The Chemical Brothers
are the English electronic music duo Tom Rowlands
and Ed Simons
(full names Thomas Owen Mostyn Rowlands
and Edmund John Simons
[1] — occasionally referred to as Chemical Tom and Chemical Ed). Known for their live sets, they are pioneers of the big beat electronic dance genre which achieved mainstream popularity in the 1990s.
|
THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS TICKETS
|
History
Background
Ed Simons was born in
Herne Hill,
South London,
England, on
9 June 1970 to a barrister mother and a father who was not around much when Simons was growing up. Simons' two main interests when he was young were
airplanes and musicals. Simons attended two South London public schools,
Alleyn's School and
Dulwich College. During his school years, Ed developed a fondness for
rare groove and
Hip hop music, having frequented a club called The Mud Club from the age of 14. By the time he left school, his two main musical interests were two Manchester bands,
New Order and
The Smiths. After finishing school with 11
O levels and 3 A-levels, Ed continued on to study History, especially Late Medieval History, at the
University of Manchester.
Tom Rowlands, a childhood classmate of Simons', was born on
11 January 1971 in
Kingston upon Thames,
London. When Rowlands was very young, his family relocated to
Henley-on-Thames. He later attended
Reading Blue Coat School in
Berkshire, during which time he became obsessed with
Scotland, developing a fondness for the bagpipes in particular. In his early teens, his interest in music broadened to other genres. Initially, some of his favourites included the
Oh What a Lovely War
soundtrack,
2-Tone
, and the electro sounds of artists such as
Heaven 17,
Kraftwerk,
New Order, and
Cabaret Voltaire. He described the
first Public Enemy album as the record that probably changed his life, and commented that
Miuzi Weighs a Ton
was one of the most amazing records he had ever heard. Rowlands also started collecting hip hop records by artists like
Eric B and
Schoolly D. Rowlands left school with similar accomplishments to Simons', achieving 9 O levels and 3 A levels. For University, he followed Simons to Manchester primarily to immerse himself in its music scene in general and the
Haçienda in particular.
Ariel
Rowlands was also in a band called Ariel prior to meeting up with Simons. Ariel was formed in
London by Rowlands and his friends Brendan and Matt before they all moved up to Manchester. Their first single was "Sea of Beats".This was essentially a white label, before Philip Brown set up Echo Logik Records, their first promo was Bokadilo (ELR1201), Other songs, released on
12" included "Mustn't Grumble" (ELR1203) and their most well-known, "Rollercoaster" (ELR1202). After a year on Echo Logik they signed to the
record label,
deConstruction, they insisted that they get a female singer and they recruited former Xpansions frontwoman
Sally Ann Marsh, and after some disappointing songs like "Let It Slide" (Rowlands would later describe it as "a stinker") the band fell apart. One of the last things Ariel did was the song "T Baby" which was remixed by the pair.
Ariel symbolically ended when deConstruction asked us for a Dust Brothers remix of an Ariel track. That was the final nail in the coffin.
– Ed Simons
One of the blokes went a bit mad, but now he's back at college, and the other one drives our van
– Tom Rowlands on Ariel, in 1995
Naked Under Leather
Rowlands and Simons then started to DJ at a club called "Naked Under Leather", in the back of a pub, in 1992 under the alias of "The 237 Turbo Nutters" (named after the number of their house on Dickenson Road in Manchester and a reference to their Blackburn raving days). The pair would play
hip hop,
techno and
house.
[2]
The Dust Brothers
Rowlands and Simons called themselves The Dust Brothers, after
the US production duo famous for their work with the
Beastie Boys. After a while, they began to run out of suitable instrumental hip hop tracks to use, so they started to make their own. Using a
Hitachi hi-fi system, a computer, a sampler and a keyboard, they recorded "Song To The Siren", which sampled
Dead Can Dance. "Song To The Siren" was released on their own record label, called "Diamond Records" (after Ed's nickname). In October 1992, they pressed 500
white-label copies and took them to various dance record shops around London, but none would play it, saying that it was too slow (The track played at 111
BPM). They sent a copy to London DJ
Andrew Weatherall, who made it a permanent fixture in his DJ sets. Weatherall also signed the band to his
Junior Boy's Own label. In May 1993, Junior Boy's Own released 'Song To The Siren'.
