IDM Mailing Archive

i've a few questions about the chemical brothers. i read somewhere that they used to be called the dust brothers but they had to change their name for legal reasons. so were they the same dust brothers that produced paul's boutique by the beastie boys? or is that why they had to change their name? also, none of the stores aroud my area have any of their releases. are they hard to find in the US? do my stores just suck? that's always a possibility... so what's the deal? are they worth the effort of finding them? thanks for any and all replies! alan! onnow: "into the blue" (simple mix) : moby ---------------------------- Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the men of old; seek what they sought. -Basho

On Wed, 31 Jan 1996, alanoma wrote:

quoted 6 lines i've a few questions about the chemical brothers. i read somewhere that they

> i've a few questions about the chemical brothers. i read somewhere that they > used to be called the dust brothers but they had to change their name for legal > reasons. so were they the same dust brothers that produced paul's boutique by > the beastie boys? or is that why they had to change their name? also, none of > the stores aroud my area have any of their releases. are they hard to find in > the US? do my stores just suck? that's always a possibility... so what's the

The Dust Brothers on Paul's Boutique are the lousy rotten scallywags who made them change their name. I guess the Chems could have called themselves Dust Brothers U.K., but that's been played out. True the stuff is kind of hard to find, as is most stuff on Astralwerks, considering how easy it should be. It's not like Astralwerks used to have stuff at every Best Buy on the planet. Tower usually has Chemical Bros. music. You should check out their remix of Jailbird by Primal Scream. Awsum. So is the Charlatans vs. Mistress ov Dust

quoted 1 line Chemical Brothers hard to find? That's disheartening

> Chemical Brothers hard to find? That's disheartening

And unbelievable too, since probably the Hell freezes over, before we can finally get rid of them! ;) Who else thinks that the Bros have gotten away with an ingenious scam by making totally similar-sounding records, with the same *jaded* hip-hop/electro/acid samples every fucking time, and getting them all to charts; not to talk about making it to the cover of every bleeding "indie" and trendspotter magazine... The ChemBros are The Monkees of techno, though I actually liked the Monkees ;) So that's only how I can enjoy them: as the stupid fun they can be, when they reach their best ;) The brothers gonna work it out - and laugh all the way to bank! ;) ERkki when you laugh, they can't kill you trerra@uta.fi

quoted 12 lines Chemical Brothers hard to find? That's disheartening

>> Chemical Brothers hard to find? That's disheartening > >And unbelievable too, since probably the Hell freezes >over, before we can finally get rid of them! ;) > >Who else thinks that the Bros have gotten away with an >ingenious scam by making totally similar-sounding >records, with the same *jaded* hip-hop/electro/acid samples >every fucking time, and getting them all to charts; not >to talk about making it to the cover of every bleeding >"indie" and trendspotter magazine... >

I could not agree more. To me, they are more "rock" than techno. Not a compliment in my book. _`~=~=~`boom~~`boom~=~= _-I-__\ /__ ` ~ / \_ -I-

Who else thinks that the Bros have gotten away with an ingenious scam by making totally similar-sounding records, with the same *jaded* hip-hop/electro/acid samples every fucking time, and getting them all to charts; not Would like to offer some authoratative comment here, but I have heard only "If you Kling to Me I'll Klong to You". to talk about making it to the cover of every bleeding "indie" and trendspotter magazine... K-yuk ;) The ChemBros are The Monkees of techno, though I actually liked the Monkees ;) So that's only how I can enjoy them: as the stupid fun they can be, when they reach their best ;) Yeah but hey! They made "If you Kling to Me I'll Klong to You"! So what can you say to that!? ;) l8r

Who else thinks that the Bros have gotten away with an

quoted 2 lines ingenious scam by making totally similar-sounding

>ingenious scam by making totally similar-sounding >records....

