If there are any two albums I believe to be different sides of the same coin, it's these two. Both are straight out of 1997 and are deliberate stabs at melding psychedelic rock to electronic dance pop and hip hop, but the results couldn't be any more different as they are also undeniably pleasurable. Both acts take their default settings (The Chemicals: acid house and breakbeats; Cornelius: indie pop and danceable rock) and expand them past their own parameters with dives into their favourite home listening, essentially sticking to one side of each other's turf and then breaking into the other side for some joyride pilfering. An easy enough juxtaposition would be 'Elektrobank', a maniac acidic floor pounder that beats the hell out of its drums like it's auditioning for a thrash band, with 'Free Fall', a zooming punk cut with the percussion of a DJ cutting at d'n'b speed and a sound that could fill a club (and both tracks slow WAY down at the end for good measure), but their takes on psychedelic hip hop beats ('Piku'; 'The Micro Disneycal World Tour') both sound like they're coming from two different places at the same times (the late 60s, reflected in Tom 'n' Ed's sub-jaunty melody and swirling sonics, and Keigo's bouncy Beach Boys antics and massive string section; and the mid-80s, which would be the beats). The Beatles show up on both albums, but Keigo's 'Chapter 8 - Seashore and Horizon' succeeds in recalling the Beatles at their most dizzying (and then some), whereas Tom and Ed only end up updating their hard rocking template. Elsewhere, there are massive rock ballads ('Where Do I Begin?', 'God Only Knows'), drumming with androids ('Block Rockin' Beats', 'Count Five or Six', which also shares a Kraftwerk link with 'Lost In The K-Hole') and funked-up freakouts to make Zappa and James Brown proud ('Get Up On It Like This', 'Monkey'). The biggest challengers for the centre of this little Venn Diagram would likely be 'The Private Psychedelic Reel' and 'Star Fruits Surf Rider', though ultimately, Keigo takes the prize for the song that most closely resembles a video game, with Bach cover '2010' firing on all technological neo-Tokyo cylinders. They've never remixed each other, but who knows - maybe one day they'll wake up and realise how much they've shared?
― Negativa, True Believer (You know you love it when I'm dressed in drag) (Barima), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 12:09 (twenty-one years ago)