At this point it's kind of easy to take The Chemical Brothers for granted. When they burst onto the mid-'90s dance scene they were the equivalent of an atom bomb, infusing a rock and/or roll sensibility into the clubs and throwing open the doors to legions of pale imitations. As the years have passed the duo has generally re-embraced the more liquid sounds of the acid house days and we were beginning to fear they had become a nostalgia act of sorts. Their latest album, Further, shows the duo to be re-energized, creating some of their best music in years by allowing themselves to drift to wherever each song needs them to do. Contrast the sleepy burble of the opening track "Snow" with the Krautrok rush of "K+D+B." more ›

We still remember sitting in Danny's back in 1995 when one of the bartenders started this track named "Leave Home" on the bar's cruddy stereo system. Back then, Danny's was basically a punk-rock house party every night, and the aggressive electronic song that suddenly tumbled forth stunned the entire room. We didn't know quite what to make of it, but we realized that someone had finally successfully synthesized a dance track with a rock and/or... more ›