The Chemical Brothers "No Geography" (2019)

No Geography
release date: Apr. 12, 2019
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,58]
producer: The Chemical Brothers
label: Virgin EMI - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Eve of Destruction" - 3. "No Geography" - 4. "Got to Keep On" - 6. "The Universe Sent Me" - 7. "We've Got to Try" - 8. "Free Yourself" - 9. "MAH" - 10. "Catch Me I'm Falling"

9th studio album by The Chemical Brothers issued after a near four year hiatus is like the most recent Born in the Echoes released on Virgin EMI and as always produced by the duo. It's a ten track collection on which Tom Rowlands and Ed Simmons take a stronger grip on acid house than usually - a style closely related to electro house and something I don't really spend much time listening to. Basically, it's a bit like returning to the early days of techno. There is also some progressive house parts here and there, but the best thing about the new album is the lust to also include big beat as they did on the 2015 album.
The album has been met by positive reviews, and it seems like the duo has re-found its potential.
The album is so fresh to me, but for the time being, I really enjoy it, and from my experience with The Chemical Brothers one simply has to digest their new material to let it unfold before judging too hard. For now; I rate it good above 3,5, but is it a 4 star album and bettering the 2015 release?
[ 👍allmusic.com 3,5 / 5, The Guardian, Mojo, Q Magazine, Uncut, NME 4 / 5, Rolling Stone 2,5 / 5 stars ]

The Chemical Brothers "Born in the Echoes" (2015)

Born in the Echoes
release date: Jul. 17, 2015
format: cd (Deluxe Edition - XDUSTCDX 10)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,86]
producer: The Chemical Brothers
label: Virgin EMI - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Sometimes I Feel so Deserted" - 2. "Go" (feat. Q-Tip) - 4. "EML Ritual" (feat. Ali Love) - 5. "I'll See You There" - 7. "Reflexion" - 9. "Born in the Echoes" (feat. Cate Le Bon) - 10. "Radiate" - 11. "Wide Open" (feat. Beck) - *14. "Go (Extended Mix)" - *15. "Reflexion (Extended Mix)"
*Tracks 12-15 are bonus tracks included on the Deluxe Edition

8th studio album by The Chemical Brothers, released 5 years following Further (Jun. 2010), is a nice return to the big beat foundation of Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons. Five years is a long time to wait but luckily the two have released a soundtrack album and a fine live album following Further. After having experimented in a more electronic area with focus on electro house and expanding the duo's musical universe, which I enjoyed to great extent with the 2010 album but I didn't fully get the soundtrack album for Hanna (2011), they here turn to their glorious past. They kind of reach back and basically, as I hear it, combine the danceable greatness from Surrender with the more... electronic Further, and thankfully, also skip the neo-psychedelia, tribal house, and hip hop influences from all the duo's three albums in the new millennium. The two best tracks are "Reflexion" and "Radiate" - quite similar in style, and perhaps even the two compositions that are most in "family" with the sound and style found on the previous studio album, Further, and although, it doesn't reach the quality of the 2010 album, it' still one of the best albums of the year.
[ allmusic.com, NME, Mojo 4 / 5, Rolling Stone, Q Magazine 3 / 5 stars ]
[ Anthony Fantano's needledrop review ]

The Chemical Brothers "Don't Think" (2012) (live)

Don't Think (live)
release date: Mar. 27, 2012
format: dvd & cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,92]
producer: The Chemical Brothers
label: Parlophone - nationality: England, UK

