Csar Escribi�:

On the other hand i don't like EBW 9 that much. It's a way (too) repetitve and straight techno style (the beat is a little strange). Actually there are some nice elements (vocals and the beginning are def. chemical!!!!) in it . Maybe it's a little bit unfair because it was the second of Pete's set and at that time i was still euphoric 'bout EBW 8.

You never like 4/4 driving tunes, eh? :)

It can be quirky fun , you know!

hit submit too soon.



EBW8 Is definitly a track that defines newer sounds by the chems, like someone had pointed out. Since Golden Path, their songs have had a lot more variety of emotions that they had before. This track reminds me a tiny bit of Close Your Eyes for it's emotion feel (the last part) and also feels like Otter Rock for the shine and amazing drums. I feel strongly that this will make an AMAZING live track, just when those immediately- infamous drums avalanche in live...that's sexy time



EBW 9 is great bacause it has that wild intro "Making Calculations to Generate Sensation." with the buzzing synth that sounds kinda like Not Another Drugstrore... The rest of the track has that tribal-acid that has a feel like it should be in between It Began In Afrika(EBW5) and Hot Acid Rhythm #1.I feel like this would be a good one live as well, and great EBW track.



Both tracks, although I relate them to several others songs, are really some amazing original work. Feel really chemical brothers-ish for sure, took no getting used to. Really feels in a way like Tom & Ed kicking down the door at 3am with a plate of jerk chicken yelling "are you ready for the year of Chemical 6!?"

Really good post Biff. I can't wait until I have the time in a day or two to really break down and find those similarities and influences you've noted.



What I find remarkable is that both tracks are very different from each other and yet if they'd chosen to debut them at NYE I think most forumites would be able to say "hey, that's a new Chems track!!!" immediately.



Though they flit from genre to genre and sound to sound, there is something unmistakably Tom & Ed in the production. I accidentally skipped too far ahead in Tongy's show the first time and ended up in the middle of EBW 9 and instantly knew I had to go backwards. Within 3 seconds. "Oh shit, I missed the beginning." And this is a fantastic thing that they can have their own sonic signature without being repetitive or formulaic.



I completely respect the direction they've taken since The Golden Path. It really shows that Singles 93-03 was a perfect time for a retrospective, because their sound palette and production signature has changed so dramatically since then. It's still "big drums, big bass, sirens, mad", but so much cleaner, if that's the word I'm looking for. The first two albums are so raw, vivid, very Public Enemy. Powerful in an up-front, we're gonna blow your fucking head off way. Now there is a sweeping epic feel that says we're going to put a tune in your heart and it will never leave.



They've been writing beautiful tracks from the beginning ('Alive Alone', 'Where Do I Begin?', 'Dream On'), but have really taken that emotional euphoria to a whole new level with 'The Golden Path', 'Hold Tight London', 'Surface to Air', 'Spring', and 'Electronic Battle Weapon 8'.



I'm glad they haven't forsaken the harder, more mental side of things because I need tunes to work my body and give me that visceral rush, but as I age I find the tunes that strike me more are the ones that leave me with that happy tear at the corner of each eye and a smile so wide you could fit a bucket of chicken in there.



(Didn't mean to make this a long post and it probably deserves its' own thread, but here it is.)

Very nice posts Darky n Biff!

I really like EBW 9 too, but honestly it hasn't hit me the way # 8 has. 9's definitely a very acid club stomper and it has one of the most rockin take offs into the tune in a long time, but it also somehow sounds kind of half cooked to me in terms of execution - it definitely hasn't grown on me as much as EBW 7 did. EBW 8 is just fuckin evolution! N it's definitely got Chemical Brothers written all over it. I think it can be the ideal successor to the Reel to close a set - the beautiful melodies have that same spiritual euphoria to them like a lot of earlier Chems album closers - n I abolutely love every sound/ melody on this tune. Am really hoping it's longer. Like Toby mentioned I love the fact that it's actually a pretty disjointed piece - play it on repeat mode under the influence and u could very well get lost with that looped piece. I infact got soo lost with it, it kept playin on repeat the first evening I was hearing it for a coupla hours! :) I love the part in the end where Pete Tong starts talking again and really cant wait to get the full version on disc!

GLAKO-FAHN Escribi�:

Csar Escribi�:

On the other hand i don't like EBW 9 that much. It's a way (too) repetitve and straight techno style (the beat is a little strange). Actually there are some nice elements (vocals and the beginning are def. chemical!!!!) in it . Maybe it's a little bit unfair because it was the second of Pete's set and at that time i was still euphoric 'bout EBW 8.

You never like 4/4 driving tunes, eh? :)

It can be quirky fun , you know!

Oh nooo, nothing wrong with 4/4 beats at all!!!! It's the whole thing that didn't really win me over, you know.

:D I can't wait to here the whole of each song! I know there must be something really mind blowing we haven't heard in 8 and 9! You can barely here some really cool synth work while Mr. Tong is talking at the end of 8 and I want to know where that goes!!!

Yeah, this was a little shit that he was talking while the tracks were playing and let alone these damn jingles. But it's a radio, that's unfortunately normal, i guess... But i don't think they'll be much longer. They only might change some parts or adding some things here and there . . . To me EBW 8 is alright as it is now. Could be a tick longer.

Man, i love that bit of sound that's in the background right at the beginning!!! That pumpin' altered piano is just insane but in good way! And then dis sound!!!! It's like a talk between Mr. Bit (Piano and BAss) and Mr. Byte (this specific sound). And when Mr. Bit is asking: "Want some nice beat?" Mr. Byte says "Yes!!!!".

