Quiz Time: Know Your Crystal Method/Chemical Brothers

With the release of the new Crystal Method album I got to wondering if they had ever broken free of the "America's Chemical Brothers" tag. They don't particularly sound similar these days but some of the two acts choices have a familiar ring to them. Here is a little quiz I threw together:

Quizzes by Quibblo.com

Flashback: The Trip Hop Test, Part One (1995)

The very definition of trip hop was in flux when Moonshine Music released The Trip Hop Test, Part One in January of 1995. The term had already surfaced in the US characterizing the downtempo music coming across the pond from Bristol producers like Tricky and Massive Attack but those listening closer to the underground also described rave music influenced equally by hip hop and psychedelic music by the same name. Was it the same movement? The Trip Hop Test doesn't answer the question but instead presents evidence allowing the listener to decide. Compilations almost always take related tracks to make a statement on a scene or time so taking the risk to ask questions about a scene is one of the most endearing things about the collection. Impressively the disc also manages to catch many of the major players of electronic music before they came to prominence in the later half of decade. Here is the track listing and some thoughts:

Saint Etienne "Filthy"
Originally the b-side to "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" the oldest track on the collection dates from the Saint Etienne's early days when they only had guest vocalists here featuring British rapper Q-Tee who was only 15 when she recorded the track.  The song was later remixed by Monkey Mafia and included on the band's Casino Classics remix collection.
The Dust Brothers "My Mercury Mouth"

Actually a track from The Chemical Brothers taken from the last EP they released as The Dust Brothers before going chemical for legal reasons.  The reason to buy the disc since the track is closer to delicate ambient techno than anything Brothers have released since becoming album artists.
Step Disk "Boing Dragon" 

The disc's first misstep from a group that faded away shortly after releasing this.  Notably "loose" production emphasising samples demonstrate the sound of the time but it is extremely repetitive.
Skylab "Sea Shell" 

This was a massive track on college radio at the time that introduces an unusual laidback beat to an ambient template. This group effort is the first time future Bjork and U2 producer Howie B appeared on my radar.
Paul Weller "Wild Wood (Portishead Mix)"

Who would have guessed the sole representation of the Bristol sound would come from The Modfather?  Portishead weave their Dummy-era sound around the original song's structure incorporating the best of both worlds.  A must for Portishead fans.

The Aloof "Society"

This group is probably better known for their work in other projects which include The Sabres Of Paradise, Red Snapper and the vocals to Luke Slater's 2002 electropop masterpiece Alright On Top.  This track is a bit shouty and has sirens but fails to effectively convey the talent involved.

Tranquility Bass "They Come In Peace"

More music branching out of ambient adding hip hop beats to the mix.  While they would go on to release higher profile albums this is as good as Tranquility Bass ever got.
The Crystal Method "Dubeliscious Groove"

American electronica's great hope turn in an early ambient techno track that sounds unfinished.  Try the far superior Fly Spanish Version from the Keep Hope Alive EP for something that will stick to your brain. 

Single Cell Orchestra "Transmit Liberation"

Another college radio hit here from San Francisco artist Miguel Fierro.  One of my favorite ambient techno tracks of all time.
Lemon Interupt "Minneapolis"

When Karl Hyde and Rick Smith left behind the gothic gloom of their first Underworld outing they added Darren Emerson and gained some techno edge but chose to release their initial offerings, and production on Saint Etienne's Tiger Bay, under the name Lemon Interupt.  This b-side to "Dirty" shows them working their new sound out even if it falls short of essential.

Tales from the Woodshed "Brainclog"

Proto-big beat from a duo that would shorten their name to The Woodshed before disappearing a few short years later.  

:  Moonshine Music would go on to release another two volumes of The Trip Hop Test before branching off into other ventures but they deserve credit for taking a snapshot of electronic music at the crossroads and not giving us the answer key.