👉 Official playlist trailer

Great live album by The Chemical Brothers is first and foremost a film-documentation of the duo's concert concept recorded from the duo's 2011 live performance at Fuji Rock Festival in Japan. The sticker on the front cover reads 'The Chemical Brothers Present Don't Think Live From Japan'.
It's always a bit hard to review live albums, and electronically-founded ones aren't making it any easier but with the visual dimension it adds a great deal to the live experience. The album is issued in dvd and cd format, which means that Disc 1 is the dvd footage including 20 tracks of live recordings and Disc 2 compiling 11 selected audio tracks. The compositions all come from various albums over time but the great thing about electronic artists performing live, and especially in this case, is their ability to create new music based on their own original material, and this one is absolutely in the high-end of live performances as they understand to build the compositions together and make it a fascinating whole. Compared to e.g. Sigur Ròs and their mighty fine Inni live album, this is simply a better live performance in the sense that The Chemical Brothers' old repertoire played live is transformed into brand new material - instead of 'only' playing popular songs like they sound on the original studio albums (as SR does so well). The Chemical Brothers produce live versions of well-known tracks that are stuffed with interceptions and interpretations of their own material to make everything fit to the moment. Now, that's living the art!
Highly recommended.

The Chemical Brothers "Hanna" (OST) (2011)

Hanna (soundtrack)
release date: Mar. 15, 2011
format: digital
[album rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,68]

Track highlights: 1. "Hanna's Theme" - 2. "Escape 700" - 4. "The Devil Is in the Details" - 10. "Bahnhof Rumble" - 11. "The Devil Is in the Beats" - 17. "Escape Wavefold" - 19. "Container Park" - 20. "Hanna's Theme (Vocal Version)"

Original Soundtrack by The Chemical Brothers to an action adventure movie by Joe Wright (feat. Cate Blanchett). It's unmistakably The Chemical Brothers, and pretty much as usual a soundtrack album differs from what artists normally produce. In this case the music is more progressive and experimental house instead of big beat and / or breakbeat, and also, many tracks are noteworthy short in playing time with elements of industrial and musique concrete. I think, it's an interesting album, which almost touches a genre of modern classical, and I come to think of Laurie Anderson, Philip Glass, and Kraftwerk as possible sources of inspiration.

The Chemical Brothers "Further" (2010)

Further
release date: Jun. 7, 2010
format: cd / 2 lp vinyl (gatefold)
[album rate: 4,5 / 5] [4,28]
producer: The Chemical Brothers
label: Parlophone / Freestyle Dust - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 2. "Escape Velocity" (4,5 / 5) - 3. "Another World" (5 / 5) - 4. "Dissolve" - 5. "Horse Power" (4,5 / 5) - 6. "Swoon" (4,5 / 5) - 7. "K+D+B" (4 / 5) - 8. "Wonders of the Deep"

7th studio release by the Chemical Brothers following three years after We Are the Night (Jul. 2007) is a different type of album from the Chem. Bros. and a truly remarkable one, in my mind. The 'brothers' are back on track, now pushing big beat to new pastures with electro house in a big beat soundscape with foucus on minimalism. The double vinyl album comes with two tracks per side.
The new approach sees the duo on their very own - perhaps for the first time, as I understand. On all of their previous albums they have teamed up with various collaborators, who have usually been driving forces of a lyrical dimension. Sometimes it has taken the music in new directions utilising the forces of the vocalists' background to shape the music. On this new outing, however, there are few vocalists and little room for lyrical output, which means the duo are in full charge of the production and it's their most full-electronicical instrumental album to date. Again, it will undoubtedly divide fans because of the full-on approach.
In 2010 the album soon sat on my car cd-player for a very 10o0ng time (at least when I drove on my own). It's almost as one long track evolving into new sound and structures. At first, I found it too noisy but it didn't take long before I really loved everything about this new extremely tight electronic thing, which signals a strong return to something in direct line with the bold big beat songs of the 90s mixed with some experimental progressive electronica.
Further is one of those albums where you know your speakers and amplifier just aren't sufficient.
Highly recommended.
[ 👎allmusic.com 2,5 / 5, Rolling Stone 3 /5, NME 3,5 / 5, Q, musicOMH, 👍Mojo 4 / 5 stars ]

