Before their 1995 debut album Exit Planet Dust made them stars, The Chemical Brothers demonstrated why they were worth paying attention to with a knockout Essential Mix for BBC Radio.
Hosted by Pete Tong and originally aired in March of 1995 — two years into the existence of the still ongoing Essential Mix series — the two-hour mix aired months before the album’s June release and now serves as a document of the rave sound then taking over the Brothers’ native U.K. and beyond.
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Chemical Brothers fans can revisit this moment in dance history with the mix, which has been made available by BBC Sounds for the next month and a half.
An amalgamation of acid house, breaks, funk, hip-hop and ’90s dance classics, the mix features tracks by Craig Mack & The Notorious B.I.G., Bobby J, Beastie Boys, Josh Wink, The Beatles and, of course, The Chemical Brothers themselves. This mix marked the first of myriad times the pair delivered a Essential Mix for the series.
This re-release comes in conjunction with the Brothers’ latest album For That Beautiful Feeling, their tenth studio LP released September 8 via Republic Records. In an interview with Billboard about the album, the pair — Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons — discussed their new work, the state of the world, touring and their legacy, with Rowlands noting that “Our friendship is at the heart of it. That’s the thing that has enabled us.”
“Without being too trite, there’s a chemistry between us,” added Simons. “We’ve just grown up together. We know what makes each other tick, what makes each other upset… We like each other, it’s as simple as that.”
The Chemical Brothers will release a career retrospective book, Paused In Cosmic Reflection, on October 26.
Listen to The Chemical Brothers’ Essential Mix here.