The duo completed Universities with good results, each obtaining upper-second class degrees. Around June 1993, the Dust Brothers did their first remixes. The first was "Packet Of Peace" for Justin Robertson's
Lionrock outfit, followed by tracks for
Leftfield,
Republica and
The Sandals. Late in 1993, The Dust Brothers completed work on their
Fourteenth Century Sky
EP, released in January 1994. It contained the ground-breaking "Chemical Beats", which epitomized the duo's genre-defining
big beat sound, later taken up by
Fatboy Slim and many more. The EP also contained "One Too Many Mornings", which for the first time showed the less intense, more chilled-out side of The Dust Brothers. Both "One Too Many Mornings" and "Chemical Beats" would later appear on their debut album.
Fourteenth Century Sky
was followed later in 1993 by the
My Mercury Mouth EP
. "Chemical Beats" was also part of the soundtrack for the first edition of the
Wipeout games series, having been featured in
Wipeout
for the
PlayStation in 1995.
The Heavenly Social
In October 1994, The Dust Brothers became resident DJs at the small, but hugely influential Heavenly Sunday Social Club at the Albany pub in London's
Great Portland Street. The likes of
Noel Gallagher,
Paul Weller,
James Dean Bradfield and Tim Burgess were regular visitors. The Dust Brothers were subsequently asked to remix tracks by
Manic Street Preachers and
The Charlatans, plus
Primal Scream's "Jailbird" and
The Prodigy's "Voodoo People". These two remixes received
television exposure, being playlisted by
MTV Europe's "The Party Zone" in 1995. Early in 1994, The Dust Brothers were approached in the club one Sunday by Noel Gallagher, from
Oasis, who at the time were becoming one of the most prominent guitar bands in Britain. Gallagher told the duo that he had a
Balearic inspired track which he had written, which he would like the Dust Brothers to remix. However, over time, Gallagher changed his mind, and in the end the Brothers did not remix it. The track was "
Wonderwall".
From Dust to Chemical
In March 1995, The Dust Brothers began their first international tour, which included the United States – where they played with
Orbital and
Underworld – then a series of European festivals. Also around this time,
the original Dust Brothers threatened legal action over the use of their name, and so Rowlands and Simons had to decide on a new name quickly. They decided to then call themselves "The Chemical Brothers" after "Chemical Beats" (Simons' grandmother had suggested they call themselves "The Grit Brothers").
In June 1995, they released their fourth single, the first under their new identity. "Leave Home" was released on Junior Boy's Own, as a preview of the imminent debut album and became the band's first chart hit, peaking at No. 17.
Exit Planet Dust
In July 1995, The Chemical Brothers released their debut album
Exit Planet Dust
(the title inspired by their name change) on Freestyle Dust/Junior Boy's Own. It entered the UK charts at #9 and featured guest vocalist
Beth Orton on the song "Alive Alone". It eventually went on to sell over a million copies worldwide. Shortly after its release, The Chemical Brothers signed to
Virgin Records, to which they took their own offshoot label,
Freestyle Dust. For their next single, in September 1995, they again used a guest vocalist, for the release of "
Life Is Sweet", featuring their friend Tim Burgess, singer with
The Charlatans. It reached #25 in the singles charts. The single was also
Select
Magazine's Single Of The Month for October. The release included a
Daft Punk remix of "Life Is Sweet".
In August 1995, the Chemical Brothers DJ'ed for
Oasis at a
Sheffield gig. The gig began to backfire when it became apparent that
Liam Gallagher didn't seem to like any of the tracks they were spinning. The closest that they could come to pleasing him was the
Happy Mondays' "Wrote For Luck". Gallagher proceeded to kick the Chemical Brothers off the turntables and procured a friend from
The Verve to continue to DJ. He subsequently favoured
psychedelic material to the displeasure of the crowd.
Around this period,
The Stone Roses asked the Chemical Brothers to remix "Begging You", from their
Second Coming
album. After beginning work on a remix which they viewed as having potential, the Stone Roses changed their minds and the project was cancelled.
