Skip to main content

Chemical Brothers

51
Chemical Brothers

Chemical Brothers

Manchester, U.K. duo Tom Rowlands and Ed Simmons have put the arena-rock bombast in Britain’s rave scene since ’95 thanks to their ability to blend power-chord guitars with old-school house, hip-hop breakbeats and soul dusties. Little wonder that the Chemical Brothers translate to mainstream audiences all over the world. Longevity and legacy alone prove that Chemical Brothers are one of the greatest electronica acts of all time. It starts with their Virgin Records released debut album 1995’s Exit Planet Dust. If there was a snap-shot of EDM in the mid 90’s, this would be a good document. Their second album, 1997’s Dig Your Own Soul, refines the Big Beat formula and takes it to the next generation: a mix of vocals, walloping drum beats, and disco psychedelia that crush barriers between genres. “Block Rockin’ Beats” sets the tone, driving Nine Inch Nails-sized beats through a Schooly D hip-hop sample, while “Setting Sun” channels the Beatles’ “Tomorrow Never Knows” with the help of Oasis’ own Noel Gallagher, the Brothers prove that it can go up to eleven. 1999’s Surrender gave more of a nod to their influences: Kraftwerk on “Music: Response,” Revolver-era Beatles on “Let Forever Be” and New Order on “Out of Conrol.” 2002’s Come to Us was a return to form, but only the tripped-out, near beatless atmospherics of “Hoops” was anything innovative of note. 2005 gave us Push the Button, which saw one of their biggest hits “Galvanize”  which saw them collaborate with Q-tip, something that would be a reoccurring theme. 2007 gave us We Are the Night, their sixth studio album. The album would win the Grammy Award for Best Electronic/Dance Album at the 50th Grammy Awards. There have been some solid compilations: 2003’s Singles: 93-03, 2007’s B-Sides- Vol. 1, and 2008’s Brotherhood; as well as a solid soundtrack effort with the band scoring and releasing 2011’s Hanna – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. 2010 gave us Further, which was their first album to not feature any guest vocalists. Which gets us to when I jumped on board, 2012’s live album/DVD feature Don’t Think. I had never seen or heard anything like it. It truly blew me away. I’ve been a huge fan ever since, and since then we have gotten two solid studio efforts: 2015’s Born in the Echoes (which saw them collaborate with Q-tip once more on a personal favorite of mine, “Go”) and their most recent 2019’s ninth-album No Geography. This band can blend psychedelic sensory overload with riotous club bangers. This band is not afraid to shape-shift, and in the electronic world where so many seem to play it safe, I admire that about them. There is no one quite other…
Chemical Brothers

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cake

43 Cake Cake What you need is some CAKE. The late 90's were primed for CAKE. When the emotional hangover of the grunge scene was too much, we got CAKE. This isn't a gag joke. In fact- your gag reflexes are in need of some CAKE.  Despite CAKE's quirky surface, singer John McCrea's deadpan delivery and Vince Di Fiore's mariachi trumpet playing, CAKE is as real as it gets. And with more than 25 years as a band and still going strong, they have nothing left to prove. It all started with 1994's Motorcade for Generosity with the single " Rock 'n' Roll Lifestyle " which mocked trust-fund rebels. Then came 1996's Fashion Nugget with the all-time classic " The Distance ." 1998 gave us Prolonging the Magic, a high-water mark. I got on board in 2001 with Comfort Eagle . I was big on disco at the time and their cover of " I Will Survive " caught my attention, and then I saw the " Short Skirt, Long Jacket " video o...
Post a Comment
Read more

Grouper

 131 Grouper  Grouper Reverb. Echo. Effects. Acoustic. Droney. These are some words you could use to explain Grouper's earlier work. Grouper is the solo project of Liz Harris. Her first album was self-titled & self-released. Grouper's second album was 2006's Way Their Crept . There was something special about that mid-ought's droney-underwater sounding indie. Grouper would go on to release five (!) more albums before I came on board as a fan: 2006's Wide , 2007's Cover The Windows & The Walls , 2008's widely acclaimed Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill & 2011's double-album (but separately released) AIA: Dream Loss & AIA: Alien Observer ... just to be followed up by 2012's double album: Violent Replacement Part I and Violent Replacement Part II . It wasn't until Grouper's more structured-releases that I became a full fledged fan. It was with 2013's The Man Who Died In His Boat that I finally jumped on board as a full-fled...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Band

19 The Band The Band First known as the Hawks, the Band got their initial fame as Bob Dylan’s backing band. Remember when Bob Dylan sold out and went electric, angering fans so much that they called him “ Judas ”? Well, you can thank all of that to the Band. For a band that sounds so fucking American (seriously- no band has done the whole Americana roots music better than the Band) it’s pretty funny most of them were Canadian. After finally branching out on their own in 1968, the Band would release some of the best music ever recorded… and if you thought the Beatles had a hell of a run- check out the Band’s discography: 1968’s Music From Big Pink , 1969’s self-titled The Band , 1970’s Stage Fright , 1971’s Cahoots , 1972’s live-album Rock of Ages , 1973’s Moondog Matinee , 1975’s Northern Lights -Southern Cross , and 1977’s Islands. Lynard Skynard may have taken the crown for greatest southern rock band, but for a band full of Canadians and Americans, the Band really embraces a...
Post a Comment
Read more