IDM Mailing Archive

Chris.Hilker states:

quoted 5 lines Jill says 'Exit Planet Dust' is her favorite album of the year so far,

>Jill says 'Exit Planet Dust' is her favorite album of the year so far, >and I can't say I disagree strongly. It's a big, happy, FUN album with >tons of energy that's still well-suited for home listening. Now if we can >only convince Astralwerks to compile a CD of tracks from their 12"-only >EP's and their remix work, we'll be cookin' with gas. :)

Yeah. The Chemical Brothers certainly have used the media/hype machine to put their names and faces in the press, no doubt. Naturally, _Exit Planet Dust_ had a lot of people wanting it before it came out, due to the nature of people liking those 12" EP's so much, and the delay between the EP's and the LP certainly didn't help leading to their canonization. :) It is a pretty cool release, no doubt. Anyone note the similiarity in the artwork (I guess in concept) to Erasure's _Chorus_? [ie, pictures taken from those multi-picture frames you get at places like K-mart or Wal-mart real cheap) Andrew -- Andrew Bennett abennett@hyperreal.com, abennett@cruzio.com <--- new address! http://taz.hyperreal.com/~abennett/

quoted 4 lines Naturally, _Exit Planet Dust_ had a lot of people wanting it before it

> Naturally, _Exit Planet Dust_ had a lot of people wanting it before it > came out, due to the nature of people liking those 12" EP's so much, > and the delay between the EP's and the LP certainly didn't help > leading to their canonization. :)

I think it is accessible enough material that the majority of people who will be buying the album will be people who have never heard of the Dust or Chemical Brothers, and in the end the delay and the missing tracks from the EPs isn't going to stop any of the old fans from buying it... the bottom line is money, and _Exit Planet Dust_ is a cash cow. Review follows: The Chemical Brothers: Exit Planet Dust 1995 US CD: Astralwerks ASW 6157-2 5:32 Leave Home 4:47 Chico's Groove 5:17 In Dust We Trust 4:12 One Too Many Mornings 3:16 Song To The Siren 6:33 Life Is Sweet 5:38 Three Little Birdies Down Beats 2:30 Playground For A Wedgeless Firm 1:25 Fuck Up Beats 5:16 Alive Alone 4:50 Chemical Beats Summary: overly catchy but promising drum-heavy techno-funk themes The Chemical Brothers' new record, thankfully out now in the US, opens with a relentless suite of big sampled beats and fuzzy electric basslines, a nonstop hoopty booming jam for the young and restless spanning 6 tracks, including previous rave anthems "Song to the Siren" and "Chemical Beats". That _Exit Planet Dust_ will be the most popular and overplayed techno crossover album of the year is almost a given; its only major flaw being in Rowlands & Simons' predilection for repetition of a theme rather than variations on it --a pitfall of making instantly likable dance music, but something the average fan won't care about in light of the album's high-volume, foot-stomping Beastie-Boys-on-caffeine appeal. The second half of the album is slower and dubbier, with two tracks featuring vocals by The Charlatans' Tim Burgess, harkening back to the days when 'rave' meant baggy pants and Manchester dance rock as much as it meant 808 State and acid house. I'm hoping the Chemical Brothers move on to more original, less sample heavy music, but in the meantime their debut album is welcome in my deck anytime.