In October 1995, the duo returned to the Heavenly Sunday Social for a second and final run of DJ dates. They then became residents at the Heavenly Social on Saturdays at Turnmills. In November, The Chemical Brothers played the
Astoria Theatre in London. At this time the Chems usually used a fusion of "Chemical Beats" and
The Beatles' "Tomorrow Never Knows" as their encore. During the encore, however,
Keith Flint from
The Prodigy jumped up on stage to dance, wearing a t-shirt sporting the slogan "Occupation: mad bastard". A few from the crowd subsequently joined in. This resulted in a power cable being kicked loose, bringing the show to a temporary close. The Chemical Brothers confessed to not being too bothered; "because he's Keith from the Prodigy, and he can do whatever the fuck he likes" Rowlands said later. Just before Christmas, 1995, they played their biggest gig to date, with The Prodigy, at the
Brixton Academy.
In January 1996,
Exit Planet Dust
went gold. The Chemical Brothers released their first new material in six months on Virgin, the "Loops Of Fury" EP. The four-track release was limited to 20,000 copies, but is now available for digital download. It entered the UK charts at #13. NME described the lead track as "splashing waves of synths across hard-hitting beats". The EP also contained a Dave Clarke remix of "Chemical Beats", and two other new tracks "Get Up On It Like This" and "(The Best Part Of) Breaking Up".
In February 1996, Select Magazine published a list of the 100 best albums of the 1990s thus far.
Exit Planet Dust
was listed at Number 39. In August 1996, The Chemical Brothers supported Oasis at
Knebworth, where 125,000 people attended each of the two shows.
Setting Sun
During the 1995
Glastonbury Festival, Rowlands and Simons had another conversation with
Noel Gallagher. Gallagher told them how much he liked
Exit Planet Dust
, and asked if he could sing on a future track, similar to the way Tim Burgess had worked on "Life Is Sweet". They didn't think much of the offer at the time, given how busy Gallagher would be with the release of Oasis'
(What's the Story) Morning Glory?
, plus the complexities of dealing with each others' record companies. However, the duo later worked on a track which they thought would benefit from having a vocal on it. They sent Gallagher a tape of what they had done so far. He worked on it overnight, and left a message with them early the next morning that he was ready to record it. The track was called "Setting Sun" and was finally released in October 1996. It entered the UK charts at the top, giving the duo their first ever Number One single. "Setting Sun" was backed by a longer instrumental version, and also a new track "Buzz Tracks", which was not much more than a DJ tool. The three remaining
Beatles' lawyers later wrote to the Chemical Brothers, mistakenly claiming that they had sampled
Tomorrow Never Knows. Virgin Records hired a musicologist to prove that they did not sample the classic 1960s
psychedelic song.
In March 1997, the Brothers released the second track from their forthcoming album, to give the world a further taste of what to expect. "Block Rockin' Beats" went straight to #1 in the UK, possibly thanks, this time, to its
Schoolly D vocal sample and re-working of the bassline from
23 Skidoo's single "Coup"
[3]. The NME named it Single Of The Week and said "It throbs like your head might if you had just done a length underwater in a swimming pool full of
amyl." It later won them a
Grammy Award for
Best Rock Instrumental Performance.
In the US at this time, "Setting Sun" was sitting at Number 80 in the Billboard Top 100, after selling around 80,000 copies, an uncommon achievement for a European "dance" act. Sales from
Exit Planet Dust
were also around 150,000.
Dig Your Own Hole
On
April 7,
1997 the Chemical Brothers released their second album,
Dig Your Own Hole
. It was recorded at the band's own south London studio, with the title taken from graffiti on the wall outside. The album was well received
[4],
Mixmag
rating it 10/10 and calling it "mad enough to be thrilling, slick enough for not even remotely trendy coffee tables".
During the summer of 1997, the Brothers toured extensively, particularly in the States. They also became residents at
Tokyo's Liquid Rooms. In August, the Chemical Brothers achieved rapprochement with the US Dust Brothers, and asked them to remix the forthcoming single "Elektrobank". They themselves also became highly sought-after for remixes for other artists.
Metallica asked the Brothers several times to remix "Enter Sandman", but were repeatedly turned down. In September, the next single from
Dig Your Own Hole
, "Elektrobank" was released. In November, the pair played at
Dublin's Point Theatre, with support from
Carl Cox. They also began a US tour in
Detroit.
