at a glance...

Hometown: Manchester, England
Formed: 1992

Personnel:
Tom Rowlands -decks, effects
Ed Simons -decks, effects

Bands in the family :
Oasis, Justin Warfield, Mercury Rev, The Charlatans, Primal Scream, Spiritualized, Beth Orton

Notes:
Tom and Ed, then trading as the Dust Brothers as a tribute to the heroic production minds behind Paul's Boutique, made their name first as party DJs extraordinaire at Manchester's Naked Under Leather and Heavenly Records' nascent Sunday Social in London. As they ran out of records bangin' enough for their parties, they turned their hands to remixology, including stellar turns on Bomb the Bass' "Bug Powder Dust" and Deep Throat's "Mouth Organ." Debut single "Song to the Siren" impressed Andy Weatherall enough to start dropping it at his Sabresonic nights, and big beat manifesto "Chemical Beats" paved the way for the first Chemical Brothers album, Exit Planet Dust. Soon a whole new club culture emerged in the wake of the Brothers and their Social sets, and dozens of indie and techno acts dumped their old tools for breakbeats and 303s. Second LP Dig Your Own Hole saw Tom and Ed perfecting their head-mashing template while at the same time hinting at a more experimental muse.

Links:
Chemical Brothers Mothership
Chemical Brothers at Red Rocks
We Love The Chemical Brothers

As the Chemicals begin to push the boundaries of pop on the none-more-psychedelic Surrender, it's worth looking back on the days when they were less interested in blowing your mind than rocking your house. The Heavenly Social was their house, and oh, how they rocked it.

The Chemicals were notoriously self-deprecating about their mixing skills, and their DJ sets were known more for their anything-that's-funky-goes, head-in-the-speakers hedonism than for smooth transitions and long mixes. That said, while the mixing here may not be not technically perfect, it's more inventive and inspired than a thousand four-on-the-floor house sets - check that transition into Rakim's "Juice" for proof. How many DJs can make Meat Beat Manifesto, The Charlatans, Red Snapper and forgotten soul maestro Eddie Bo serve the same master? The Chemicals did this and more every week, and their enthusiasm for rule-book burning turned the Heavenly Social into the best party Sunday night had ever seen.

It's almost impossible to capture a good night out on an hour-long CD; Live at the Social is about as close as anyone's likely to get. Swerving from old school hip-hop through the Crooklyn Clan's anthemic "Yes We Can," the mix takes in everything from proto-big beat (The Chems' remix of Lionrock's "Packet of Peace," Metro's "To a Nation Rockin'") to bongo madness (Love Lee's "Again Son...") and minimalist techno (Will Webb's "Mirrorshades"). It crash-lands into two Socialist anthems, Selectah's "Wede Man" and Eddie Bo's "Thang." These are the dream records, the kind that get played at great house parties after the lights go up, the kind that make you want to kiss the DJ. The Heavenly Social was the best party of the decade - and this is a little piece of the legacy.