Video: Shinichi Osawa "Star Guitar"

I originally dismissed Shinichi Osawa's cover of "Star Guitar" without hearing it. If an artist covers a hit song as their lead single and they work in the same genre chances are they are hiding their lack of artistic merit and making a blatant cash grab in one swoop. Fortunately Crap For Genius recently reminded me of the cover and while I don't rate it as highly as he does the subtle update of the Chemical Brothers tune works really well taking the song out of the trance genre and shining a spotlight on the nearly hidden vocals of the original:



: The Chemical Brothers based the original song around a short guitar sample from David Bowie's "Starman" and have often performed the song live mashed up with the Brothers cover of New Order's "Temptation" so this really is just adding another layer. Shinichi Osawa's "Star Guitar" is out on CD single this week in the UK on Norman Cook's Southern Fried Records so stop by his myspace to get all the info.

All Rights Reversed

The Chemical Brothers re-released We Are The Night this past week and unfortunately this was not the attempt to revitalize the album with the new Brotherhood singles that I would lobby the band for but an update to the artwork inspired by "legal reasons". While it is difficult to find details it appears that the screen prints done by Kate Gibb for the packaging incorporate the work of artist Herbert Bayer without his estate's consent. There is a great comparison of the source material and the original Chemical Brothers cover and the booklet's interior artwork here which makes it pretty clear that something was up. Here is the illegal art from the original release:



: and the new version:

Video: The Chemical Brothers "Midnight Madness"

The biggest fault of last year's We Are The Night was it's lack of a tent pole dance track and while it is a bit late The Chemical Brothers have found it with the first single taken from the duo's second greatest hits album Brotherhood. "Midnight Madness" is an awesome track that restores my faith in the Brothers ability to move a dance floor. A cousin to Tom & Ed's definitive trance statement "Star Guitar" here the Brothers refine an aspect of their sound that has never really been fully explored to great effect. Shame it's not attached to a proper album.

Directed by long time visual collaborators Dom and Nic the video features a goblin that crawls out of a bin marked "commercial waste" (subtle commentary on Brotherhood?) and proceeds to do unreal parkour/free running/dancing on the streets before taking it into the club:



: The song also has a Google Earth project connected to it that involves people around the world sending in footage taken at midnight. View the official youtube video or stop by their site for more info.

Mini Reviews

Some blogs have frequent updates and proper reviews. That couldn't happen here...


Miss Kittin BatBox

Is disappointment of the year too big of a statement? Miss Kittin is one of those artists who could clearly make brilliant pop music anytime she wants but chooses not to out some need for underground integrity. Depending on your perspective this makes her a saint for not selling out or a fool for hiding her talent. The overall sound recalls her First Album with The Hacker but unlike that genre staple there is almost nothing here that draws you in as even promising tracks like "Sunset Strip" never truly develop. In political terms she is simply playing to her base and doing very little to interest anyone else. Even those who gave the album a couple of months to sink in.
Best Bets: "Kittin Is High", "BatBox"


Client Untitled Remix


While remixes from the four singles taken from last year's lacking Heartland are found here the real selling point of Client's Untitled Remix album are the band's collaborations with other artists. Both "Suicide Sister", their cheery duet with Douglas McCarthy, and their venture into house-gone-electropop "Sorry" with Mexican band Réplica are miles better than 95% of Heartland which suggests to me that Client need to rethink their track selection process when releasing proper albums. The remixes are mostly from parties with less than four discogs credits to their names and unfortunately it shows with only three or so interesting remixes in the set.
Best Bets: "Suicide Sister", "Sorry", "Zerox (N Joi Radio Edit)"

Chemical Brothers B-Sides Volume 1


When this turned up on itunes I knew that Astralwerks had given up on We Are The Night which is shame because it is much better than it has generally been written off to be. While a b-side collection is not entirely unwelcome the Chemicals can be a bit hit and miss as they often use alternate versions of album tracks to pad out singles. If you've been missing the straight dance tracks from the recent albums there is plenty to keep your interest with the subtle acid of "Nude Night", the rumble of "Base 6" and the thundering hip hop jam "Prescription Beats" almost making up for unlistenable experiments like "Scale". Even some of the alternate takes fascinate as we learn "Snooprah", which appears as the brief ambient interlude "Harpoons" on We Are..., also has a secret life as a seven minute dance track complete with disco sirens. The biggest problem here is the Volume 1 thing which keeps the Brothers best b-side, the amazing "Hot Acid Rhythm 1", off the compilation. Check that one out: found on the "It Began In Afrika" single it's well worth the 99 cents.
Best Bets: "Hot Acid Rhythm 1"(well obviously not on the album but if you're only getting one get this track), "Prescription Beats", "Base 6"