At the end of the year,
Dig Your Own Hole
s final track, the nine minute-long "The Private Psychedelic Reel" gave rise to a limited-edition mini-EP of the same name. The
b-side consisted of a live version of "Setting Sun", recorded at the
Lowlands Festival,
Netherlands on
August 24,
1997. Also in December, following four sold-out US shows, The Chemical Brothers toured the UK, finishing with a sold-out gig at
London's
Brixton Academy.
More mixing
In 1998, they concentrated more on DJ'ing, although some remixes did see the light of day, including "I Think I'm In Love" from
Spiritualized. Both a vocal remix and an instrumental remix were included in the single release. Each came in at over seven-and-a-half minutes. Another remix completed by the Brothers was "Delta Sun Bottleneck Stomp", from
Mercury Rev. This was another extension in the association between the two bands, since Mercury Rev's Jonathon Donahue contributed to "The Private Psychedelic Reel" on
Dig Your Own Hole
.
In September 1998, a second mix album,
Brothers Gonna Work It Out
, was released. It contains some of their own tracks and remixes, as well as songs from artists who have influenced their sound, such as
Renegade Soundwave,
Meat Beat Manifesto, Carlos "After Dark" Berrios, and
Kenny 'Dope' Gonzales.
In May 1999, The Chemical Brothers played three UK dates in
Manchester,
Sheffield and
Brighton, their first since December 1997. Also that month, they released their first new original material in two years, a track called "Hey Boy, Hey Girl". This was more
house influenced than hip-hop. In interviews at the time, Rowlands and Simons indicated that the track was inspired by nights out at Sheffield club "Gatecrasher". The track was also one of their more commercially accessible tracks and went to number 3 in the UK charts.
Surrender
The third album
Surrender
was released in June 1999. It featured vocals from Noel Gallagher, Mercury Rev's
Jonathan Donahue and
Mazzy Star's Hope Sandoval. As "Hey Boy, Hey Girl" had suggested, the album was more house-oriented than the previous two. On one of the album's stand out tracks, "Out Of Control",
New Order's Bernard Sumner supported by
Primal Scream's Bobby Gillespie provided vocals. It reached Number 1 in the UK album charts, and was widely praised in the print media. The
Michel Gondry-directed
music video for "Let Forever Be", which utilized ground-breaking video and film effects in its depiction of a young woman's
methamphetamine addiction, also received a lot of attention.
Later that summer, The Brothers headlined the
Glastonbury dance tent on the Friday night, followed by a UK tour which ended in December and included
Homelands Scotland on September 4. In November, "Out Of Control", featuring Sumner and Gillespie on vocals, was released as a single. The release also contained the
Sasha remix. The final single from
Surrender
, in February 2000, was the five track "Music: Response" EP, containing the title track and two remixes, plus Electronic Battle Weapon 4 named "Freak of the Week", and a track called "Enjoyed", which was essentially a remix of "Out Of Control" by the Brothers themselves.
A CD copy of
Surrender
was placed in the third
Blue Peter
time capsule, buried in January 2000.
"It Began in Afrika"
In June 2000, Tom and Ed played the Pyramid stage at the Glastonbury Festival pulling in the largest audience ever seen in the Festival's history. In August 2000 they played to a large crowd at the main stage at Creamfields festival,
Ireland. In December 2000, The Chemical Brothers aired one of their new tracks, "It Began in Afrika" at their
New York DJ gigs, supporting
U2.
In 2001, they were quite active with releases and live performances. Early in the year, they began working on a fourth album, provisionally titled "Chemical Four". The first track which fans got a taste of was "It Began In Afrika", as previously played in their DJ set in New York. The track would make its live debut in
California in April 2001, at the
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. Another new track also got its public debut at Coachella, "Galaxy Bounce". As had become customary for their releases and experiments, "It Began In Afrika" was first pressed as a promo, as part of the "Electronic Battle Weapon" series. It received much airplay on dance music radio shows in the UK, and became more and more popular in clubs over the course of the summer. It also became one of the "anthems" in
Ibiza as the summer progressed. It was given a full commercial single release in September, reaching #8 in the UK singles chart, even though no promotional video was made for the track.
Rowlands and Simons also remixed a track from Fatboy Slim's
Halfway Between The Gutter And The Stars
, entitled "Song For Shelter."
