the Modular Masters

[UPDATE 3.0: Chemical tunes n remixes available at bottom]

the Chemical Brothers
I was effectively a zombie by about halfway through the Chemical Brothers' set on day 1 of Electric Zoo. Somewhere between the extreme exhaustion I was feeling at that point and the profound truth that was being poured on me via the medium of danceable beats and deeply moving visuals I lost my ability to both move and speak. Augustus and I conferred on the matter and decided that we were almost senselessly imbibing the draught the Chemical Brothers had brewed us that evening. Naturally, I started rambling into my memopad on my Bold in order to record my fleeting yet transcendent thoughts on this disturbing spectacle before me. Trust me, this live show is disturbing in the sense that it disturbs the very basis of your ego and thought, but in the most positive way imaginable.

Gaaaaalvanize!

Now let me say that first and foremost, errbody in the place was jumpin'. I am a connoisseur of the Chem Bros and have never heard their beats sound so bassy, so funky, so fresh. They opened the set with "Galvanize" which, as the poppiest venture of their career, would have upset me greatly had it not sounded like the second coming of Christ. I can confidently say I have NO IDEA what they were doing up there, but every song sounded like a revelation when compared to it's studio-produced counterpart. They are creating a beautiful electronic album, an artistic whole, during each performance and very well at that. Take notes, deadmau5.

Visuals start at 1:43.

Tom and Ed were doing an air raid on our senses and they wanted you to know it, too. One of the accompanying visuals was that of bombs dropping from planes, presumably upon the crowd, with no explosion. That's what the Chemical Brothers are doing here, dropping bombs on the dance music of today with no immediate repercussions, and yet from the flames they have wrought they are rebuilding and creating the future of dance music at this, the 15th year of their career. On top of all of this, they happen to have what appears to be the most advanced computer graphics generator in the world and use it to create archetypal imagery from the dredges of our consciousness which are all the while disturbing yet hopeful. Walking through an advanced underwater civilization is the only thing comparable to seeing this live experience.

After the working they gave us for nearly two hours, the Dust Brothers pulled a 2ManyDJs and pretended that their equipment cut out entirely. After the stagehands came on and fiddled with their gear a bit, the synths began to glow anew with power. The Brothers returned to the stage and concluded the set with "Block Rockin' Beats" among other old-school jams. The show ended with a Chemical Brother (I don't remember which) playing what was analogous to a guitar solo with one of his modular synths while standing atop his stacks of equipment as the lights went up. All I could think was... well, nothing.

Chemicals
the Chemical Brothers - Swoon (Radio Edit)






the Chemical Brothers - It Doesn't Matter






the Chemical Brothers - Saturate






the Chemical Brothers - Block Rockin' Beats






Remixed Chemicals

the Chemical Brothers - Hey Boy, Hey Girl (Soulwax Remix)

the Chemical Brothers - Swoon (Boys Noize Summer Mix)

the Chemical Brothers - Horse Power (Popof Remix) [REMOVED BY REQUEST]

^John Digweed dropped those last two during his killer set on the last night of Ezoo

Also, be sure to subscribe to Grannock on YouTube since he brought us all the wonderful footage from today's post. The man is a saint for sacrificing his ability to dance in order to preserve this once in a lifetime experience.

Sir Real

P.S. Look what Treasure Fingers just released via his SoundCloud: Tensnake - Coma Cat (Treasure Fingers Remix)