<<<<<<<Rockist they may be, but these are two guys who have never pretended to be techno boffins. They're two guys who love beats and breaks and samples just as much as they love acid house and big fuck-off guitars. They are products of their environment, but don't necessarily wear their influences on their sleeves either. They may have created the formula, but it works! So what! They have spawned a clique of producers who have essentially copied their formula and done the exact same thing (Crystal Method, Bassbin Twins, DJ Who, DJ Icee/Icey, to name a few) Unfortunately, we live in a country that has a love affair with guitars. It is because dance music (i.e.: disco) was dismissed as a black and gay movement or as it progressed, a cheesy straight white guy thing, that America didn't want anything to do with it. So if it takes someone like the Chemical Brothers or Josh Wink to lead someone to the music, great - because hopefully they'll realize that there is more to this music, there's people like Derrick May, Oliver Leib, Jeff Mills, LTJ Bukem, Pete Namlook, Stefan Robbers, Dan Curtin, Ken Ishii, and this list can go on and on. If it takes them to be a catalyst, it's great for all of us who like more underground sounds and are trying to educate people. And one more thing, you all probably weren't saying shit like this two years ago when "Chemical Beats" dropped. Peace, Peter Wohelski Astralwerks

_> do with it. So if it takes someone like the Chemical Brothers _> or Josh Wink to lead someone to the music, great - because _> hopefully they'll realize that there is more to this music, _> there's people like Derrick May, Oliver Leib, Jeff Mills, LTJ _> Bukem, Pete Namlook, Stefan Robbers, Dan Curtin, Ken Ishii, and _> this list can go on and on. If it takes them to be a catalyst, _> it's great for all of us who like more underground sounds and _> are trying to educate people. Hmm, this reminds me of the things I heard about Nirvana about 4-5 years ago. I remember seeing Nirvana support Sonic Youth at this really small gig in Cork ( Sir Henrys ), and people going oh wow, these guys are great. Then suddenly when they hit the big time the alternative music scene was split into 'Nirvana are great and deserve the attention'/'Nirvana are crap and are just a well marketed formula'. Either which way they did popularise that form of music, and IMHO lower it to the standard of what music has to be to be acceptable to the general public. Well, I'll rephrase that. Nirvana presented the music industry with a formula which was then used, abused and basically stuffed down our faces. Now, this is what worries me about the Chemical Brothers popularity, and Orbitals popularity. I like the CBs, I love Orbital. But now that they are starting to make a name for themselves we are going to see ( and this is a prediction of mine ) lotsnlots of clones of these formulae appearing all over the place. _> And one more thing, you all probably weren't saying shit like _> this two years ago when "Chemical Beats" dropped. Exactly. Anyone into Guitar music loved 'Smells like teen..' until it became too popular. Sorry for boring you with conversation on non idm, but I think it is relevant here. Hary J Walsh hwalsh@drlove.ilo.dec.com +353 91 754169 Even a stopped clock gives Digital Equipment International, the right time twice a day. Galway, Ireland.

Summary of the thread thus far: 1. Chemical Brother suck 2. Josh Wink sucks 3. No they don't 4. You just say that because when people get big, they're no longer cool. You're all partially right. The thing you have to take into account is the shock of the new. Something new comes along and it grabs your ear. It sounds different than all the other stuff. It's a new toy. After a while you're addicted to hearing something new again, and the old stuff loses it's charm. It's very difficult for young people to deal with quick success. Creative people seem to have a screw loose by and large, and big success just loosens the screws more. As one of the elder members of the IDM list I've watched many people flame out over the years. Starting with Janis Joplin, in case anyone's wondering HOW old I am. The thing is, when you see someone play (or buy their records) when they're on the way up, when they're not tired out, and working with the ideas it took them their whole lives to develop. They're going to have a special something that will be gone 2 yrs down the line. The people with level heads, talent, and a willingness to take risks will have something with which to replace that first special bloom. NON-IDM: I saw Sonic Youth very early in their career, they had the magic. They seem to have aged gracefully. I saw Nirvana on the Bleach Tour and they were tremendous. We know what happened there. Same for Pavement. Saw them play for 50 people, and then 500 people 2 years later. The jury's still out on them, but they were great both times. I do miss Gary the insane drummer, though. The Chemical Brothers? I don't know yet. Anyone who can come up with a track as insanely great as Chemical Beats might have a chance. I couldn't be happier that the shifted 100K units. And how can you look down your nose at someone who feeds their drum tracks through a Marshall stack? And lest we forget, Chemical beats has a positively endless snare buildup. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Home Page: http://I.m.too.dumb.to.hack.html/~kent Kent Williams kent@inav.net (319) 338 6053 (home) (319) 626 6700 x 219 (work) (319) 626 3489 (fax)

