pushpop - Absolutely spot on mate.

does pitchfork have forums or talkbacks or any sort of place we can invade en-masse and call them cock smoking numpties?

I could spam their shit all day.

hahahaha, I knew the "tone" was off in Jeanie's post. I don't think she's ever called anyone a wanker before (not on here, anyway!)

I agree with both pushpop and mipps/Jeanie on this.

mipps you brought up an interesting point about this review being a very American pov. I was talking with Jim about this the other day when we were driving up to LA on our Do It Again quest. Americans typically have short memories, they just dive right into the next big thing that's thrown their way and don't look back. We're also easily distracted. :P It's pretty much the way we are, being a rather young country with a short history that's a very large melting pot driven by consumerism and media etc.. What gets me though is that despite all this and in relation to the Chemical Brothers it seems as though every hard core critic that's blasted any Chems album post 1997 can't seem to let go. Americans also whine a lot, especially when things aren't they way they were "back in tha day" which is kind of funny considering we only have good memories when it's most convenient. I just get so tired of the same old arguments that have been going for a decade. A DECADE!! Either stop listening shut up and move on, or bring an open mind.

Fair enough if someone doesn't like the new album. With over a decade and several albums spanning a career, it's impossible to appeal to every single fan 100% of the time - and that's the risk a band takes when they forge ahead in a new direction. You'll win some fans, lose some fans, and hopefully reinforce the existing fans who are following the same path. But the Dig Your Own Hole comment in that Pitchfork article doomed any credibility. Sorry Pitchfork, you may be indie hip please try again and find a new argument besides the same tired Dig Your Own Hole one.

Is PPR on DYOH? if so, it's the only song I care to listen to, or in fact can even name, of off DYOH.

For me, the chems moved from good to godlike with Surrender, and everything before that was a prelude.

Don't be silly!! Of course you know there's other great songs off Dig Your Own Hole besides The Reel (only because you're married to me! :P )

I honest to god don't know the name of another song off of DYOH. Setting Sun and Life is Sweet? are those on there? Is BRB on there?

I don't think I even know a single song off of Exit Planet Dust... Song to the Siren? is that on EPD?

Really, their older stuff for me was mostly indistiguishable from the other 'Just Barely Post'-Industrial music of the day. I listened to them because back then they were the put in same genre as Nitzer Ebb, Front 242, Eon, Messiah and the rest of that bunch, they didn't really stand out for me.

Err, you might wanna do a bit of rediscovery if you've completely disregarded all that stuff. I mean I'm sure you could appreciate such stuff as Chico's Groove, Lost in the K-Hole, Playground for a Wedgeless Firm, ..etc. even if you're not into their big beat stuff. But yeah, pitchfork can go fuck itself. With a pitchfork... Yeah.

"You don't need to have the Chemicals' Singles 93-03 video compilation in your Netflix queue to question the relevance of that statement: Electronica was a failure as a mass-culture lifestyle trend."

I stop reading there.

"'You don't need to have the Chemicals' Singles 93-03 video compilation in your Netflix queue to question the relevance of that statement: Electronica was a failure as a mass-culture lifestyle trend.'

I stop reading there."

This

voodoo - it's funny because what my husband says is partly true, despite being married to me. :lol:

He is right in that when we used to go out clubbing all the time, back when we used to go to industrial clubs, there was a blend of early 90's techno thrown in the mix too. Once I started listening to more Chems, the memories came back - I do remember Song To The Siren being played out at clubs alongside NIN Head Like A Hole, Aeon's Spice and Front 242 Headhunter. Slow, hard, heavy and thick was the order of the scene so Song To The Siren fit in with how things were going at the time.

The road to Chemical discovery in my household was mostly paved by me and my husband came along for the ride and connected with good tunes on the way. It's sort of funny because when we listen to Dig Your Own Hole or Exit Planet Dust, he always says, "wait a minute... this song is on this album?" hahaha.

He loves the Chems, he's just not quite as geeky as the rest of us. Or at least, not as much as he lets on publically. ;)

Although I don't like Pitchfork and things such as them dismissing a whole genre like in this review is why, to me they unfortunately are spot on about WATN, I've tried to like it but can't, I thought I may have been too quick to dismiss it as I didn't want to listen again after 2 listens but I have now and it hasn't got any better. I'm a huge fan of the Chems, I always have been and I look forward to seeing them live again this summer as they always put on a good show but I'm not gonna say I like this just cos its the Chems.

That review summed it up best by saying "On We Are the Night, the Chemical Brothers have switched from integrators to imitators". Can anyone honestly say this is even a patch on their previous works?

Yes. It's really fucking good and you're deaf.

It's perfectly OK not to like something, so I'm not going to argue. It takes some courage to come on here and say you don't like something when most everyone else here is ranting and raving about how great We Are The Night is. I'm just going to respectfully agree to disagree with your view that this new album isn't up to par with previous works. I hear brilliance on this album that creates the same feelings I get when I listen to previous works, and I also get new feelings as well. But that's how I'm hearing it. Fair play if you hear things differently - that's why music's so personal.

There's no rule that you have to like 100% of everything that your favorite band puts out. That is the nature of any fanbase surrounding a band they've been following for x number of years through x number of album releases. It's happened to me, happened to you, happened to a lot of Chems fans. We are all still fans, in the end.

The camp runs the risk of being divided with each release. It's pretty much the nature of the beast. It's happened to far bigger bands, with far larger fanbases...

It's cool you're still supporting their live show and are looking forward to it!

pitchfork media is very snobby...

they're always about the image of things.

for instance, their biggest complaint about bjork's volta was that it was as poppy as promised. wtf?

anyway, they kinda diss the hell out of music when something isn't:

- radiohead

- snooty indie music (must be something VERY new and unknown)

- music they don't understand (boards of Canada, most jazz and classical, etc)

- oldschool stuff they can't really dis (unless they want to flamebait)

it just bothers me that they bitch that the chemical brothers haven't let go of DYOH's big beat at the beginning, but at the end bitch that the chemical brothers have drifted to far from DYOH's sound.

NOT just that it's not as innovative in their eyes (or to their ears, perhaps). It also bothers them that it's new electronic music, I think.

mind you, I haven't heard anything but Saturate. the album comes out tomorrow :) will be picking it up right away!!

Its just a review of some person with a certain taste in music that happends to write for Pitchfork. The true music fans will not have one bad review decide for them wether they wanna buy an album or not , and if people read this and go " Oh pitchfork says it sucks , i'm not gonna buy it" i feel sad for them thta they cant think for theirselves.

Pitchfork is not to be taken seriously. The only thing that makes them cum is stuff like Radiohead and other alternative emoshit.

Songs on the album that I do like are..

We are the night

All rights reserved

Modern midnight conversation

Saturate

The rest I can take or leave. That new bonus track 'No need' is pretty good too.

hmmmm, those seem to be everyones favorites on the album.

Yeah, i'd agree. The reviews haven't been really nice to ARR though? I don't understand that, as it's probably the most radio-friendly tune on the album?