Review: A quarter of a century on, Chemical Brothers' second studio album returns to stores in expanded form. The original album remains the high watermark of the (now often derided) big beat movement - a bolshy, thrill-a-minute ride that races between funk-fuelled, break-heavy hits ('Block-Rockin' Beats'), rock-tinged heaviness (the title track), fuzz-fuelled post-techno hedonism ('Electrobank'), La Funk Mob-influenced trip-hop ('Piku'), heady ambience ('Loft in the K-Hole') and riffs on the Beatles' 'Tomorrow Never Knows' ('Setting Sun' with Noel Gallagher and the incredible 'My Private Psychedelic Reel'). The second disc on this bonus edition boasts a quintet of previously unreleased tracks and alternate versions, with our highlights including the opioid pulse of 'Cylinders' and the slamming techno breathlessness of 'It Doesn't Matter (alternate mix)'.
Review: When electronic musicians invent new words, you know you're in for an accompanying sonic treat. u-Ziq aka. Mike Paradinas' latest record Grush aims at something between a crush and a grunt - as if to suggest the violent hydraulic floorings of the former and the cave-manic disinhibition of the latter. Sonically, this follows suit with Paradinas' as-ever ascendant, wompy-breaksy sound, which this time comes peppered with additional flavours of black MIDI and generative sound-spurts honed at live shows; the ultimate aim of the album is to replicate the nonstop feel of a live tour, with each track here having been meticulously road-tested and polished for home listening (or not - get out there and dance to the thing, couch potatoes!)
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