4 posts tagged “astralwerks”

 09/18/2008 20:21:52  ♥ written by vu ()

The Chemical Brothers - Keep My Composure The Chemical Brothers 3 comments Discography [Jun 1995] Exit Planet Dust [Apr 1997] Dig Your Own Hole [Jun 1999] Surrender [Jan 2002] Come with Us [Jan 2005] Push the Button [Jul 2007] We Are the Night Read More The Chemical Brothers - The Salmon Dance http://weheartmus... The first time I heard about The Chemical Brothers, they were known as The Dust Brothers, named ...

Let me throw out some numbers to impress you: 10 million records sold, 5 consecutive UK #1 albums, 4 Grammy Awards..... The Chemical Brothers needs no introduction. (Be sure to check my previous Chemical Brothers article for We Are the Night if you do need an introduction.)

Their second greatest hits album, Brotherhood (the first was Singles 93-03), they prove they are still the big beat techno kings with two brand new tracks, "Midnight Madness" and "Keep My Composure". I was doubtful, at first, for the new tracks, because I felt the intro to "Keep My Composure", was weak - however the song quickly turn amazing when Spank Rock did more rapping. "Composure" feels like "Galvanize", a mix between beats and rap - a sound that the Brothers seems to be heading towards.

Those are the two stand-out new tracks, but we shouldn't ignore the other 12 greatest hits tracks. Some of their best known songs are on here - unfortunately my favorite song, "Life Is Sweet", isn't on here. This is understandable because if you listen to their debut album, the song doesn't really have an ending (it just morphs into "Playground for a Wedgeless Firm").

The Chemical Brothers (featuring Fatlip) - The Salmon Dance

I personally think that they are also known for their amazing music videos, with some of the most memorable video moments like the girl that keeps seeing skeletons ("Hey Boy Hey Girl"), a couple on the run from the law ("Block Rockin' Beats"), a singing fish ("The Salmon Dance"), that amazing train ride ("Star Guitar), etc. If you haven't seen their music videos, you need to do yourself a favor and look them up on youtube or something.

Brotherhood comes in two formats: a standard 15-track release and a deluxe package (which I recommend for fans), which comes with a bonus disc. The bonus disc contains 10 "Electronic Battle Weapons" tracks - these songs were available available on ultra rare DJ-White labels, but for the first time it's publically available with this release. Although it's kind of neat to hear some of the standard beats and loops that the Brothers use in their sets, I felt you had to be pretty big hardcore trance/dance fans to really appreciate this. After a while, forgive me for say, but it sounded all the same to me. It's still good though, like something you would put on when you're cleaning the house.

The sweet package also comes with lyric book containing all the singles cover artwork, but in duo-tones colors (like silkscreening art), and one postcard showing them on stage at Glastonbury.

If you're a Chemical Brothers fan, you definitely need to pick this album up, if only for the two new songs.  The two songs made me very excited for what's to come for the Chemical Brothers. Brotherhood is available now from Astralwerks.

Links: thechemicalbrothers.com myspace.com/thechemicalbrothers

 05/27/2008 11:24:46  ♥ written by vu ()

Tour Dates 06/09/08 Oran Mar Glasgow, Scotland 06/10/08 St Phillip’s Manchester 06/11/08 St James’ London 06/12/08 St Paul’s Birmingham 06/13/08 St James’ London 06/16/08 Glasslands Gallery Brooklyn,NY 06/18/08 Mercury Lounge New York 06/29/08 Glastonbury Festival 06/30/08 Cypress Avenue Cork, Cork 07/01/08 Ireland Tour - Whelans Dublin 07/02/08 Auntie Annies Belfast 07/04/08 Quart Festival Kristiansand 07/31/08 Cambridge Folk Festival 08/03/08 Splendour In The Grass Festival 08/05/08 The Factory Sydney 08/06/08 Northcote Social Club Melbourne 08/09/08 Field Day Festival London 09/05/08 Bestival - Isle of Wight 09/06/08 Bestival - Isle of Wight 09/07/08 Bestival - Isle of Wight Discography [2007] London Town EP [2007] My Manic and I [Jan 2008] Ghosts [Feb 2008] Alas I Cannot Swim [Jun 2008] Cross Your Fingers [2008] iTunes Live - London Sessions - EP Read More Laura Marling sailing to the top in Reading, England http://weheartmus... With just an acoustic guitar and some incredible vocals, Laura Marling pieces together her lyrics...

