Sock Free Hideaway

BEATS OF LOVE

101. Paused in Cosmic Reflection by The Chemical Brothers with Robin Turner

I BOUGHT this coffee-table book without owning a coffee table. No regrets. Jim and Emma beautifully unpack the legendary pieces of Manchester folklore, and their perspective does not disappoint.

I'd always been a bit of a fanboy and I only attempted to integrate into the more elitist Balearic clubs when I became obsessed with Justin's remix of Sea of Beats. Ariel were brilliant and possibly too hip for their own good. Their death knell was rejecting Tom's groundbreaking Song to the Siren. It instead became the Dust Brothers' debut single and rightly gets analszed at length. Moonboots turned me onto it and it blew the roof off the Boardwalk when Weatherall played it. 

I surrendered to them DJing inclusively in and around Manchester countless times and even travelled as far as London. Before it went suddenly from music to spectacle, from jovial banter to a studied, cool conversation. I think they were aware of their trajectory even if I wasn't, as a protective ring formed around them. 

Tom’s honest and illuminating insights are eye-opening. For years, I traded my time for warehouse shifts. Reading his words, I deeply admire how he protected his time to pursue lasting passions. He maintained absolute grace and integrity while co-masterminding a shared, unspoken musical abandon. That warehouse is rubble now.

Ed always had an easier charm but comes across as deep and analytical, which again surprises. I should've guessed he was mixing in Acid Jazz circles coz he wore really nice hats. Jonno recognises the key to their success when he cites them as being at the epicentre of clubs I was in. I was too self-obsessed to notice their gravitational pull, or too lost in Justin's music. What is apparent is how phenomenal they look in these pictures. 

I recall wincing when they said in an early Face interview that they wanted to inhabit their own world like the Beastie Boys. It's still a naff thing to say, but as this book testifies repeatedly, that's exactly what they've achieved. And it feels surprisingly good to be let into it.