Day 0841 - Dig Your Own Hole

Chemical Brothers "Dig Your Own Hole" (1997)

The Brothers Chemical (not their real names, I checked) moved quickly to follow up the success of their debut “Exit Planet Dust”.   They released the EP “Loops of Fury” in 1996 and plunged on with work for their second LP.

Electronic music is not my first love, but even I find this to be an exciting collection of tracks.   From the staccato opening bassline and punchy, ever-changing beats of opener “Block Rockin’ Beats” the album takes you on a journey of big funky bass (“Get up on it Like This” and “Lost in the K-Hole”), quirky 'found sound' laden dance tracks "Piku", to psychedelic looped soundscapes (“Setting Sun” “Where Do I Begin”).  

 The album features guest vocals from Beth Orton and Oasis’ Noel Gallagher.  The latter had met the Brothers (y’know what, they have different names… I’m not even sure they are legitimately related) and complimented them on “Exit Planet Dust”.   They contacted him about singing on the track “Setting Sun” and the result was reminiscent enough of the Beatles' groundbreaking track "Tomorrow Never Knows" that that band's lawyer attempted to sue the Brothers (you know what, they don't even look alike... really don't think they're related) for sampling it... they hadn't.

The album was another success and the brothers (y'know what, maybe it's not strictly familial, more of a term of endearment) were soon in hot demand as remixers, as well as continuing to make great music of their own.

Day 0644 - Paul’s Boutique

Beastie Boys "Paul's Boutique" (1989)

The Beasties had parted company with Rick Rubin and Def Jam records, and were being written off in some corners as a bit of a one-hit wonder.

Rather than just repeat their 'bratty frat-rap over rock' approach, the Beasties enlisted the help of sampling and sonic-weaving extraordinaires: the Dust Brothers.  A good deal of the music for the album had already been completed by the DBs with the intention of it being released to clubs as an instrumental album.  The Beasties convinced them to make it the basis for their album.  The Dust Bros suggested that they could strip it back to just the beats, but the Beasties wanted the density of the sound.

There is still a bit of the smartass party rap present but the Beasties do branch out.  The interesting production acts as an a bridge to their later more serious work.  Apart from the vocals, the rest of the album is almost entirely composed of samples, and is viewed by some as one of the last big 'sample albums' before the copyright laws really started to clamp down (though the claim that the samples were never cleared has been contradicted by one of the album's engineers).