Would love if that short break at the end could stay on for a more couple of seconds , you know, the part when you're throwing in that synth melody (which is really really wicked and yes let me state this: makes me kinda horny!!!)?!?

Csar Escribi�:

Yeah, this was a little shit that he was talking whle the tracks were playing and these damn jingles. But it's a radio, that's unfortunately normal, i guess... But i don't think they'll be much longer. They only might change some parts or adding some things here and there . . . To me EBW is alright as it is now. Could be a tick longer.

Man, i love that bit of sound that's in the background right at the beginning!!! That pumpin' altered piano is just insane but in good way! And then dis sound!!!! It's like a talk between Mr. Bit (Piano and BAss) and Mr. Byte (this specific sound). And when Mr. Bit is asking: "Want some nice beat?" Mr. Byte says "Yes!!!!".

Would love if that short break at the end could stay on for a more couple of seconds , you know, the part when you're throwing in that synth melody (which is really really wicked and yes let me state this: makes me kinda horny!!!)?!?

X-D

Hahaahahaha X-D

I havent laughed as load for this forum as today in a while X-D

You're a joker today? Or happend something funny that i've missed? X-D

No , youre comment! Mr bit and Byte! ANd getting horny! Hahaha

And Ed telling Slipvin of. It was a funny day in forum-land X-D

Both are amazing, here are my criticisms though:



EBW 8 is amazing because of the drum breaks in it. The beginning is good too, but there are a few parts that strike me as a bid dull and bad-sounding. The chorus redeems this completely, but it could still be improved. A few minute timbral changes to the leads and bass to make it a bit sharper would be nice.



EBW 9 is nice. I'd need to hear a much higher quality version before having much of an opinion on it. The kick kinda seems a bit annoying, but that may be an issue of low quality and my bad system. A tiny bit of tweaking and 320 would make this a killer.

I liked number 8 best perhaps it's just me but the ebw's are pretty much demos arn't they? They always sound unpolishied but convey a general vibe that's what i've always thought anyway. The album version's are always vastly superior production and arrangement wise.

You bring up a good point griffin about the EBW's being demos, or sort of projects-in-the-making to be road tested. But that's generally speaking - the sort of unwritten, undocumented 'rule' of EBW's. There was the Acid Children EBW that didn't make the Push The Button re-work/cut. All we have to do is wait and hear how it all pans out with 8 and 9. I'm so happy with what I've heard so far and I think if they were any better, my head might explode. X-D



Not to hijack the thread but since we're talking EBW's - I felt the EBW counterpart to Hoops was better than what ended up on the album and it was so deliciously drool worthy to hear it played live. But that's just an example and opinion of course.

I still love EBW 7. It blows my mind. To me it's a finished track, it just didn't fit on the album.



As for 6 v. Hoops. They are both great tracks that work in such different contexts. I really like how they play it live, with the end of Surface to Air mixing with the "Here I go round again again again" from Hoops before it starts getting acidic and rising tempestuously into the raging storm that is EBW6.

I like 9, cuz i lieks the 3vil music.

6 is still my weapon of choice: demented+psychedelic = WIN. 8)

Darkstarexodus Escribi�:

I still love EBW 7. It blows my mind. To me it's a finished track, it just didn't fit on the album.

I agree, it is a finished track! I think it was maybe a little too evil to fit anywhere on the album. And live, when that rumbling ripples the ground, it's like hell is opening up and is going to swallow you whole.

Darkstarexodus Escribi�:

As for 6 v. Hoops. They are both great tracks that work in such different contexts. I really like how they play it live, with the end of Surface to Air mixing with the "Here I go round again again again" from Hoops before it starts getting acidic and rising tempestuously into the raging storm that is EBW6.

Hoops live is a concert highlight for me. I love how it grips the crowd and takes complete control. It's such an incredible sonic display of tension and release. Those long siren wails were rapturous, like rushes of ecstasy that take your breath away.



*sigh*



Anyway - I am digressing here. Back to the topics at hand: Just put on EBW 8... first time on headphones. I'm loving how those gurning sounds come in at around 2:00 and how these blippy melodies cycle like clockwork - then bam, the song just bursts and open like a flower into sonic euphoria... then again, the cycling starts and that building and layering comes up all over again. Perfect after a long grueling work Monday. It's good to be home.



Yeah. I think "euphoric" is the buzz word for EBW 8, it seems to be what a lot of people here have said to describe it.

Fuck me. Now I'm listening to EBW 9 on headphones for the 2nd time.... oh lordie lordie lordie!!! That buzzing intro, like a caliope spinning out of control at the beginning is like being blasted off into a dizzying twisted journey into the unknown. That high pitched acid is... fuck-n-a, keep it coming!! Those stuttering sirens are so wicked, they have a very old school familiar feel to them, like it takes me back to those raving days of yesterday. The Chems still have it going on... That solid tribal beat keeps it all grounded, such a stomper! I think this may be my favorite of the Electronic Battle Weapons!! This makes me wish more than ever I were gonna be at Turnmills. This song is begging for a sweaty dark club with everyone going completely bonkers. I would honestly have to bring a change of undergarments if I heard this in a club at bone shattering volumes (probably a good thing I'm missing out on Turnmills I guess, spare myself the embarrassment and funny looks from innocent bystanders X-D )