2010 Favourite releases: 1. Søren Huss Troen & ingen - 2. The Chemical Brothers Further - 3. Robyn Body Talk

The Chemical Brothers "Brotherhood" (2008)

Brotherhood, compilation

release date: Sep. 1, 2008

format: 2 lp vinyl (reissue, XDUSTLP9) / 2 cd

[album rate: 4 / 5]

producer: The Chemical Brothers

label: Freestyle Dust / Virgin - nationality: England, UK

2 lp vinyl compilation by The Chemical Brothers following the release of We Are the Night (Aug. 2007), and then also a follow-up to the duo's first compilation Singles 93 - 03 (Sep. 2003). The album comes with a sticker saying: 'The Definitive Singles Collection'. The 2-disc cd issue comes with 10 additional tracks placed on Disc 2 labelled 'Electronic Battle Weapons 1-10'. These tracks are not titled other than e.g. "Electronic Battle Weapon 1" and so forth but they have all been issued as special mixes of well-known compositions, i.e. "Electronic Battle Weapon 3" is a special mix of "Under the Influence" from Surrender (Jun. 1999). This also means that Disc 1 is identical to the double vinyl album counting 15 tracks.

It's a strong collection of great and familiar compositions. My only complaint is that many tracks overlap, i.e. "Hey Boy Hey Girl", "Block Rockin' Beats", "Star Guitar", "Let Forever Be", "Leave Home", "Out of Control", "The Golden Path", "Setting Sun", "Chemical Beats" - that is: 9 out of 15 tracks overlapping with a five year older compilation, which had more tracks (not counting the cd issue, that is). Isn't that a bit too many? Well, it depends, I guess, 'cause the intention is surely to throw out an updated singles collection. Unfortunately, only six other tracks are found from later releases. Then, so be it. It's my first compilation on vinyl by the band, so I can easily live with that, and it's still a pretty awesome collection.

The Chemical Brothers "We Are the Night" (2007)

We Are the Night
release date: Aug. 2, 2007
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,38]
producer: The Chemical Brothers
label: Freestyle Dust / Virgin - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 7. "The Salmon Dance (feat. Fatlip)" - 12. "The Pills Won't Help You Now (feat. Tim Smith)"

6th studio album by The Chemical Brothers following 2½ years after Push the Button (Jan. 2005). I think that many fans felt that The Chemical Bros were kind of hitting a career low point with the predecessor., although, everyone really wanted to work with the duo and they also featured and collaborated on other artists' works. On this, they welcome what appears as too many different artists, which is a sort of continued procedure from Push the Button, only for this one the guest artists play a more dominant part, which makes this one a bit of a bland experience. Klaxons feature on "All Rights Reversed" making the track sound more like Klaxons than The Chemical Brothers (which can't be good), and same goes for "Battle Scars (feat. Willy Mason)" - a rather strange electronic folk rock [!] composition.
The album cover is great, though! And the album still contains a few good tracks including track #12, and the best track: the hilarious hip-hop, rap, and big beat tune, track #7, The Salmon Dance (feat. Fatlip). The music video is another great achievement. But one great song doesn't save an album, which feels a bit off the target.
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5, PopMatters, The Guardian, Uncut 4 / 5 stars ]

The Chemical Brothers "Push the Button" (2005)

Push the Button
release date: Jan. 25, 2005
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,42]
producer: The Chemical Brothers
label: Freestyle Dust / Virgin - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Galvanize (feat. Q-Tip)" - 2. "The Boxer (feat. Tim Burgess)" - 3. "Believe (feat. Kele)"

5th studio album by The Chemical Brothers, which has some of the same style as Come with Us (Jan. 2002) and like that it lacks the really great compositions. It may not have as much focus on tribal house but the various collaboration songs with featuring artists tend to stir the sensation of coherence and takes this into a more experimental stage. The first track featuring Q-Tip is the only fine experience on an album that appears as the least favorable by The Chemical Brothers. That said, I still think anything they release has enough originality to t to make it more than just interesting.
[ allmusic.com, Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5, PopMatters, The Guardian 4 / 5 stars ]