Laura Marling - Ghosts

3 comments

I got a press release that singer/songwriter Laura Marling will be debuting in America with her album, Alas I Cannot Swim, confirmed for August 19^th on Astralwerks Records (although available digitally via iTunes and elsewhere on May 20^th). This is kind of odd, but I've always associated Astralwerks with techno/dance, because Marling is more folk pop, than anything else.

Longtime readers to W♥M might have remember our mention of Mrs Marling, back when she was only seventeen... it looks like she's come a long way in just a year, selling out most venues where she performs live.

So far, for this year, she'll be in States in New York for two performances:

6/16/08 Brooklyn, NY @ Glasslands
6/18/08 New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge

I am assuming more US dates are to follow, but in the meantime, she's doing UK dates (see sidebar for more details).

So, here's a little trivia about her Song Box: Apparently the boxset intended for Alas I Cannot Swim had a bunch of stuff designed by Marling, including postcards, trinkets, a concert ticket to see her in March (obviously no longer valid), and were really designed to associate to each of her songs. According to her:

Nobody buys records any more and people are listening to MP3s on bad headphones, using music for wallpaper. I want people to love music, I want people to treasure it, not just my songs, but treasure music.

Seeing as it's something well out of my comfortable price range (it's over $50 to have it imported to me), I will just have to deal with the cheap CD-R my friend gave me.

Maybe things will be more affordable once her album is available domestically... I am hoping for a reproduction of the said-Song Box.

Links: www.lauramarling.com myspace.com/lauramarling www.astralwerks.com

The Chemical Brothers (featuring Fatlip) - The Salmon Dance Fatlip/The Chemical Brothers Albums [Jun 1995] Exit Planet Dust [Apr 1997] Dig Your Own Hole [Jun 1999] Surrender [Jan 2002] Come with Us [Jan 2005] Push the Button [Jul 2007] We Are the Night

The first time I heard about The Chemical Brothers, they were known as The Dust Brothers, named after the US group. After their third single under the Dust Brothers name, they changed it to The Chemical Brothers because of a possible lawsuit. They even named their debut album after the change, Exit Planet Dust.

The Chemical Brothers are basically two guys, Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons, who along with The Prodigy (and later Fatboy Slim) really pushed forward the Electronic-Dance genre.

What they did back in those early days that made them stood out from the pack was that they were usually working with established singers such as Beth Orton and Tim Burgess (The Charlatans).

Their debut album, Exit Planet Dust, went on to being their most successful album, selling over one million copies. 

Their latest CD is called We Are The Night and it features one of the catchiest song called "The Salmon Dance". The song features Fatlip (which I will also be including my favorite Fatlip song here called "What's Up Fatlip").

The video for "The Salmon Dance" is also the number one video on Stage6!

Fatlip - What's Up Fatlip

They usually make the best video, even though they rarely appear or have a hand in their own videos. This is a different approach, since in the early 90s, George Michael was basically sued by his label because he refused to make appearances.

Anyway, this video, directed by Dom & Nic, is pretty amazing, it features Fatlip as a fish talking about his friend, the Salmon. The computer effects for rendering the fish are pretty awesome and looks like a very high budget video.

If you have the new album, check out some of the more dancey tracks: "A Modern Midnight Conversation" and "Das Spiegel".

 09/30/2007 00:03:04  vu my♥posts vu@weheartmusic.com www.thechemicalbrothers.com

The Bees - Chicken Payback

1 comment

When I first heard the Bees' "Chicken Payback", it was the DUMBEST song I've ever heard. The actual key rhyming scheme is "back", which it rhymes with itself ??!!?

Here is a breakdown of the lyrics:

Pay the (animal) back, back,
Pay the (animal) back,
Pay back the (animal) back,
Do the (animal) payback

* animal is substituted by: chicken, piggy, monkey, camel, and donkey

So why is such a dumb song so catchy?

These guys are kind of well known. Their song have appeared in Sure Deodorant for Men and student films. It should also be noted that the Sure commercial was advertised during 2006's World Cup. That's a lot of sweaty potential fans for this Isle of Wight band (which is known for its isolation and prisons!)

By the way, these guys are known in the United States as A Band of Bees, it is probably because there is already a band called the Bees, established in 2002 from Tennessee. It's also kind of odd that A Band of Bees are on Astralwerks, which are known primarily for their electro-type music (such as the Chemical Brothers and Fatboy Slim).

 July 07, 2007 9:09 AM  vu vu@weheartmusic.com thebees.info myspace.com/thebeesofficial