Come with Us
The Chemical Brothers finished work on another album,
Come with Us
, in October 2001. It featured collaborations with
Richard Ashcroft ("The Test"), of
The Verve, and long-time collaborator
Beth Orton ("The State We're In"). The album was released in January 2002, preceded by a single, "Star Guitar", a melodic,
Balearic Beat number, with a promotional video by
Michel Gondry that featured passing scenery synchronized to the beat viewed through a train window. What would be the second track on the album, "It Began in Afrika", was released
September 10,
2001 to be circulated around the clubbing scene where it was a popular hit. "Star Guitar" was also released as a
DVD single, the pair's first.
The album,
Come with Us
, was less well received than their previous albums, but nonetheless went straight in at #1 in the UK album charts in the first week of its release, selling 100,000 copies. In April, the title track from the album was released as a single with remixes by
Fatboy Slim as part of a double-A sided release with "The Test".
During the summer of 2002, The Chemical Brothers traveled the festival circuit to promote the album. Later in 2002, they released two EPs, one specifically aimed at Japan and the other the US (entitled
AmericanEP
). Both contained remixes, live versions and B-sides.
One of their other major songs from this album was "Galaxy Bounce", which was popular and featured as the main title music for the
Xbox game
Project Gotham Racing
. "Star Guitar" was featured as a song on the
PSP's
Lumines II.
Two other songs, "Come with Us (Introduction)" and "Star Guitar (Title Screen)", were featured on a
PS2
racing game title
. Both songs are instrumental.
The Song
My Elastic Eye
from the "Come With Us" album was played in the 2004 movie
The Butterfly Effect [5]
starring Ashton Kutcher and Amy Smart.
Ten years of The Chemical Brothers
Late 2002 and early 2003, saw Rowlands and Simons back in the studio, working on new material, including "The Golden Path", a collaboration with
Wayne Coyne, the lead singer of
The Flaming Lips. This was released in September 2003, at the same time as a "best of" album, entitled
Singles 93-03
marking ten years of The Chemical Brothers' releases.
Singles 93-03
included most, but not all, of their singles. A second new track, in addition to "The Golden Path", was included on the album, called "Get Yourself High".
Singles 93-03
was also released on DVD, whose extra features included selected live performances and interviews with Rowlands, Simons and many of their collaborators from throughout the period. "Get Yourself High", which featured Canadian rapper
k-os on vocals, was released as a single in November 2003.
In late 2003 and 2004, The Chemical Brothers continued to work in the studio, on new material and a remix of "Slow" by
Kylie Minogue. After being released on rare white label vinyl, it was subsequently given a commercial release in March on CD (on her next single "Red Blooded Woman") and on exclusive 12" vinyl picture disc (containing two other Kylie remixes). In Summer 2004 they returned to the festival circuit, including appearances at the
Glastonbury Festival,
Tokyo,
Scotland and
Ireland. They also visited
South America for the second time (being the first time in 1999), arriving at
Chile,
Argentina and
Brazil. It was during these sets that they played new material, including "Acid Children", which proved to be one of the most popular new tracks.
In September 2004 The Chemical Brothers released the "seventh Electronic Battle Weapon". "Electronic Battle Weapon 7" was being released as a one-sided promo-only 12", containing "Acid Children". A marked departure from the Chemical Brothers' previous musical endeavours, it featured a screeching 303 bassline and a distinctive vocal sample; a pitch-altered sample of freddy's revenge proclaiming "You Are All My Children Now!", which is lifted from an old horror film,
A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge. It was coupled with the projection of a sinister clown mouthing these same words at their live gigs.
The Electronic Battle Weapon series of promo releases have typically been newly recorded Chemical Brothers tracks, released on promo to allow DJs to test them in a club environment, and to gauge their popularity.
Push the Button
In 2004, The Chemical Brothers began work on
Push the Button
, their fifth studio album, which features collaborations with
Tim Burgess,
Kele Okereke and
Anwar Superstar, amongst others. The album was released on
January 24,
2005.
"
Galvanize", which features
Q-Tip on vocals, was the first single to be taken from
Push the Button
, and premiered exclusively on
iTunes. The single was released on
January 17,
2005, and entered the UK chart at #3. The second single "Believe" (featuring Kele Okereke from
Bloc Party) failed to crack top 10, but still made it into the top 20, peaking at #18. "The Boxer", featuring Tim Burgess, became the duo's first single to fail to crack the top 40.
