Push the Button by The Chemical Brothers.

$

28

Tracks:
Galvanize
Boxer
Believe
Hold Tight London
Come Inside
Big Jump
Left Right
Close Your Eyes
Shake Break Bounce
Marvo Ging
Surface to Air

Performer Notes: 2005, Italian issue; includes "Boxer" and "Galvanize."
The Chemical Brothers' fifth album--a stunning return to bold, brilliant, mid-1990s form--delivers fierce beats, propulsive rhythms, and hallucinatory samples that are, if anything, even better than some of the duo's earliest work, moving in exciting and different directions.
The requisite "big beat" dance-floor material is exemplified by "The Big Jump" and the ever-evolving "Believe" (with vocals by Bloc Party's Kele Okereke), but the real surprise here is the wealth of gentler tracks. "Hold Tight London" features a lovely vocal by Anna-Lynne Williams and a glistening sonic edge that's both glacial and warm, and the lengthy, gorgeous instrumental "Surface to Air" glides along on haunting, beat-driven lines. Then there's the flipside of that, as on "Galvanize," a deep-funk-fried slice of Arabian techno-rap featuring Q-Tip, and "Left Right," a blistering anti-war track with rhymes by Anwar Superstar. Unlike much of the Brothers' earlier output, PUSH THE BUTTON covers a lot of ground, uncovering other sonic worlds just beneath the well-tread electronica surface.

Professional Reviews: Rolling Stone (No. 966, p.61) - 3.5 stars out of 5 - "[T]here's hope for stadium-ready dance music in the Chemical Brothers' fifth album....full of beat-wise psychedelia..."

Spin (p.87) - "It's the album on which the Chems relax into a comfortable maturity, secure in their status as elder statesmen." - Grade: B+

Uncut (p.73) - 4 stars out of 5 - "The standout is grand finale 'Surface To Air', which cements the duo's long love affair with New Order across an epic seven-minute symphony of lean melody and pulsing melodrama."

Mojo (Publisher) (p.101) - 3 stars out of 5 - "[They have] succeeded in making a tougher, darker-sounding record....The guest list is substantial and crucial."

Format: Vinyl (1 Disc)

Release Date: 24 January, 2005

Label: Virgin Records (Italy)