Other delicacies include the Moroccan flavoured ‘Galvanize’ – featuring Q-Tip – and ‘Believe’ where Bloc Party’s Kele Okereke lends his verbal acumen. Resistance now seemed futile as even the toughest critics gave in to a disc that made space for The Magic Numbers brothers and sisters band on ‘Close Your Eyes’ and reunited Ed and Tom with Tim Burgess on ‘The Boxer’ after a ten-year gap. Orton’s reign as their in house diva is maintained on ‘The State We’re In’ while Richard Ashcroft stars on ‘The Test’, a slab of freestyle guaranteed to rock the house.įollowing a singles compilation ( 93-03) it was back business with Push the Button, another Grammy and more Gold in the shops. Bigger, bolder and badder, that was the message. An instant number one and an acid house definer this disc picks up from the vibe they’d felt playing at Creamfields with the for DJs only initial pressing of ‘It Began in Afrika’ spreading tentacles to street festivals and Ibiza floors. Come With Us benefited from their rapidly growing fan base. In June 2000, the Brothers wowed Glastonbury and pulled in the largest crowd ever seen to the Pyramid stage at that point. A generic continuation of the award-winning album sleeve depicting an uber chilled festival crowd. Celebrity pals aside though Chemical Brothers hardcore fans swear by ‘Hey Boy Hey Girl’, a trance turned dance floor stomp that became a key part of their live act. ‘Out of Control’ was another mega-hit with Bernard Sumner and Bobby Gillespie keen to join the Brothers. Noel Gallagher (‘Let Forever Be’), Mazzy Star’s Hope Sandoval (‘Asleep from Day’) and Mercury Rev’s Jonathan Donahue (‘Dream On’) all contribute to Surrender, which acknowledges The Chemical Brothers’ love for way-out rock tropes as much as their innate big house loops. Seeing out the old millennium and ushering in the new age Surrender and Come With Us continue in the tried and trusted manner, employing key guests as singers.
‘Elektrobank’ didn’t quite match the latter’s number one slot in the UK but it was a huge underground hit followed by ‘The Private Psychedelic Reel,’ a lengthy big beat acid trance groove that still offers plenty of mileage today. The key track is, however, the immortal ‘Block Rockin’ Beats’, that award-winning hand grenade of a monster which samples Bernard Purdie’s drumming on ‘Them Changes’ and Schooly D’s ‘Gucci Again’ as well a bass line from The Crusaders. Dig Your Own Hole, reacquainted The Chemical Brothers with Noel Gallagher who asked to sing on ‘Setting Sun’, which duly hit the top spot and is considered quite rightly to be a classic of the psych dance genre. The logical next step was live work of their own and an important Astoria Theatre show received such great reviews that their DJ stunts at Heavenly and Turnmills in Clerkenwell turned them into superstars with queues of floor-filling fanatics eager to catch their latest groove. Beth Orton, subsequently a life long friend, added vocals to ‘Alive Alone’, while Tim Burgess was sharply on side to sing on ‘Life Is Sweet’ – both tracks charting well. Exit Planet Dust covered so many bases it’s a story in itself. And this during the absolute height of Brit Pop. The duo’s first albums, Exit Planet Dust (1995) and Dig Your Own Hole,(1997) arrived during a crazy flurry of activity when the twosome seemed to be working with every mover and shaker in town. Inevitably the Dust Brothers name had to yield but renaming themselves The Chemical Brothers was no hardship. Studio mixes for The Prodigy, Primal Scream, The Charlatans and Manic Street Preachers were timed right to coincide with the MTV generation that craved dance-rock sounds and a US tour with Orbital and Underworld did much to export their vision. They learnt their craft as remixers and then as resident DJs at influential Heavenly Social Club in Central London where regular visitors like Noel Gallagher, Paul Weller and Tim Burgess soon became fans of their work on the decks.
In Manchester, the rave scene affected their development most favourably and they combined forces in a variety of pop acts before settling on a blend of hip hop, techno and house, borrowing the name The Dust Brothers from the Beastie Boys producers. Now while they may have cemented their initial approach in Lancashire Simons and Rowlands are actually sons of Surrey and old school friends who shared a passion for The Smiths, New Order, Goth rock, Public Enemy and Kraftwerk.
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