Chemical Brothers s/d

Loved the segue from that into Hey Boy Hey Girl on Saturday xp

oh my god that setlist looks insane

would really love to see these guys one day but I live in the Midwest so uhhh

I actually gave up on the Glastonbury show and went to see Hot Chip instead - it felt like watching a film I'd seen a few too many times before and I couldn't get close enough for it to feel fully immersive.

The cover star as such of Surrender has passed on (article from a couple of years ago but an updated section at the end has more details).

https://medium.com/@JPRobinson/the-mystery-of-jesus-the-naked-hippie-dancer-9822c0da8765

that was great, thanks

Yeah Gary Kemp shared out the news and a lot of the replies have been great in terms of sharing stories -- including one from Chris Difford!

Just heard that ‘Jesus’ William Jellett died today. He was at every gig I ever went to in the 70s, doing his groovy dancing and blessing us all with his happy presence. We’d call his name from the bleachers. He was validation that the artist was worth seeing. #Jesus 🙏 pic.twitter.com/bxvyM83NlW

— Gary Kemp (@garyjkemp) January 10, 2021

Used to see him shaking his maracas everywhere back in the 80s/90s, last gig I saw him at was a Hawkwind tribute band in about 2003 (I was depping the audio generators in the support band is my excuse for being there). He wasn't looking great even then, but sad to see him gone all the same. No idea about his views on stadium techno, I think he preferred Blue Öyster Cult.

New track out today, just in time for the summer, hopefully a harbinger of better times. I can’t find any information about the vocalist, sounds a bit like Sarah Nixey.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-mGA4V2LK0

I was 13 and hooked when Surrender came out. I used to watch a bunch of MTV during certain times trying to catch the "Let Forever Be" video. (well, that and "Body Movin" by Beastie Boys) I saw it twice and thought it was really freaky. Never occurred to me that I could just YouTube it now, lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5FyfQDO5g0

it's a lucid dream, right? still one of the most hypnotic videos I have ever seen. who's the actress??

the girl is played by actress and dancer Stephanie Landwehr

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let_Forever_Be

great tune

when I saw it at first I was convinced it was someone famous who I figured I would've forgot about now. she's such a great casting for it, all the smooth but imperfect movements

my first real dose of online culture came from following like, the "techno" email groups around its release. when "Hey Boy Hey Girl" came out the fans fucking hated it. but I thought it was funny! like the Chems doing "Cotton Eyed Joe"! I admit it might not have been the best choice for the first single though

Gondry, man. Genius.

I thought "Hey Boy, Hey Girl" was a great opening salvo for Surrender. If you listen to all the tracks that were originally released as "Electronic Battle Weapons" (e.g. "It Doesn't Matter", "Under the Influence") - at least through to about 2002 - it presents this alternate history of the group as this slamming bleepy house act, which seemed much more in-tune with the turn of the millennium than rock-aligned big beat. "Hey Boy Hey Girl" (though not an EBW track) leaned into that vibe in the most populist manner possible. If anything, I found "Let Forever Be" to be a disappointing retrenchment (as a song - the video clip is great) - "Setting Sun" redux but lesser in every way possible.

ooh that's harsh, I like it more than that but I do respect yr take

it's the on with "Go" and "Horse Power" that I really love as far as post-90s work

"It Doesn't Matter" = maybe my fave track of theirs ever

has there ever been an artist poll?

on one

another related memory is that when the college station that I have DJd on since 1998 first got their license in '93 or '94, we would listen to the station back then at the bakery I worked at (I did radio then, but on a different station) and they played "Setting Sun" like 10 times a day

I actually do like "Let Forever Be". I think it wouldn't have been so much of an issue if they hadn't opted to work with Noel again.

Arguably the "working with male rock singers" gambit was almost a straight line of diminishing returns: "Life Is Sweet" = "Setting Sun" > "Let Forever Be" > "The Acid Test" > "The Golden Path".

