The Chemical Brothers "The Boxer" (Astralwerks)
By Trey Perkins
Wednesday. Aug 03, 12:01 AM
So good that I'm trying to have sex with it.

Featuring tracks and remixes from their latest full-length Push the Button, The Boxer is an EP so good that I had to remind myself that the hole in the center of the CD is not a vagina. It should be though, because it’s a f’n beautiful listen. I was always a bit skeptical of The Chemical Brothers. In high school I had this pseudo-Queen understanding of pop music: that it should be made by people with guitars. Hence, when I saw The Chemical Brothers perform live at a music festival when “Block Rockin’ Beats” was at the height of its popularity, I thought they were pansies. How arrogant they must be to think they can open laptops with racks and racks of gear, hide behind huge video screens and expect us to eat it all up? This experience, of course, was before I understood the complexity that went into The Chemical Brothers. Luckily, we all change, mature, and develop appreciations for things we never thought we’d listen to.

And as the songs on this EP demonstrate, so have The Chemical Brothers. The principle remains the same: well mixed samples, incredible beats to produce a well blended amalgamation of funk, electronica, soul, punk, and sounds you would hear on the last level of Ninja Gaidan. Only the formula they’ve used before works even better this time around. The Mathew Johnson remix of “Believe” illustrate their ability to break sonic frequencies down and rebuild them into a polished musical statement. I never knew that the faint, crunching sound of static could function as a rhythmic device, but it does. For me, however, the highlight of the EP is the DFA remix of the title track, clocking in at a solid 9:43. The original mix of it is nice: a little piano, a little soul. The remix, however, takes the song into uncharted, unfamiliar (and funky) territory. Within a minute of it beginning, a clavinet with more guff, more moxy, more chutzpah than the Sanford and Son theme and Isaac Hayes rolled into one sets in. The only thing more this track could use is 24 solid gold dancers and a keyboard player, sweating profusely, while he or she rips the widest, longest line of blow ever. And although it’s not the best and certainly not the most complex music ever, even the most stoic of critics would have to admit it sure is well arranged and enjoyable.
www.thechemicalbrothers.com
www.astralwerks.com

Trey Perkins

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