The Chemical Brothers

The Chemical Brothers are a British electronic music band composed of Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons originating in Manchester in 1989. Along with The Prodigy, Fatboy Slim, The Crystal Method, and fellow acts, they were pioneers at bringing the big beat genre to the forefront of pop culture. In the UK, they have had six number one albums and 13 top 20 singles, including two number ones.

History

Formation and early career (1984–95)

Ed Simons was born in Herne Hill, South London on 9 June 1970 to a barrister mother and a father who were not around much when Simons was growing up. Simons' two main interests when he was young were aeroplanes and musicals. Simons attended two South London public schools, Alleyn's School and Dulwich College. During his school years, he developed a fondness for rare groove and hip hop music, having frequented a club called The Mud Club from the age of 14. By the time he left school, his two main musical interests were two Manchester bands, New Order and The Smiths. After finishing school with 11 O levels and three A-levels, he continued on to study history, especially late medieval history, at the University of Manchester.

Chemical substance

A chemical substance is a form of matter that has constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. It cannot be separated into components by physical separation methods, i.e., without breaking chemical bonds. Chemical substances can be chemical elements, chemical compounds, ions or alloys.

Chemical substances are often called 'pure' to set them apart from mixtures. A common example of a chemical substance is pure water; it has the same properties and the same ratio of hydrogen to oxygen whether it is isolated from a river or made in a laboratory. Other chemical substances commonly encountered in pure form are diamond (carbon), gold, table salt (sodium chloride) and refined sugar (sucrose). However, in practice, no substance is entirely pure, and chemical purity is specified according to the intended use of the chemical.

Chemical substances exist as solids, liquids, gases or plasma, and may change between these phases of matter with changes in temperature or pressure. Chemical reactions convert one chemical substance into another.

Chemical weapon

A chemical weapon (CW) is a munition that uses chemicals formulated to inflict death or harm on human beings. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) states:

They are classified as weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), though they are distinct from nuclear weapons, biological weapons (diseases), and radiological weapons (which use radioactive decay of elements). All may be used in warfare known by the military acronym NBC, for nuclear, biological, and chemical warfare. Weapons of mass destruction are distinct from conventional weapons, which are primarily effective due to their explosive, kinetic, or incendiary potential. Chemical weapons can be widely dispersed in gas, liquid and solid forms, and may easily afflict others than the intended targets. Nerve gas, tear gas and pepper spray are three modern examples.

Lethal, unitary, chemical agents and munitions are extremely volatile and they constitute a class of hazardous chemical weapons that are now being stockpiled by many nations. (Unitary agents are effective on their own and require no mixing with other agents.) The most dangerous of these are nerve agents GA, GB, GD, and VX, and vesicant (blister) agents which are formulations of sulfur mustard such as H, HT, and HD. All are liquids at normal room temperature, but become gaseous when released. Widely used during the First World War, the effects of so-called mustard gas, phosgene gas and others caused lung searing, blindness, death and maiming.

Come with Us

Come with Us is the fourth studio album by English big beat duo The Chemical Brothers, released in January 2002 by record labels Virgin and Freestyle Dust in the UK and Astralwerks and Ultra in the US. It features Richard Ashcroft and Beth Orton as guest vocalists.

The album debuted at number 1 on the UK Albums Chart. It was certified Gold by the BPI on 1 February 2002.

Background

The band's second and third albums Dig Your Own Hole and Surrender brought the band international fame. The band had a worldwide tour for Surrender beginning in 1999, continuing until summer 2000 when they played festivals including legendary performances at Glastonbury Festival and Creamfields.

Following the festivals, the band created a new track, premiered in December 2000 when the band supported U2. Tom Rowlands seemed to initially have mixed feelings about the track, saying it had "quite a lot of percussion, big, sweeping sort of stuff. Live conga playing, quite spaced out. It's like Body & Soul, but really, really hard and twisted, it's like high-impact, full-on, but with more organic sounds, and quite intense, without the good vibe." The track was popular with fans, however, and eventually was released as the white label release "Electronic Battle Weapon 5" in June 2001. In the release's dawn, the duo had begun recording a new album, and the track had proved basis for the band's recording of the album.

Jimmy Dore

James Patrick "Jimmy" Dore (born July 26, 1965) is an American stand-up comedian. Dore started performing in 1989.

Life and career

Dore was born into and raised in a Catholic family of 12 on the southwest side of Chicago, Illinois. He is the star of several Comedy Central specials, host of The Jimmy Dore Show, and a writer–performer for the Off-Broadway hit The Marijuana -Logues. His hour-long Comedy Central Special Citizen Jimmy was chosen Best Of 2008 by iTunes, and was named one of the Top 5 Comedy DVDs of 2008 by Punchline Magazine. Jimmy Dore's latest comedy special Sentenced to Live was released on October 6, 2015.

Dore currently lives in Pasadena, California, and hosts his own monthly show Left, Right & Ridiculous at the UCB theater in Hollywood. Much of his recent material is focused on the absurdity of the corporate news media, social criticism, and modern politics. In June 2009 he began producing The Jimmy Dore Show, a one-hour comedic look at the news, which originates at KPFK 90.7 FM Los Angeles, airs nationally on the Pacifica Network and on the web via The Young Turk's Network. He also hosts the podcast Comedy And Everything Else with his wife Stefane Zamorano and formerly with Todd Glass, who departed from the show in late 2009.