The album and single "Galvanize" won a Grammy in the
Grammy Awards of 2006. One of the songs in this album, "The Big Jump" appears in the video game
Burnout Revenge
, as well as
Project Gotham Racing 3
. The track "Surface To Air" features a pulsing chord progression and baseline reminiscent of the intro to
The Strokes song "The Modern Age".
The band also released a free to download version of the album entitled "Flip the Switch" from their website. The album featured alternative recordings of the tracks on Push The Button.
Tate Tracks
In September 2006, the Chemical Brothers were revealed as the first musicians to be involved in .
Tate Modern invited various groups and songwriters to choose a work that inspired them from the gallery's collection of modern art and then write a track about it. The Chemical Brothers' submission,
Rock Drill
, was inspired by the
Jacob Epstein sculpture
Torso in Metal from The Rock Drill
, and can be heard on headphones in front of the work in the gallery. From October 2006, it also became available to hear online at the Tate Tracks website.
We Are the Night
The Chemicals welcomed June 2006 with an announcement on their official forum stating that the duo had been working on fresh material, specifically an album, codenamed 'Chemical 6'.
[6]. Simons also told everyone that the band would be playing select venues in the Summer 2007 season, specifying
Rome, and also
Fabric in London. Simons is also quoted as saying that the duo are 'hoping to put a battle weapon out for the summer,'
[7], retrieved possibly referring to the 'Electronic Battle Weapon' series, which are somewhat experimental tracks the band occasionally release on
white label.
Electronic Battle Weapon 8 & 9 were debuted on
Pete Tong's
BBC Radio 1 show on
December 8th,
2006. The double sided vinyl was finally released just before The Chemical Brother's much anticipated New Year's Eve gig at the famous
Turnmills in
London. The vinyl had a limited edition release worldwide and has been received well by fans, DJs and critics alike. Electronic Battle Weapon 8 at about six and a half minutes is very distinct from the 'big acid' style that the earlier battle weapons adhered to. It is characterised by 'thundering dirty drums' with a rising
synth line, and to many it is perceived as being one of the most
euphoric tracks that the Chemicals have released. A version of this track features on the
We Are The Night
album and is entitled 'Saturate'. Electronic Battle Weapon 9 is typical Chemicals dancefloor track with their trademark
vocoder vocals coupled with sirens and a basic 'tribal' melody.
At the same
Turnmills gig, the Brothers also played a previously unreleased song at midnight to welcome 2007 which went down well with the crowd. This track eventually emerged as Burst Generator, found on the album
We Are The Night
. Many are left wondering if the latest in the Electronic Battle Weapon series were simply one off genius pieces or signal a new direction they could take with the new album, perhaps swaying from their genre defining '
big beat'
psychedelic albums of the past.
On
March 21,
2007, The Chemical Brothers officially announced their forthcoming album on
MySpace. The new album entitled
We Are the Night
, was released on
July 2,
2007 in the
United Kingdom and
July 17,
2007 in the
United States. The Chemicals cited a delay in the production of artwork for this delay.
[8] EMI subsequently released an online 'old-skool' The Chemical Brothers computer game as an apology.
[9] The track listing was released to the fans on the official mailing list on April 10. The new album is heavily collaborated with the likes of
Klaxons (on "All Rights Reversed"),
Midlake (on "The Pills Won't Help You Now"),
Ali Love (on "
Do It Again") and
Willy Mason (on "Battle Scars")
[10].
On
April 12,
2007,
Pete Tong again had the privilege of giving the world the very first preview of a Chemicals track. This time it was the first single "Do It Again" off their new album, aired on his
BBC Radio One "
In New Music We Trust" show. . The track is widely regarded as dance floor friendly, dominated by pop vocals and a minimalistic production approach. The track is regarded as a 'grower' after gaining mixed reviews after the first listen on
Pete Tong's show, with its simplistic catchy vocals and
electro beat. The official release of the single was
June 4 (digital download) and
June 14 (12", 7" and CD). The album went on general release in the UK on July 2.
In September 2007, The Chemical Brothers played a free live gig in Trafalgar Square as part of the Becks Fusions event. All who attended were provided with 3D glasses to view the on-screen visual effects.
