Five years on from the surprisingly great Further, am I wrong to be excited for this, or does the tracklisting kind of make it look like a return to the "going for hit singles" approach that nerfed We Are the Night?
1 Sometimes I Feel So Deserted2 Go feat. Q-Tip3 Under Neon Lights feat. St. Vincent4 EML Ritual feat. Ali Love5 I’ll See You There6 Just Bang7 Reflexion8 Taste of Honey9 Born in the Echoes feat. Cate Le Bon10 Radiate11 Wide Open feat. Beck
― frogbs, Monday, 8 June 2015 19:41 (eight years ago) link
good lord it's been 20 years since Exit Planet Dust
― octobeard, Monday, 8 June 2015 19:47 (eight years ago) link
My first thought is it's kinda funny they have Beck on their record since they were originally called the Dust Brothers, until the Dust Brothers got them to change their name to the Chemical Brothers.
My second thought is I'd really like a new Dust Brothers album.
― Marc Weidenbaum (disquiet), Monday, 8 June 2015 20:08 (eight years ago) link
feat St. Vincent oh word??????
― DJP, Monday, 8 June 2015 20:58 (eight years ago) link
I think "Sometimes I Feel So Deserted" is great but I also enjoyed We Are The Night a lot
― DJP, Monday, 8 June 2015 20:59 (eight years ago) link
Will be listening to this one. Beck collab just might be ok. Maybe.
― calstars, Monday, 8 June 2015 23:44 (eight years ago) link
The Q-Tip song is a disappointment but I suspect we knew that.
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 9 June 2015 00:27 (eight years ago) link
Was excited to read about the Cate Le Bon feature, she's exactly who I'd hope guys who worked with Beth Orton in the 90s would be looping in many years later.
― geoffreyess, Tuesday, 9 June 2015 02:01 (eight years ago) link
so the last one was supposed to be actually really good, or something? i only heard "escape velocity", which was pretty awesome. i stopped paying attention after "come with us". do i need to get on the last three albums?
― the late great, Wednesday, 15 July 2015 05:06 (eight years ago) link
You don't need to, but yeah...the most recent one before this one, Further, was actually quite nice.
― Johnny Fever, Wednesday, 15 July 2015 05:08 (eight years ago) link
Just as long as there's nothing as bad as The Salmon Dance on the new one
― as verbose and purple as a Peter Ustinov made of plums (James Morrison), Wednesday, 15 July 2015 06:20 (eight years ago) link
Further was pretty great because they ditched all the guest vocalists and awkward tangents into rap and folk music and just concentrated on doing something with the momentum and flow of their live set. This one on paper looks like a regression to those clunky mid-00s albums they put out, although I do like the song with Q-Tip.
― Matt DC, Wednesday, 15 July 2015 09:30 (eight years ago) link
Push The Button and We Are The Night are both eminently skippable, and 'Galvanize' has to be the single dorkiest major record of the 00s.
― Matt DC, Wednesday, 15 July 2015 09:37 (eight years ago) link
I think Further is probably their best album, not only does it bang hard like all CB albums to but it pays homage to stuff like Klaus Schulze, Neu!, and early Orbital, plus it's nice to see them for once make an album without being concerned with singles.
That said if this is roughly on the level of Push the Button that ain't too bad
― frogbs, Wednesday, 15 July 2015 13:13 (eight years ago) link
I'm rediscovering old Chemical Brothers albums cos they keep turning up cheap at petrol stations! First 3 are great. "Come with us" is patchy but when its good its amazing. I think "push the button" is where I walked off the bus though I do like "Galvinise". I'll check the last one and this new one though. They certainly benefit from less guest stars on their albums.
― tayto fan (Michael B), Wednesday, 15 July 2015 13:20 (eight years ago) link
This is probably my favorite of theirs since Come With Us tbh.
― Norse Jung (Eric H.), Wednesday, 15 July 2015 13:35 (eight years ago) link
I should give Surrender another chance; I love "Hey Boy Hey Girl" and "Out of Control" but remember really HATING the rest of the album.
― I Am Curious (Dolezal) (DJP), Wednesday, 15 July 2015 13:40 (eight years ago) link
The Sunshine Underground is, like, their best song
― The Bends by Radiohead (imago), Wednesday, 15 July 2015 13:45 (eight years ago) link
We Are The Night is worth saving for the title-track and the monstrous banging 1-2 of 'burst generator' -> 'a modern midnight conversation'
― The Bends by Radiohead (imago), Wednesday, 15 July 2015 13:46 (eight years ago) link
I'm pretty favourably disposed to them at the moment after seeing them absolutely slay it at Glastonbury. They also played The Sunshine Underground and it was sort of perfect.