The Chemical Brothers "Singles 93 - 03" (2003)

Singles 93 - 03 (compilation)
release date: Sep. 22, 2003
format: digital
[album rate: 4 / 5]
producer: The Chemical Brothers
label: Freestyle Dust / Virgin - nationality: England, UK

Compilation album and the Chemical Brothers' first official sort of best of collection. It's fine if you don't have anything by the band, or if you only happen to have one or two albums, but it somehow seems like a superfluous collection of songs. Also, the diversity of the tracks make it a strange release to listen to, although, the single tracks are great as singles.

The Chemical Brothers "Come with Us" (2002)

Come with Us
release date: Jan. 28, 2002
format: cd / 2 lp vinyl (gatefold)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,46]
producer: The Chemical Brothers
label: Freestyle Dust / Virgin - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 2. "It Began in Africa" - 3. "Galaxy Bounce" - 4. "Star Guitar" (4,5 / 5) - 7. "The State We're In (feat. Beth Orton)"

4th studio album by The Chemical Brothers following 2½ years after Surrender (Jun. 1999). The album is not a copy or the attempt to copy the formula of the duo's perhaps best ever album. Naturally, it's still electronically founded with progressive elements but there are new stylistic inputs, which initially had me consider this as the duo's least favorable release to date. They haven't completely stepped away from the rave- / big beat-oriented style and you'll still find a few great tracks. Especially the single-hit "Star Guitar" is a modern electronic classic but mostly, the album is noticeable for a strong element of tribal house that I have found it difficult to embrace, although, they have also invited other artists in to perform on a number of tracks giving the album the taste of a mixtape or a compilation. "Star Guitar" could easily have been included on Surrender but the tracks like "It Began in Afrika", "My Elastic Eye", and "Denmark" really show a new stylistic playground that may require some time to embrace.
My initial verdict had me reject the album as a major miss but over the years I have come to regard it as more experiemntal and with bigger interest. The album is still not among the duo's absolute best but it's far from anything near mediocre.
Recommended.
[ allmusic.com, Rolling Stone, PopMatters 4 / 5, Q Magazine 3,5 / 5, Uncut 2,5 / 5 stars ]

Best of 1999:The Chemical Brothers "Surrender" (1999)

Surrender
release date: Jun. 21, 1999
format: cd / 2lp vinyl (gatefold)
[album rate: 5 / 5] [4,78]
producer: The Chemical Brothers
label: Freestyle Dust / Virgin - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Music: Response" (4,5 / 5) - 2. "Under the Influence" (4,5 / 5) - 3. "Out of Control" (feat. Bernard Sumner) (4,5 / 5) - 5. "Let Forever Be" (5 / 5) - 6. "The Sunshine Underground" (5 / 5) - 9. "Hey Boy Hey Girl" - 10. "Surrender" - 11. "Dream On" (5 / 5 )

3rd full-length album by The Chemical Brothers released on Freestyle and produced by the duo. Again, they have put together a strong big beat album, and this time they experiment within the genre of big beat to produce longer and more progressive or neo-psychedelic tracks. In fact, I think it takes off where Dig Your Own Hole (1997) ends with its two great end-tracks.
The track "The Sunshine Underground" is a marvellous piece - I simply can't get tired of that one, just like I can't help turning up the volume whenever I hear it. This is an absolute wonderful and 'must-have' album. Together with Further, I think this is where they touch the sky.
Highly recommended.
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5, Rolling Stone, Q Magazine, NME 4 / 5, The Guardian 5 / 5 stars ]

1999 Favourite releases: 1. The Chemical Brothers Surrender - 2. Underworld Beaucoup Fish - 3. Everything but the Girl Temperamental

The Chemical Brothers "Dig Your Own Hole" (1997)