At 08:11 AM 01/02/96 -0800, transmat@teleport.com wrote:

quoted 15 lines Chemical Brothers hard to find? That's disheartening

>>> Chemical Brothers hard to find? That's disheartening >> >>And unbelievable too, since probably the Hell freezes >>over, before we can finally get rid of them! ;) >> >>Who else thinks that the Bros have gotten away with an >>ingenious scam by making totally similar-sounding >>records, with the same *jaded* hip-hop/electro/acid samples >>every fucking time, and getting them all to charts; not >>to talk about making it to the cover of every bleeding >>"indie" and trendspotter magazine... >> > >I could not agree more. To me, they are more "rock" than techno. Not a >compliment in my book.

Are you missing the point? They are rock. They're as techno as Skylab, which isn't saying much. (imho, of course) They make no bones about being an 'indie' band ... look at their choices of bands to remix. That's the best part about them - it's fun ... and I'd much rather hear the Chem's than Baby D. (in regard to being overplayed) Yes most of their stuff sounds the same - but look at the Jedi Knights as a comparison. It yields the same results > jaded hip-hop/electro/acid samples with cheese vocoder. Fun, too, but certainly not innovative. And if you wanna talk about 'rock' in techno - Orbital, Underworld, Aphex, etc ... It's all rock 'n' roll. Afraid he's gonna get hate mail ... Ian (floe:MaddogMgmt.) >> Toronto'Ontario

quoted 1 line From: Erkki Rautio <trerra@uta.fi>

>From: Erkki Rautio <trerra@uta.fi>

quoted 6 lines Who else thinks that the Bros have gotten away with an

>Who else thinks that the Bros have gotten away with an >ingenious scam by making totally similar-sounding >records, with the same *jaded* hip-hop/electro/acid samples >every fucking time, and getting them all to charts; not >to talk about making it to the cover of every bleeding >"indie" and trendspotter magazine...

i've found their singles to be quite enjoyable. the two-disc _life is sweet_ has some amazing tracks. however, i would have to say that the album is verging into indiland. e r i k _______________________ ephillard@ucdavis.edu ========================= w a t c h & l i s t e n

quoted 1 line At 08:11 AM 01/02/96 -0800, transmat@teleport.com wrote:

>At 08:11 AM 01/02/96 -0800, transmat@teleport.com wrote:

quoted 7 lines And if you wanna talk about 'rock' in techno - Orbital, Underworld, Aphex,

> >And if you wanna talk about 'rock' in techno - Orbital, Underworld, Aphex, >etc ... >It's all rock 'n' roll. > >Afraid he's gonna get hate mail ... >

Nope...no hate mail...just another opinion.

quoted 1 line richard

>richard

_`~=~=~`boom~~`boom~=~= _-I-__\ /__ ` ~ / \_ -I-

At 06:06 PM 2/1/96 -0800, e r i k wrote:

quoted 13 lines From: Erkki Rautio <trerra@uta.fi>

>>From: Erkki Rautio <trerra@uta.fi> > >>Who else thinks that the Bros have gotten away with an >>ingenious scam by making totally similar-sounding >>records, with the same *jaded* hip-hop/electro/acid samples >>every fucking time, and getting them all to charts; not >>to talk about making it to the cover of every bleeding >>"indie" and trendspotter magazine... > >i've found their singles to be quite enjoyable. the two-disc _life is >sweet_ has some amazing tracks. however, i would have to say that the >album is verging into indiland. >

And what is so bad about rock? (this was a rhetorical question) Part of my definition of CHILL OUT is british rock. The last songs on Exit Planet Dust are exactly as chilling as I like them to be --> a little bit of manchester plus some 4AD and here and all this in an ambient envelope. snow snowjob@actcom.co.il The Morpheus Equation: Start + Middle + End = Sand

On Fri, 2 Feb 1996, Eylon Israeli wrote:

quoted 7 lines And what is so bad about rock? (this was a rhetorical question)

> And what is so bad about rock? (this was a rhetorical question) > > > Part of my definition of CHILL OUT is british rock. The last songs on Exit > Planet Dust > are exactly as chilling as I like them to be --> a little bit of manchester > plus some 4AD and here and all this in an ambient envelope.