― Matt DC, Wednesday, 15 July 2015 13:51 (eight years ago) link
"Under the influence" is v good from Surrender too.
― Keith Moom (Neil S), Wednesday, 15 July 2015 13:52 (eight years ago) link
xpost "got glint" is good off Surrender too
Best Chem Bros tracks
1. Chemical Beats2. Star Guitar3. It Doesn't Matter4. Hey Boy Hey Girl5. Where Do I Begin?
"The Sunshine Underground" is decent but they dont really do it for me in full-on psych mode
― tayto fan (Michael B), Wednesday, 15 July 2015 13:56 (eight years ago) link
Exactly, I like "Saturate" too, problem is that the guest spots are all pretty bad. Maybe I should give it another shot.
Surrender is worth another listen just because of how psychedelic the whole thing is, for an electronic album that is. At the time I remember it being a big deal that they were turning their backs on a genre they were instrumental in creating, though in hindsight abandoning Big Beat was the right move. Though TBH they went a bit too far in the opposite direction. The material on Come With Us is a little weaker I'd say but they definitely brought the bangers back. Come to think of it those first two albums and their DJ set still sound pretty damn good too, considering how late 90's it all is. I've been on a CB kick lately.
― frogbs, Wednesday, 15 July 2015 13:58 (eight years ago) link
'Galvanize' has to be the single dorkiest major record of the 00s.
Nope.
― Johnny Fever, Wednesday, 15 July 2015 13:59 (eight years ago) link
It's a particularly European kind of feebleness that I will concede.
― Matt DC, Wednesday, 15 July 2015 14:02 (eight years ago) link
their DJ set still sound pretty damn good too
Are you referring to "Brothers Gonna Work It Out"? Yeah, its terrific. Not a bigbeat fest either, very acid-y and squelshy at times
― tayto fan (Michael B), Wednesday, 15 July 2015 14:10 (eight years ago) link
A really solid list. I'd swap the last for "Life is Sweet" or "Loops of Fury" or "Elektrobank" maybe.
― Norse Jung (Eric H.), Wednesday, 15 July 2015 14:17 (eight years ago) link
yeah that is a very difficult-to-argue-with top 5
shout-out to "The Private Psychedelic Reel", "Setting Sun", "Galaxy Bounce", "The Test" tho
― I Am Curious (Dolezal) (DJP), Wednesday, 15 July 2015 14:53 (eight years ago) link
Go is terrible
― nashwan, Wednesday, 15 July 2015 15:03 (eight years ago) link
giving "further" a listen now ... yeah, this is pretty good. hearty IRL LOLs when the horse came in on "horse power"
― the late great, Wednesday, 15 July 2015 22:28 (eight years ago) link
my top 5 would have to include "it began in afrika"
― the late great, Wednesday, 15 July 2015 22:29 (eight years ago) link
"brothers gonna work it out" still sounds pretty damn awesome but "live at the social vol 1" and "in glint" are even better
― the late great, Wednesday, 15 July 2015 22:32 (eight years ago) link
"in glint" especially good
a lot of this new album sounds like dig your own hole b-sides. and that is a very good thing.
― BringTheAuBonPain, Wednesday, 15 July 2015 23:07 (eight years ago) link
speaking of b-sides, has anybody heard this?!?
http://www.discogs.com/Chemical-Brothers-Electronic-Battle-Weapon-11/release/7172088
― the late great, Wednesday, 15 July 2015 23:34 (eight years ago) link
hearty IRL LOLs when the horse came in on "horse power"
YES...that got me too
BTW if you don't have the live album Don't Think you really really need it, it's to the Chems what Everything, Everything is to Underworld
― frogbs, Thursday, 16 July 2015 02:07 (eight years ago) link
The bonus compilation disc of all the Electronic Battle Weapons is better than any of their albums since the 90s.
― Matt DC, Thursday, 16 July 2015 08:40 (eight years ago) link
yeah i was listening to it yesterday and thinking same
― the late great, Thursday, 16 July 2015 15:05 (eight years ago) link
So I had never listened to the Chemical Brothers much, really only knowing their 90s radio hits (and honestly not really liking those hits that much), but I listened to this and "No Geography" recently and have become a bit obsessed with EML Ritual. What a catchy beat on this track.
― silverfish, Tuesday, 24 May 2022 20:56 (one year ago) link