Forgetting your troubles with The Chemicals
I’m sure everyone has something that makes them reminiscent. Thinking about times where everything was as close to perfection as possible. The smell of a lush garden, the taste of an old family recipe, the old-skool beats of The Chemical Brothers.
I first heard them when I was about 11, Music was still unknown to me. I listened to some music on the radio when someone else was happening to listen, but it felt as though there was something wrong with it. The essence was missing. It was not the kind of Music I could relate to, or enjoy for that matter.
Then all of a sudden my brother – who is 20 years older – gave me the debut album of the Chemicals, Exit Planet Dust. I put it in the cd-player and listened to it, stunned by the complex beats and addicting rhythm, my frontal cortex lit up and the demarcation point in my Musical preferences was a fact.
“Music is so naturally united with us that we cannot be free from it even if we so desired”
(Boethius cited by Storr)
I had a revelation, an idea of the waveforms I enjoy most of all. I then realised what real Music was. It got me interested in some of the other stuff my brother had gathered over the extra 20 years he has on me. Ranging from AC/DC to ZZ-Top and everything in between.
While I deeply love all of them, no other artist has ever had the impact on the way I think about the vibrations in the air we call Music. It started with Leave Home and it’s still going strong, up to Brotherhood.
The Chemical Brothers has always been the music of my choice when I’m happy or content. As a side-effect, every time I’m in need of some emotional comforting and soothing, I can play the Chemicals and reminisce about better times. The warm glow of the beats and the rhythm taking control as though all my worries fade away.
The Chemical Brothers have always been here for me when I needed them most, be it in good times or bad. They don’t judge and they don’t criticize, they do what they do best: Making Music for everyone to hear, and for the really lucky few to live by.
