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The Chemical Brothers

Chemical Brothers, The

photo: Kevin Westenberg

45 articles

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The Chemical Brothers, Death In Vegas: Brixton Academy, London

Live Review by Paul Moody, New Musical Express, 19 April 1994

"E'S, COKE, anything you want..." Yeah, you gotta admit it: Brixton knows how to party. No sooner have you navigated your way around the slurring ...

Chemistry Set: the Chemical Brothers

Interview by John Robb, Loaded, 1995

WHEN THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS come to town, DJ'ing takes on a whole new dimension. The duo play the decks like two fucked-up guitar gods. Lanky ...

The British Invasion?

Report by Frank Broughton, Blah Blah Blah, 1995

With the Chemicals and Underworld making waves stateside, is dance music finally reaching mainstream America? ...

The Chemical Brothers: Chemicrazy Pilots

Interview by Push, Muzik, June 1995

They've changed their name from The Dust Brothers to THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS and their beats are beefier than ever. Stand by for the imminent release ...

Apothecary Now: The Chemical Brothers : Exit Planet Dust (Junior Boys Own)

Review by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 24 June 1995

THINK OF THE truly great, era-defining albums of the last 18 months. Definitely Maybe would be in there. Ill Communication and Dummy, too. ...

Trip Hop: Where The Beats Have No Name

Report and Interview by Stephen Dalton, Vox, July 1995

Trip-hop is now part of pop's international language — but the pioneers of Britain's most successful musical export in years refuse to admit it exists... ...

The Chemical Brothers: Haçienda, Manchester

Live Review by John Robb, Melody Maker, 1 July 1995

H2SO4 REAL! ...

The Chemical Brothers: Exit Planet Dust (Junior Boys Own XOUSTCD1)

Review by Lisa Verrico, Vox, August 1995

Guerrillas in the chemist ...

The Chemical Brothers: Chemical Abuse

Interview by Lisa Verrico, Vox, August 1995

Last year, the Chemical Brothers were just a couple of DJs with a legendary reputation for drug taking. Now they're almost as famous as the ...

The Chemical Brothers: Rock Steady Dance Beat

Interview by Lisa Verrico, The Guardian, 25 August 1995

Who says dance and rock don't mix? Lisa Verrico talks to the Chemical Brothers — a DJ outfit who make it work ...

War Child

Report and Interview by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 9 September 1995

IAN WATSON talks to the bands who are contributing to the Help album and how this project compares to pop's last major charity initiative, the ...

The Chemical Brothers: Astoria, London

Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 28 October 1995

OH NO, not the eyelids again... Nurse! ...

The Chemical Brothers: The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers

Interview by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 20 January 1996

Ed Simons and Tom Rowlands aka THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS are the Stooges of techno — freaky, raw and seriously hip. Like The Orb, The Prodigy, ...

The Chemistry Set — The Chemical Brothers: Academy, Manchester

Live Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 26 October 1996

Dave Simpson takes some Anadin with The Chemical Brothers ...

The Lucifer-y Freak Brothers: The Chemical Brothers: The Academy, Manchester

Live Review by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 2 November 1996

THE BOY ONSTAGE looks surprisingly calm and bright eyed. He gazes out at the mass of seething bodies, hunches his shoulders in a quietly at-one ...

Who Put The Bleep In The Boom-Chi Bleep?

Overview by Pat Blashill, Details, December 1996

PAT BLASHILL TRACES THE HISTORY OF ELECTRO, THE UNSUNG SOURCE OF RAP, TECHNO, AND TRIP-HOP ...

The Chemical Brothers: Dig Your Own Hole

Review and Interview by Cliff Jones, MOJO, April 1997

AT ABOUT 1.15 ON THE MORNING OF APRIL 7, 1966, pop music went and changed forever. The Beatles had just completed the first day's work ...

The Chemical Brothers: Chemical Warfare

Interview by Pat Blashill, Details, April 1997

THEY DON'T PLAY ANY INSTRUMENTS, BUT THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS HAVE INVENTED DANCE MUSIC'S BRAND-NEW BEAT. PAT BLASHILL MIXES IT UP WITH ELECTRONICA'S PREMIER BOOGIE BAND. ...

The Chemical Brothers: Who, Us?

Interview by Eric Weisbard, Spin, June 1997

The world wonders: Can a shlumpy pair of English breakbeat obsessives rescue rock music from its current doldrums? Ugh, groan the Chemical Brothers. Ugh, seconds ...

The Chemical Brothers: The Big Boom Theory

Interview by Andy Gill, Q, September 1997

Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons — aka The Chemical Brothers — are rewriting the rock'n'roll rule book with their earth-moving amalgam of big beats, old ...

The Chemical Brothers: Octagon Theatre, Sheffield

Live Review by Steven Wells, New Musical Express, 13 December 1997

THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS: A couple of girly-haired posho Oxbridge medieval language student chancers who claim that their 'big beat' mobile disco can knock any rock ...

Run DMC, Chemical Brothers, Roni Size et al: Creamfields, Winchester

Live Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 9 May 1998

It's a Cream come true! We join the madness that's CREAMFIELDS in Winchester with Primal Scream! Cornershop! Roni Size! Run DMC! The full bloody monty! ...

