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Underworld announced as Music Directors @ London 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremonies

This just in...



The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) today announced that British electronic music pioneers Underworld have been appointed Music Directors for the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games. The appointment completes the team of senior creatives that will lead the direction of the London 2012 Ceremonies.

Underworld duo Rick Smith and Karl Hyde will work alongside Oscar winning British filmmaker and producer Danny Boyle, Artistic Director of the Opening Ceremony and will be responsible for all the music in the three-hour ceremony taking place on 27 July next summer.

Underworld and Danny Boyle have enjoyed a long and diverse collaboration since Underworld�s track �Born Slippy� featured in Boyle�s film �Trainspotting�. Over the following fifteen years the three developed a close relationship, with Smith and Hyde supplying specially created music for �A Life Less Ordinary�, �The Beach� and co-scoring the 2007 sci-fi film �Sunshine�. In 2010 they came together again to work on the critically acclaimed National Theatre production of �Frankenstein�.

Danny Boyle said: �Appointing Underworld to direct the music in the Olympic Opening Ceremony is the final piece of the jigsaw for the team of leading British creatives who will deliver the ceremonies.

�What�s interesting about working with them is how much broader their taste is than you might imagine. With �Frankenstein� we really saw how far we could take a broader approach than we'd used together on the films.�

Rick Smith said: �The �Frankenstein� project at the National Theatre was our opportunity to test ourselves as writers and music directors in a completely new environment - Danny asked us to take responsibility for every aspect of the sound and music and encouraged us to draw on a wide musical palette. It was a challenging piece of work with its roots in classic literature, that turned out to be the most fun I've ever had.�

Karl Hyde said: �We want to leave people with a musical memory of the show rather than a purely visual one. It's a great honour to be asked to do this and one we�re taking very seriously � it�s certainly not something we'll get the chance to do again.�

LOCOG has put in place a talented team of leading British creatives to lead the direction of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic ceremonies.

In May 2010 Stephen Daldry, Mark Fisher, Hamish Hamilton, and Catherine Ugwu, were appointed as Executive Producers across all four Ceremonies, and Danny Boyle, was appointed as Artistic Director for the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony.

In February 2011 Take That�s creative director Kim Gavin was appointed Artistic Director for the Closing Ceremonies of both the Olympic and Paralympic Games. He was joined by multi-award-winning stage and costume designer Es Devlin and Bond film composer and record producer David Arnold as part of the Closing Ceremonies team.

In June 2011 Jenny Sealey MBE and Bradley Hemmings were appointed as Artistic Directors of the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

Working with Danny Boyle? Ugh. Considering the creative directions all three of them have gone in the last few years, this is bound to become a humongous landslide of overwrought musical grandeur.

Well, it's an Olympic opening ceremony. Overwrought grandeur is pretty much the gameplan. It's always going to be a little crass and unsubtle, but I think this showcases the UK's cultural currency - we may not be some ridiculous superpower waving our bombastic penis around like China did with their ceremony (or their entire games) but we still produce creative talent and cultural output that is respected all over the world.

please play dark & long please play dark & long please play dark & long

Born Slippy - the 100m on ice.
2 months off - how close the commonwealth games got before India began building stadia


I see where this is going.

I hope for Juanita, Rez, Cow Girl and Pearl's Girl instead of Born Slippy. Wishful thinking..?
Anyways, I'm looking forward to it, Underworld is a good choice for this.

quote:

Originally posted by SYSTEM-J Well, it's an Olympic opening ceremony. Overwrought grandeur is pretty much the gameplan. It's always going to be a little crass and unsubtle, but I think this showcases the UK's cultural currency - we may not be some ridiculous superpower waving our bombastic penis around like China did with their ceremony (or their entire games) but we still produce creative talent and cultural output that is respected all over the world.

Very true, of course. An olympic opening ceremony is probably the last place you'd ever want to show any restraint, considering that you're trying to reach billions, including people seated all the way up in the upper decks. Still, a mixture of that recent High Contrast and Tiesto collab and the endings to 128 Hours and Slumdog Millionaire will promptly have me reaching for the remote control.

They should do a three-hour Freur reunion just to fuck with everybody.

Re: Underworld announced as Music Directors @ London 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremonies

quote:

Originally posted by Swamper The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) today announced that British electronic music pioneers Underworld have been appointed Music Directors for the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Can't wait to see it. I wonder if they will do their thing or make it more appealing generally.

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