I came back from a club before New Year's and listened to Teenage Fanclub - it was some of the most relaxing music I'd listened to for ages, and I was asleep within the hour - which doesn't normally happen when I finish clubbing. It's my intention to listen to more non-idm stuff after 3am, as traitorous as that may sound, Rob.

On Fri, 2 Feb 1996, Eylon Israeli wrote:

quoted 1 line And what is so bad about rock? (this was a rhetorical question)

> And what is so bad about rock? (this was a rhetorical question)

It sucks, that's what. It's been dead for a long time, but the rigor mortis is so bad that people think there's life ther.e Rock is status quo, it's THINGS STAYING THE SAEM. It's a vestige of the industrial age , part of the past which has no place in my present or future. I like my music fresh. Chemical Bros. reek of the sweet stench of decay, those fucking Rot'NRoll beats make me reach for the STOP button, but of course assure suckcess w the Wonder Bred Alternative Crock college crowds. This may be fine for U if UR young, but I got sick of that shit years ago. Drum'NBass, anyone? Yes, I know this drips w/ venom - I just hate to see people confusing Chem. Bros. w/ IDM. Rock should be discussed elsewhere. Che

On Sun, 4 Feb 1996, Che wrote: Rock is (S)tatus (Q)uo

quoted 1 line Che

> Che

Well, that about sums it up really, doesn't it?

At 11:38 AM 2/2/96 GMT, Hary J Walsh wrote:

quoted 7 lines Now, this is what worries me about the Chemical Brothers popularity,

> >Now, this is what worries me about the Chemical Brothers popularity, >and Orbitals popularity. I like the CBs, I love Orbital. But now >that they are starting to make a name for themselves we are going to >see ( and this is a prediction of mine ) lotsnlots of clones of these >formulae appearing all over the place. >

But at least we might be able to see more shows, more raves, more events with the 'good' bands... maybe the situation is ok wherever you are from but here there are simply NO events and the frequency I get out to REALY enjoy electronic bleeps is down to about once per 3 months and even then it is a comprimise. popularization will make it easier and I don't think all our IDM 'idols' will get bad. snow snowjob@actcom.co.il The Morpheus Equation: Start + Middle + End = Sand

----------

quoted 19 lines From: idm-owner

>From: idm-owner >To: kent >Cc: idm >Subject: Re: (idm) Chemical Imbalance >Date: Thursday, February 01, 1996 6:02PM > > >> Chemical Brothers hard to find? That's disheartening > >And unbelievable too, since probably the Hell freezes >over, before we can finally get rid of them! ;) > >Who else thinks that the Bros have gotten away with an >ingenious scam by making totally similar-sounding >records, with the same *jaded* hip-hop/electro/acid samples >every fucking time, and getting them all to charts; not >to talk about making it to the cover of every bleeding >"indie" and trendspotter magazine... >

No.

quoted 5 lines The ChemBros are The Monkees of techno, though I

>The ChemBros are The Monkees of techno, though I >actually liked the Monkees ;) So that's only how I can >enjoy them: as the stupid fun they can be, when they >reach their best ;) >

The Monkees of techno? This as a form of comparison seems a bit odd.

quoted 3 lines The brothers gonna work it out - and laugh all the way

>The brothers gonna work it out - and laugh all the way >to bank! ;) >

Oh, is that what it's all about is it?

quoted 2 lines ERkki

>ERkki >when you laugh, they can't kill you

I'm not so sure!

quoted 3 lines trerra@uta.fi

>trerra@uta.fi > >

quoted 6 lines The ChemBros are The Monkees of techno, though I

> >The ChemBros are The Monkees of techno, though I > >actually liked the Monkees ;) So that's only how I can > >enjoy them: as the stupid fun they can be, when they > >reach their best ;) > > > The Monkees of techno? This as a form of comparison seems a bit odd.

