Just Remember To Fall In Love...There's Nothing Else

The Chemical Brothers light up Saturday with a 46-minute selection drawing on remixes, singles and deep cuts from 1994 to 2010.

Their remix of Voodoo People by The Prodigy was back when they were still trading as The Dust Brothers, but it was subsequently rebranded with their legally-motivated name change and has arguably become one of their best known tunes, remix or not.

The Duke is a previously unreleased outtake that was officially released on the bonus CD accompanying the Singles 93-03 compilation.

Falling Down is late-period Oasis single, featuring Noel on lead vocals. The Chemical Brothers remix first appeared on promo and digital formats, later reappearing as the B-side of follow up The Shock Of The Lightning.

La Tristessa Durera (Scream To A Sigh) is another signature remix, one of many for Manic Preachers, the vocal version ubiquitous on 90s compilations. I've gone for the Dub Mix here, which could originally be found on the CD single of She Is Suffering. 

Swoon is the most contemporary track here, itself a decade and a half old, and provides today's post and selection title. Lindstrøm and Prins Thomas deliver nine and a half minutes of piano-tinkling, guitar-riffing excellence.

The Chemical Brothers are still going strong, although I don't keep pace with their new music as I did 20, 30 years ago. And there's so much from that period alone that I'm constantly discovering tracks and remixes that I missed first time around.

1) Voodoo People (Dust Brothers Remix): The Prodigy (1994)

2) The Duke: The Chemical Brothers (2001)

3) Falling Down (The Chemical Brothers Remix): Oasis (2008)

4) Bring The Pain (Chemical Instrumental) (Remix By The Chemical Brothers): Method Man (1995)

5) Music:Response (Radio Edit): The Chemical Brothers (2000)

6) Nine Acre Dust (The Chemical Brothers Remix) (Altered States Edit): The Charlatans (1996)

7) Swoon (Lindstrøm & Prins Thomas Remix): The Chemical Brothers (2010)

8) La Tristesse Durera (Scream To A Sigh) (Dub Mix By The Dust Brothers): Manic Street Preachers (1994)

Just Remember To Fall In Love...There's Nothing Else (46:13) (GD) (M)

Continuing yesterday's loose 'trilogy' theme, here are two Dubhed selections featuring Brothers Tom and Ed that I posted previously:

Chemical Dust (January 2024)

Shake This Feeling (July 2022)

Fair Warning, This Is A Courtesy Call

Another in the increasing list of 'better late than never' discoveries this year is Gregory Skyler Taylor aka Skyzoo.

Brooklyn born and bred, Skyzoo's umpteenth album Keep Me Company dropped a few days ago and for this initiate, it's an astonishing tour de force over a Baker's dozen of heavyweight raps. 

The one that led me in sits slap in the middle of the album. Courtesy Call features a Chuck D guest spot, just one of two on an album that is surprisingly and refreshingly light on 'features' and focuses attention on Skyzoo's formidable way with words and flow.

I've picked half a dozen from the album, though Keep Me Company is best listened to in its entirety and in sequence, starting with Community Service featuring JRose and finishing with the epic 8-minute Jazz In The Projects. 

There are currently no videos from the album, so I've randomly picked a live session version of Homegrown to headline this post, taken from Skyzoo and Pete Rock's 2019 album, Retropolitan.

And as if all that wasn't enough, Skyzoo dropped a standalone track, The Workload, at the end of October, a colossal collaboration with Method Man. A masterclass in wordplay which crams a whole lot into three minutes. It speaks for the quality of the album that followed that this song wasn't included. And it's available as a 'name your price' purchase.

Keep Me Company has been added to my shopping list for this week's Bandcamp Friday and is up there with the best albums I've heard this year.

Before I sign off, an early 'Happy Birthday' call as Skyzoo hits 42 on Christmas Eve. Have a good one!