Charts" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 13, no. 51/52. 21 December 1996. p. 12. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  43. ^ "Top 100 Singles–Jahrescharts 1996" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
  44. ^ "Árslistinn 1996". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). 2 January 1997. p. 25. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  45. ^ "Top 100 Singles 1996". Music Week. 18 January 1997. p. 25.
  46. ^ "British single certifications – Underworld – Born Slippy". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
  47. ^ "British single certifications – Underworld – Born Slippy". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  48. ^ "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. 25 October 2003. p. 33.
  49. ^ Born Slippy Nuxx (UK & European CD single liner notes). Junior Boy's Own, V2 Records. 2003. JBO5024703.
  50. ^ Born Slippy Nuxx (European 12-inch single sleeve). Junior Boy's Own, V2 Records. 2003. JBO5024706.
  51. ^ Born Slippy Nuxx (US 12-inch single sleeve). Junior Boy's Own, V2 Records. 2003. 63881-27802-1.
  52. ^ "Underworld – Born Slippy Nuxx %5B2003%5D" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  53. ^ "Underworld – Born Slippy Nuxx %5B2003%5D" (in Dutch). Ultratop Dance. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  54. ^ "Underworld – Born Slippy Nuxx %5B2003%5D". Top Digital Download. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  55. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  56. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  57. ^ "Official Dance Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  58. ^ "Official Independent Singles Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
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