It Began in Afrika

by

The Chemical Brothers

Edit

Well... this is a chemical brothers single, so obviously it isn't terrible. That said, It Began in Afrika is definitely a disappointment. Gone is any trace of the sounds that originally defined their work. Their formerly dynamic breakbeats have been suplanted by rather boring house drums and the industrial crunch that gave their best work (DYOH and Loops of Fury) its edge is nowhere insight... And the vocal sample used over and over again seems unusually weak compared to previously stunning sampling cut and past jobs. So, I can't really get too excited.

Hot Acid Rhythm 1, the b-side is actually easily my favorite song on the single. With a tighter arrangement and some nice breakbeats, this hearkens back to much earlier chemical brothers work, and gives me a ray of hope for the upcoming album... Hopefully, they will manage to fuse their newer sounds with some of the older breakbeat work that originally gave them their soul.