In 2008, The Chemical Brothers' music will also be featured in a
movie adaption of
Irvine Welsh's best-selling novel
Ecstasy: Three Tales of Chemical Romance.
The Chemical Brothers supplied a new track for the Heroes Soundtrack titled "Keep My Composure".
Brotherhood
and future
In a phone interview with
Pete Tong, on
June 20 2008, Rowlands confirmed that a compilation album of all of the singles and Electronic Battle Weapons would be released later that year. In a fan email on
June 24, 2008, it was announced that the
double album collection would be called
Brotherhood
. It was released on
September 1, 2008. Disc one has a total of 15 singles, including new track "Keep My Composure" featuring
Spank Rock. A bonus track is featured on the digital download version of the album. Disc two will include all ten Electronic Battle Weapons. A tenth "Electronic Battle Weapon" has surfaced and is titled "Midnight Madness". The track is available as a downloadable single from
August 18, 2008. The single "Midnight Madness" appears in the video game
Midnight Club: Los Angeles
.
On
July 2, 2009 , The Chemical Brothers' official website changed to a new layout and background image. This has led to speculation of upcoming announcements regarding new music from the electronic duo. Nothing official has been confirmed.
Live
The Chemical Brothers are credited as being one of the few truly arena-sized electronic acts. Their live acts comprise large screens displaying
psychedelic images,
strobe lights and
lasers that project over the crowd. There has been speculation over how much of their live gigs are pre-recorded, although they insist (on their official website FAQ) that they have a mere outline of track order and the rest is mixed live. This would seem to be confirmed by concertgoers who have seen gigs on consecutive nights and have posted notable differences between the sets played (see external links below.)
The Brothers have also played at many major festivals, from
Glastonbury to the
Reading, the
HFStival, and
Leeds festival. They currently hold the record for most gigs performed in a year at the
Brixton Academy. The brothers have infamously despite their high status in the mainstream, never appeared on
Top of the Pops, with the use of music videos to replace the performance, sometimes accompanied by a video apologising for their absence. In 1999 a live US tour video of "Hey Boy, Hey Girl" was shown, even though the song was not in the top 40 at the time, and also released other singles before then at the time.
In addition to performing their own music they also hold regular
DJ nights where they mix other artist's tracks (in the style of
Brothers Gonna Work It Out
).
As with their recorded albums The Chemical Brothers are well known for their incorporation of guest vocalists into their live performances. Notable appearances in recent gigs have included
Bernard Sumner of
New Order, who sang on the original "Out of Control",
Wayne Coyne of
The Flaming Lips, and
Tim Burgess.
The duo also played at the launch event for the
Wii video game console.
On the night of the
1 September,
2007, The Chemical Brothers played at the main stage of the
Electric Picnic to a crowd of around 20,000.
The Chemical Brothers appeared in Los Angeles on
September 29,
2007, headlining the 13th Annual Nocturnal Wonderland Festival.
The duo was one of the head-liners for
Roskilde Festival 2008 in Denmark. The festival is held from the 3rd-6th of July and is the biggest festival in Northern Europe.
Chemical Brothers played at
London's Olympia Grand Hall on
August 30,
2008. This was the first time any major band has played at Olympia's Grand Hall in over 10 years.
On April 18, 2009, The Chemical Brothers performed a DJ Set at the
Coachella Festival, at which they premiered two currently unnamed new tracks.
Typeface
The typeface used to write the typical "The Chemical Brothers" logo is derived from Sho
[11], designed by
Karlgeorg Hoefer in 1992. The Chemical Brothers' original logo differs only in a few details from orthodox Sho, e.g. in the letters a and b. holds the licence for this typeface.
Discography
See also
- Fatboy Slim
- The Prodigy
- The Crystal Method
References
- Star Guitar
- ''Brothers Gonna Work It Out'' (XDUSTCD 101) booklet, page 2.
- Sample Sources
- Dig Your Own Hole : The Chemical Brothers : Review
- The Butterfly Effect (2004) - Soundtracks
- Chemical Brothers New Material - The Chemical Brothers Official Site
- Post at the official forum
- Album release date announced - The Chemical Brothers Official Website
- New album The Chemical Brothers delayed, here's a 'sorry guys' - EMI Records
- The Chemical Brothers launch details new album
- "Sho" typeface font at Linotype