Dig Your Own Hole
release date: Apr. 7, 1997
format: cd
[album rate: 4,5 / 5] [4,33]
producer: The Chemical Brothers
label: Freestyle Dust / Virgin - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Block Rockin' Beats" (4,5 / 5) - 2. "Dig Your Own Hole" (4 / 5) - 3. "Elektrobank" (4 / 5) - 5. "Setting Sun (feat. Noel Gallagher)" (5 / 5) - 8. "Get Up on It Like This" - 10. "Where Do I Begin (feat. Beth Orton)" (5 / 5) - 11. "The Private Psychedelic Reel" (5 / 5 )

2nd studio album release by The Chemical Brothers is one of the true great classic big beat albums. It was the first album I ever listened to and quickly purchased with the duo, and I must have listened to "Setting Sun" on repeat a zillion times at maximum volume - to my neighbours' regret. Best tracks however, are the 2-disc-end tracks. I don't listen much to it these days but it's rather tight and a great dance album - I mean: I wanna dance, I don't do drugs, and I normally never ever dance without being drunk, which happens once every fourth year or so, but put this on, hand me the vacuum cleaner, turn up the volume, and I'll start cleaning the house dancing away! The album is enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".
[ allmusic.com 5 / 5, NME, Q Magazine, Spin, Rolling Stone, The Guardian 4 / 5 stars ]

1997 Favourite releases: 1. Buena Vista Social Club Buena Vista Social Club - 2. The Chemical Brothers Dig Your Own Hole - 3. The Divine Comedy A Short Album About Love

The Chemical Brothers "Loops of Fury" (1996) (ep)

Loops of Fury, ep
release date: Jan. 15, 1996
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,82]

Tracklist: 1. "Loops of Fury" (4,5 / 5) - 2. "(The Best Part Of) Breaking Up" (4 / 5) - 3. "Get Up on It Like This" - 4. "Chemical Beats (Dave Clarke Remix)" (3,5 / 5)

Ep release by The Chemical Brothers is a fantastic big beat ep, actually pointing in direction of the forthcoming album Dig Your Own Hole (1997).

Loops of Fury yeah, at least I've had it playing in loops many many many many many many times.

The Chemical Brothers "Exit Planet Dust" (1995)

Exit Planet Dust [debut]
release date: Jun. 26, 1995
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,76]
producer: Tom Rowlands, Ed Simons, Cheeky Paul
label: JBO / Freestyle Dust / Virgin - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Leave Home" (4 / 5) - 2. "In Dust We Trust" - 3. "Song to the Siren" - 4. "Three Little Birdies Down Beats"

Studio debut album by The Chemical Brothers consisting of Tom Rowlands and Ed Simmons. The album contains some really groundbreaking tracks. I only listened to the album after purchasing Dig Your Own Hole (1997), and I didn't find it nearly as appealing, until some 10 years later. Today, I fully understand the hype and attention they received from this, and it's striking how much it resembles the style and beats on Music for the Jilted Generation (1994) by The Prodigy, which is one of my favourite albums of the '90s. "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".
[ allmusic.com 5 / 5, The Guardian, Select 4 / 5, Rolling Stone 3 / 5 stars ]

The Chemical Brothers

~ ~ ~

The Chemical Brothers: formed 1992, Manchester, UK. The band is a duo consisting of Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons (aka Bonus Beats Orchestra, aka The 237 Turbo Nutters, aka *The Dust Brothers). The duo has been one of the primary sources (together with The Prodigy and later Fat Boy Slim) to the popularity of big beat as a sub genre of electronic music. They have experimented on the electronic scene with downtempo and neo-psychedelia, and most recently, they have stretched the style into more electro house oriented compositions.
*An American trio also exists by this name. Originally, Rowlands and Simons took this name in homage to the American band but threats of a lawsuit made them change name to The Chemical Brothers.

~ ~ ~