Well, for those of you who don't know the history: The Monkees were a commercial pop band in the 60's, who were put together for a TV show as a cash-off for the Beatlemania going on at the same; consisting of four unknown wannabes, who could sing a bit, could fiddle with instruments a little, and most important of all, looked good to all little teeny girls ;) Among the "rock establishment" The Monkees were totally derided as a scam, it was rumoured they didn't even play themselves on their records (remember Frankie Goes To Hollywood - or Milli Vanilli? ;), their hits were all written by some professional songwriters, and not the band themselves, etc. But after all, some of their stuff was quite enjoyable (IMHO ;) - fuck about the street cred and all that jazz! ;) Well, I admit comparing CB to The Monkees was maybe a bit clumsy; my point was only that the "bros" managed to find a successful formula for themselves, were lucky to kiss the right persons' asses, were hanging around with the "rock" people and indie press (NME, Melody Maker, Select) hacks, and subsequently "made" it - and now have *hell of a problem* to get out of that "hit" rut - if you listened to their latest "Loops of Fury" EP, there was absolutely *nothing dissimilar* to their earlier records! Well, isn't this starting to look like a proof that "making it to the top" takes more record company A&R lobbying, a bit of good luck, and *a lot* of media hype THAN actual talent...? If we are talking about such old-fashioned concepts as "art", shouldn't you, *as an artist*, be able to *renew* yourself after every once in a while, or are you happy to just to put out your latest formula/conveyor-belt/mass product and give people "what they want"...? ;) In repeating themselves CB are good, I admit; we'll just see if they are around in, say, two years time... But after all, all pop music (and that's what CB *are*) is disposable, isn't it - so fuck that? ;)

quoted 4 lines The brothers gonna work it out - and laugh all the way

> >The brothers gonna work it out - and laugh all the way > >to bank! ;) > > > Oh, is that what it's all about is it?

Well, who in their right minds would object? ;)

quoted 4 lines ERkki

> >ERkki > >when you laugh, they can't kill you > > I'm not so sure!

I ignored that ;) Peace, ERkki when you laugh, they can't kill you trerra@uta.fi

At 02:21 AM 2/3/96 +0000, Rob Thorley wrote:

quoted 16 lines On Fri, 2 Feb 1996, Eylon Israeli wrote:

>On Fri, 2 Feb 1996, Eylon Israeli wrote: > >> And what is so bad about rock? (this was a rhetorical question) >> >> >> Part of my definition of CHILL OUT is british rock. The last songs on Exit >> Planet Dust >> are exactly as chilling as I like them to be --> a little bit of manchester >> plus some 4AD and here and all this in an ambient envelope. > >I came back from a club before New Year's and listened to Teenage Fanclub >- it was some of the most relaxing music I'd listened to for ages, and I >was asleep within the hour - which doesn't normally happen when I finish >clubbing. It's my intention to listen to more non-idm stuff after 3am, as >traitorous as that may sound, >

Yeah, I get many angry looks from my friends when instead of putting on some orb or old aphex after a party I put on Psychocandie by The Jesus and mary chain. snow snowjob@actcom.co.il The Morpheus Equation: Start + Middle + End = Sand

At 11:23 AM 2/4/96 +0000, Che wrote:

quoted 22 lines On Fri, 2 Feb 1996, Eylon Israeli wrote:

>On Fri, 2 Feb 1996, Eylon Israeli wrote: > >> And what is so bad about rock? (this was a rhetorical question) > >It sucks, that's what. It's been dead for a long time, but the rigor >mortis is so bad that people think there's life ther.e Rock is status >quo, it's THINGS STAYING THE SAEM. It's a vestige of the industrial age >, part of the past which has no place in my present or future. > >I like my music fresh. Chemical Bros. reek of the sweet stench of decay, >those fucking Rot'NRoll beats make me reach for the STOP button, but of >course assure suckcess w the Wonder Bred Alternative Crock college crowds. >This may be fine for U if UR young, but I got sick of that shit years >ago. Drum'NBass, anyone? > >Yes, I know this drips w/ venom - I just hate to see people confusing >Chem. Bros. w/ IDM. Rock should be discussed elsewhere. > >Che > > >

Venom T'is! Rock and Techno are two seperate sorts of music. Most people can't seem to grasp the idea that different kinds of music take different kind of listening. The music of the dust brothers and other similar stuff (Dj Hardware) releases power in the sort of way used in rock. They caught the essence of it transformed it into techno. I don't think they're geniuses, they just make music. Chill out! snow snowjob@actcom.co.il The Morpheus Equation: Start + Middle + End = Sand