What makes sense in that world? The Chemical Brothers locate their answer at the moment hedonism shades into chaos. “Setting Sun” might not be the noisiest Number One, but it’s one of the most aggressive and turbulent – great chthonic shudders of bass, a drum loop that seems to be trying to punch a hole in the track, snatches of drone on endless spin cycle, the whole song strafed by feedback squeals then swamped in machine-goblin chatter as soon as the singer tries to communicate. Any attempt by the song to be a song is undercut – the breakdown sounds like an equipment failure and reboot, and Gallagher’s vocals are treated and flattened into irrelevance. (Apparently he performs “Setting Sun” as an actual song live, which is hard to imagine – the lyrics are flotsam and the track’s main weak point is his attempt to corral the noise into a tune.)
“Setting Sun” – from Dig Your Own Hole, my favorite Chemical Brothers album, if only for the nostalgia element – is one of my favorite ChemBros songs, alongside the equally Noel Gallagher-vocalled “Let Forever Be,” which is another attempt to redo the Beatles’ “Tomorrow Never Knows.” Tom Ewing’s take on “Sun” is, of course, a must-read, especially because of what he says about the song essentially closing the door on the 1966 revivalism it seemed a product of.
(Also, Noel Gallagher’s live version of “Setting Sun” is notable not only for being performed solo, but also acoustically most of the time. I should find it on YouTube, for the curious.)