Funkmaster Flex: The Mix Tape Volume III: The Final Chapter (Loud); The Chemical Brothers: Brothers Gonna Work It Out (Freestyle Dust)

Review by James Hunter, Rolling Stone, 3 September 1998

PERFECT CHEMISTRY ...

The Chemical Brothers: Beat generation

Interview by Sean O'Hagan, The Guardian, 12 June 1999

The Chemical Brothers are the Clark Kents of dance music — mild-mannered and thoughtful in private, impossibly fast, pile-drivingly powerful on stage. So how did ...

Chemical Brothers: Surrender

Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 18 June 1999

THIS ALBUM SOUNDS like the Chemical Brothers threw one hell of a party. Banging on the door with 'Let Forever Be', in his first dalliance ...

Chemical Brothers: Surrender (Astralwerks 47610)

Review by J.D. Considine, Baltimore Sun, 22 June 1999

Surrender a heady mix Electronic music's Chemical Brothers simply dub over the torpedoes, go full speed ahead. ...

Chemical Brothers: Heeeere we go!

Review by Jon Savage, MOJO, July 1999

The Chemical Brothers: Surrender First album since 1997's chart-topping Dig Your Own Hole features guest vocals from Noel Gallagher, Hope Sandoval, Jonathan Donahue and Bernard ...

Quantum Leaping — The Chemical Brothers: Surrender (Virgin XDUSTCD4)

Review by Ian Gittins, Q, July 1999

It may not have been broken, but they've certainly fixed it. ...

The Chemical Brothers: Back To The Lab

Interview by Simon Reynolds, Spin, July 1999

WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN THE BLOCK-ROCKIN' SOUND YOU INVENTED HAS BECOME THE SOUNDTRACK TO LAME TEEN FLICKS AND TAMPON COMMERCIALS? IF YOU'RE THE CHEMICAL ...

Warhol: The Herald Of Sampling

Comment by Tony Scherman, The New York Times, 7 November 1999

MENTION ANDY Warhol's relationship to pop music, and the first name to crop up will be that of the Velvet Underground, the band Warhol championed ...

Dark Side of the Rave

Report by Pat Blashill, Rolling Stone, 11 November 1999

Drug deaths and police crackdowns threaten the national rave scene ...

Album of the Year: Never mind Talvin Singh, here's the bollocks...

Interview by Toby Manning, Jockey Slut, December 1999

High above central London, Jockey Slut assembled an illustrious panel to debate, Mercury Prize-style, the album of the year in the plush environs of Home's ...

Chemical Brothers: Popping to the Chemist's

Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 18 January 2002

The Chemical Bros are just what the doctor ordered, says Lisa Verrico ...

Chemical Brothers: Come With Us (Freestyle Dust/Virgin)***

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, February 2002

PSYCHEDELIA-TINGED fourth offering from Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons, featuring Beth Orton and Richard Ashcroft ...

The Chemical Brothers: Come With Us (Astralwerks)

Review by Simon Reynolds, Spin, February 2002

No surrender: With dance music in a funk, the Chemical Brothers return to Big Beats ...

Lifestyles of the Rhythm

Overview by James Hunter, The Village Voice, 2 July 2002

Dance music accesses an unseparatist pop sensibility ...

King Coyne Meets The Chemicals Uptown: A Summit Meeting with the Lips and the Chems

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, October 2003

SOMEHOW IT WAS inevitable that the Chemical Brothers – those High Priests of the rock/dance interface – would one day work with Oklahoma City's Finest. ...

The Turn Away from the Turntable: Daft Punk and the Chemical Brothers

Report by Simon Reynolds, The New York Times, 23 January 2005

IN THE FIRST months of 2005, two of electronic dance music's biggest bands will release what are generally referred to as long-awaited albums. ...

Dancing To The Death: The New Club Culture

Report and Interview by Sheryl Garratt, The Times, 28 January 2005

CLUB CULTURE is over so no music coming out of the dance arena can be interesting. It's not usually put so bluntly but I've read ...

The Chemical Brothers: Push The Button

Review by Nick Southall, Stylus, 28 January 2005

IN THE MID-90S it looked as if dance music was on the verge of total crossover into the rock-oriented mainstream, and for a while I ...

Chemical Brothers: Apollo, Manchester

Live Review by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 14 March 2005

FOR MUCH of the past decade, the Chemical Brothers seemed indestructible. They topped the charts, broke audience records at Glastonbury, and even won a Grammy ...

Chemical Brothers: Chemical Romance

Report and Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 7 December 2007

WHILE MANY OF their 1990s superstar DJ peers have fallen by the wayside, the Chemical Brothers remain a phenomenal British success story. Duo Ed Simons, ...

Chemical Brothers: Talking about new album Brotherhood

Interview by Sheryl Garratt, Daily Telegraph, 23 August 2008

They started out playing the back rooms of pubs, and now fill stadiums around the world. But despite being Britain's biggest dance act, the Chemical ...

The Chemical Brothers: Further

Review by Pete Paphides, The Times, 12 June 2010

LIKE DICTAPHONE-WIELDING Dorothys reporting back the news that, actually, the Wizard was just, like, this bloke, the Chemical Brothers' interviewers still struggle to contain their ...

Chemical Brothers: The sound of grown ups at play

Interview by Rob Fitzpatrick, The Sunday Times, 20 June 2010

NOTE: This is the original "director's cut" version of the piece that ran in The Sunday Times. ...

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