The Chemical Brothers Album: “Star Guitar/Base 6 [CD/12"]”

Back in the mid-`90s, a girl once famously interrupted an Ibizan Chemical Brothers DJ set to inform them their `dark, ugly music' had made her cry. If only they'd had the sunny, spangly, indeed balearic `Star Guitar' in their boxes back then to have kissed and made things better! Perhaps she'll accept this as a belated healing present from inside whatever crack den or white slave holding pen the poor, blighted girl currently resides.

After the rather obvious `It Started In Afrika' (what? Life? `Riddim'?) the Chemicals hit back with one of their periodic dancefloor stormers (think: `Song To The Siren', `Block Rockin' Beats' and `Hey Boy, Hey Girl'). And in stark contrast to the darkness-by-numbers of its predecessor, never before have the Chemicals sounded quite so straightforwardly blissed out. With its echoes of Stardust, `Blue Monday' and Frankie Knuckles' early house experiments, this is the sound of the Chemical Brothers dropping in on New York's last days of disco, fiddling with the flangers and filters and having the time of their lives. And as the hook (line and sinker), how's this for a gratuitous drug reference - a chorus that apparently goes "You should feel what I feel/You should take what I take"?

With its closest cousin probably Pete Heller's `Big Love', it's only right and proper they should get their old Heavenly Social mate and former label boss (at Junior Boy's Own) in on remix duties. He does a fine job, especially on the self-explanatory `303 Mix', though quite why the Chems have also included an almost self-parodic slice of big beat - complete with `White Lines' reference - in `Bass 6' on the flip is a mystery.

The videoclip that goes with this single perfectly matches the tune of this awsome single. It's the kind of music you want to hear when you're in a train on a friday late afternoon - dreaming your way into a nightclub.

I saw this single at Cheapo Discs and bought it thinking 'Ok, 'Star Guitar'...I love the song...let's see what the single has to offer'. Peter Heller did not really impress me much at all. The 'Expanded Mix' was way too repetitive and the '606 Dub' didn't but it for me either. The EDIT was nothing new, it was only like the EDIT of 'South Side' by Moby --> just a shorter cut *shrug*. I don't know what else to say but, if you see this single anywhere, buy it if you really thingk you'll like it.

When electronic music break thru late 90s ,chemical bros. were one of the big power of this stream.But 4-5 years passed and in the music scene there are many new bands trying to pass thru this gate of this new stream.Before the album I hoped chemical bros. will make another change for this growing stream.But in the album songs are more like late acid and early electronic music days.If i clear review, that the best songs from them were ;hey boys hey girls, phychodelic reel and piku .Be sure that you can not find such masterpieces but anyway if you like electronic music just buy it and wait for the Bros. to make another masterpiece until the next!

This new Chemical Brothers single scrapes the borders of that lump genre known as filter house and applies the duo's unique brand of electronic grooviness. I'm glad to see them move further and further away from that big beat sound that has been the death knell of new albums from contemporaries of their "Block Rockin Beats." Clearly with "Star Guitar" they are continuing down that psychedelic path towards something... perhaps that old rave essence which has been lost in the sea of greasyjock Trance anthems. As Genesis was to rock music, The Chemical Brothers are to electronic music.