Video: Chemical Brothers "The Salmon Dance"

The Chemical Brothers We Are The Night has arrived to a lukewarm reception but I think that the album's second single is the duo's best hip hop track to date. Collaborating with former Pharcyde member Fatlip they have broken their usual pattern of cramming every hip hop idea that ever had into a track and instead let the song dictate it's own course. The success of the remarkably low key "The Salmon Dance" relies on the charms of Fatlip's narrative which fortunately prove to be quite rewarding.

The video features a young person being entertained, possibly with the help of Chemicals, by an aquarium. It's rather good and features the best Ed & Tom cameo ever!:



: Listen to remixes and more at The Chemical Brothers myspace.

Video: Chemical Brothers "Do It Again"

The Chemical Brothers took a bit of a beating at the Stylus Singles Jukebox over "Do It Again" as they noted, among other things, the distinct problem of it being "all pulsating buildup with no payoff". I've found that it's a bit of a grower and a unique moment in Chemical cannon as it melds pop friendly free association vocals (courtesy of the mysterious Ali Love) to music that is decidedly un-pop and underground by nature.

Opening with the music video rarity of a forced tooth pulling the music starts as two boys discover a tape that could have been dropped from a supersonic bomber just outside of their undeveloped Middle Eastern town. In a turn that seems remarkably familiar to PNAC planners the boys use the Western tape and a boombox to enchant their townsfolk Pied Piper-style before controlling the government, or at least the cops, as they loot a bank. While it's played on the light side the video does have some interesting ideas and I'm not quite sure what to make of it given the Brothers history of using the cultural travelogue tradition with past videos set in Latin America and Japan:



: We Are The Night is out in June and the Chemical Brothers have a myspace with all the latest info on their plans for global sonic domination.

Flashback: Chemical Brothers "It Began In Afrika" (2001)

First played live in late 2000 "It Began In Afrika" is the Chemical Brothers single that almost never was. A few months after the song's debut, but long before the Chems had a version they found satisfactory, they sent the song out in acetate form to a few select producer and dj friends for feedback but as they continued to tinker the track developed a life of it's own. Appearances in high profile mix sessions from their superstar dj friends created buzz for the track and several publications predicted it would be the "anthem of the summer" as far back as May of '01. Despite the praise it appeared that The Brothers couldn't bear to part with the track before it was fully realized and in the age of Napster it may have cost them. With no single in sight versions of the song and clones that sampled the title phrase flooded p2p networks by mid-summer as it became more than just an anthem but a product of the collective imagination of dance fans across the globe.

Why then was there a long wait? I believe it comes down to two factors. First off it is one of the most straightforward club tracks that The Chemicals had released as a single at that point. The song maintains the classic four-on-the-floor throughout and while it works the template fantastically there is nothing definitively "Chemical Brothers" about the track. The other factor is Norman Cook. The title sample and most likely some of the percussion are taken from proto-rap spoken word and soul artist Jim Ingram's "Drumbeat" but Norman Cook used them first in his 1988 one-off project The Urban All Stars on a track called "It Began In Africa". They were working with material their friend and competitor had already cheekily committed to a "dj and producers only" sample disc (track 30 if you're interested) so I suspect they wanted to be sure that when it was released every ounce of floor filling potential was maximized.

An official video for "It Began In Afrika" was never created and it came out nearly six months before their next album leaving the impression that they never really finished the song but it had just reached the point where it had to be released. It charted at the number 8 position on the UK singles charts which is respectable for a track that had the opportunity to tire potential buyers who had download options available for months in advance.

Also of note is the US release date on which other events of a much more important scale overshadow anything else about the song. Reminded of the release date I do think it was my intention to pick it up that day before I woke up to the worst news my generation has witnessed.

Listen to it by way of this unofficial video (actually The Chemical Brothers song over the visuals from a Cassius video):