Meat Beat Manifesto International Disease

The act with the first arena-sized sound in the electronica movement, the Chemical Brothers united such varying influences as Public Enemy, Cabaret Voltaire, and My Bloody Valentine to create a dance-rock-rap fusion which rivaled the best old-school DJs on their own terms – keeping a crowd of people on the floor by working through any number of groove-oriented styles featuring unmissable samples, from familiar guitar riffs to vocal tags to various sound effects. And when the duo (Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons) decided to supplement their DJ careers by turning their bedrooms into recording studios, they pioneered a style of music (later termed big beat) remarkable for its lack of energy loss from the dancefloor to the radio. Chemical Brothers albums were less collections of songs and more hour-long journeys, chock-full of deep bomb-studded beats, percussive breakdowns, and effects borrowed from a host of sources. All in all, the duo proved one of the few exceptions to the rule that intelligent dance music could never be bombastic or truly satisfying to the seasoned rock fan; it's hardly surprising that they were one of the few dance acts to enjoy simultaneous success in the British/American mainstream and in critical quarters.

The Dubnology compilation is a two-disc, 21-track collection of spacy late-'90s electronic dub, heavy on the bass, demonstrating that the music has become more techno-influenced and reliant on electronics and technology. Highlights include tracks by System7, Loop Guru, Zion Train, Meat Beat Manifesto, and Banco de Gaia; the booklet includes biographies and photos of all the artists.

Electronic Body Music, abbreviated as EBM, is a term whose origin stems from the Belgian group Front 242, chosen to describe their electronic music; cold and dancing, free of the dominant influences of the time. Powerful, cold and minimalist electronic rhythms were the hallmarks of this new genre.

The well established and long running Back to Mine compilation CD series has taken another creative twist and turn with Liam Howlett of The Prodigy being responsible for this release. British club dance musician Liam Prodigy's selection in the intriguing Back to Mine series of artists' mix tapes is both entertaining and revelatory, containing both the cutting-edge dance material you'd expect, like Public Enemy's "Welcome to the Terrordome" and Method Man's "Release Yourself," and more left-field tracks like ELO's "Living Thing" and Dolly Parton's "Jolene." For good measure there's Max Romeo's classic Lee "Scratch" Perry-produced reggae rhythm "Chase the Devil," the Stranglers' leering, punky "Peaches," and PIL's relentlessly pounding "Rise."