If you played those in succession there would be a clear encroaching vibe I would compare to regulatory capture: the CBs gradually forgetting that the point was to take the rock-association and forge something new with it, rather than just come up with an arrangement that would complement the peccadillos of the guest vocalist.

otm imo

One thing about Let Forever Be is it does not buzzsaw through your skull the way Setting Sun does. It’s also a way more overt Tomorrow Never Knows rip

The line “how does it feel like?” bothers the shit out of me though

Fwiw I really like “The Acid Test”. “Golden Path” sucks though.

you mean The Test, right? or is there another track called The Acid Test?

ok so I never actually bought a copy of Come With Us, I downloaded it way back when MP3s were always mistagged so I assumed that was just the actual name of the song

Yeah I just mean "The Test" - when I think of the song all I can hear in my head is Richard Ashcroft asking "did I pass the acid test?", and it's up there with "how does it feel like?" as one of the more annoying questions asked in modern music.

otm, I like The Test apart from that so if is a bummer

all the lyrics in that song are annoying but the pure beauty of the "are you feeling me like I'm feeling you" part makes up for it

interesting to compare all these to Out of Control which seems to be the opposite, the boys just enjoying themselves

You know what other song sounds like the boys just enjoying themselves, is "The Salmon Dance"

lol

The Salmon Dance sounds like the boys trying to write Gorillaz song. Possibly even a Plastic Beach song, 3 years before that album even came out.

Salmon Dance is fun I just wish the album it was on was better

That album is good, though. “We Are The Night” and “Battle Scars” are fantastic and I am not part of the posse that dislikes “The Salmon Dance”

Not as good as their last one but new album is still pretty good. Wasn't sure about some of the singles but they work really well in the context of the album.

This is about more than just the Chemical Brothers but I didn't know which thread would be best

https://musictech.com/news/industry/the-chemical-brothers-touring-us-not-viable/

I noticed Geoff Barrow (the Portishead guy) say this on social media:

I can’t stand the chemical brothers never have
Awful music for dullards

Cool guy!

only single I've heard is "Live Again" which has one of the coolest guitar sounds I've ever heard

wanna grab it on vinyl but man it's so expensive

Geoff being a silly billy yet again

Not as good as their last one but new album is still pretty good.

Yeah, it didn't grab me right away like the last one did, and it seems to have fallen into a crack in the earth as far as press coverage. I'll give it another listen this week, though.

It's a good album but... maybe my least favourite. Too early to tell.

the-chemical-brothers-touring-us-not-viable/

huge thanks to Tom & Ed for playing Seattle in between the two weekends of Coachella this year

Not that surprising. It's not like they're jusrlt taking a drumkit and some guitars and synths with them. Their current live set up includes two 30ft tall robots that shoot lasers from their eyes ffs

The other pre-album singles did nothing for me but Live Again might be my favourite thing I've ever heard them do

Listening to the new one right now, I get what folks are saying about it — it’s consistent, solid, and enjoyable, just doesn’t blow minds or anything.

On a sidenote, it’s startling to look at the overall discography and realize how much music these guys put out in the 21st century that I’ve just … totally missed those album cycles somehow

(The new record reminds me, in some ways, of buying a Crystal Method album in like 2004 - it was fine, or a little better than fine, you know?)

boxedjoy otm

Live Again is pure gold, who knew all I wanted from life was a My Bloody Valentine / Todd Edwards mashup

New album is nice on first listen, but maybe like a slightly less thumping retread of the last one?

not heard the new one yet but this made me smile

We used to get quite tongue-tied around him (Weatherall). I remember being in a nightclub asking him what synths he’d bought. He said: “I’m waiting for the Chekhov Warp.” Which I took to mean a new synth we hadn’t heard of. A couple of weeks later I realised he meant he was waiting for the “cheque off Warp” records to buy new equipment, so when we remixed Saint Etienne’s Like a Motorway we called it the Chekhov Warp mix.

lol, that's fantastic.

Sick remix too - and new to me!

the more you hear re weatherall, the more you love him.