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Saturday, March 2nd, Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia
Monday, March 4th, Festival Hall, Brisbane, Australia
Wednesday, March 6th, Hordern Pavilion, Sydney, Australia
Sunday, March 10th, North Shore Entertainment Centre, Auckland, New Zealand.

"Star Guitar", which is being released as a single on January 14th, will now also be released as a DVD single, featuring the already acclaimed video directed by Michel Gondry. The tracklisting on the DVD single is as follows:

1. Star Guitar (Edit) (Video)
2. Star Guitar
3. Star Guitar (Pete Heller's 303 Dub)

The Chemical Brothers will again be DJing at Bugged Out meets Boutique at Heaven, London, on Friday, February 1st. The following is from the Bugged Out meets Boutique press release:

The Chemical Brothers will be taking over legendary acid house haven The Soundshaft all night to host their cult "Glint" club. Tom and Ed will be playing a special 4 hour Glint set alongside their cohorts Nathan Detroit and Adam and Noah who usually provide the visuals at the Chemical live shows as Vegetable Vision. This rocked the bells in December, catch 'em getting Glint again before they head off on tour in support of their fourth album "Come With Us".

Despite being reported earlier in Planet Dust Intelligence that the Chemical Brothers gave Gondry a brief to come up with a video similar to "Around The World", Tom Rowlands tells Planet Dust "there was no request for Michel to 'make one like d.p', it would be kind of an insult to someone as creative as him to just make a copy of his earlier work! We work with Michel cause he always has fresh ideas, like "Let Forever Be", that's the point!"

As well as getting airplay on MTV,  the music video is available to view here on Planet Dust. To view, click here . Windows Media Player required to view stream.

Virgin records are hosting a listening party on December 19th in London. Virgin Records have made a small number of passes available to fans. Check out the Chemical Brothers official website to apply for one of the five sets. NME also have a further ten sets of tickets available for fans. Go to http://www.nme.com/features/story.htm?ID=100161 to apply for these tickets. 

Thanks to Mike Wilcox for report. See Mike's full review in Planet Dust features. 

Also, The Chemical Brothers played a low key DJ set in a small club in Tokyo, Japan last week, to just 300 people. More info about the set to follow on Planet Dust.

Monday March 18th - Birmingham Academy
Tuesday March 19th - Portsmouth Guildhall
Thursday March 20th - Manchester Apollo
Friday March 21st - Brixton Academy
Saturday March 22nd - Brixton Academy  

Friday March 29th - Paris; Zenith
Saturday March 30th - Amsterdam; Heineken Hall
Monday April 1st - Koln; Palladium
Tuesday 2nd April - Offenback; Stadhalle
Wednesday 3rd April - Munich; Zenith
Thursday 4th April - Milan; Palavobis
Saturday 6th April - Barcelona; Pavello Olimpic
Sunday 7th April - Madrid; La Cubierta

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The Chemical Brothers are also confirmed as playing live in Spain on April 6th & 7th. The dates will form part of a full tour to promote the forthcoming "Come With Us" album. 

cd:
1. STAR GUITAR (edit)
2. STAR GUITAR (6:55)
3. STAR GUITAR (PETE HELLER EXPANDED MIX)
4. STAR GUITAR (PETE HELLER 303 DUB)
5. BASE 6.

12":
A1. STAR GUITAR (6:55)
A2. BASE 6
B1. STAR GUITAR (PETE HELLER EXPANDED MIX)

The single will be released on 14th January 2002.

The B-side to the "Star Guitar" single, which is being released on January 14th, will be called "Base 6". 

The Chemical Brothers have confirmed they are playing a 3 hour set on New Years Eve, at Turnmills, London. Also playing the venue on the same night will be Tall Paul, Norman Jay and CJ Mackintosh. The Chems will play from midnight until 3am.

Also today, according to a report in NME , The Chemical Brothers approached Outcast to rap/perform on the new Chems album, "Come With Us". However, around the same time, Outcast started to become a lot more popular, and couldn't get time to work on any tracks for The Chemical Brothers. Ed Simmons, speaking to MTV News said that the Chems send Outcast some rough mixes to work with. Ed is quoted by NME as saying "When we were working on 'Come With Us', we sent a couple of the tracks to OutKast to see if they wanted to do something with us. They said they were quite into the music we sent them, but then they blew up and became more massive. But maybe that's something for the future."

The Chems have recruited Eve however, who sings on a version of "Hot Acid Rhythm". The original of "Hot Acid Rhythm" appeared on the recent "It Began In Afrika" single as the b side. The new version with Eve is likely to be used on a future single release as an extra track.

Pete Heller has remixed "Star Guitar" for The Chemical Brothers. As previously reported in Planet Dust intelligence, "Star Guitar" will be released as a single on January 14th, two weeks before the new album is released. 

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The Chemical Brothers' new single will be titled "Star Guitar" and will be released on January 14 in the UK The track is the second from
their forthcoming album "Come With Us." The album release is set for January 28.

Mixmag this month prints an interview with The Chemical Brothers, which sheds some more light on the new album. Full text of the article below:

"Well there's a lot of munting galloping dance music," says Tom, "because munting galloping dance music is at the core of what we do, but there are also some very beautiful sublime moments." Tom Rowlands, one half of the CBs, is one day out of the studio and unsure how to describe the new album, working title 'Chemical 4', that he has just finished with Ed Simons "We haven't quite worked out what it is yet," he says, "but we think it's exciting. The CD seems so small after all that time, but it feels great. "For both Ed and I, our whole lives for the last year and a half are wrapped up in that album. It's how we express ourselves, so anything that happened personally or musically is in there. "While making it we had a two month obsession with Talking Heads. I only remembered that when I heard the one tiny sound on the album remaining from that Talking Heads phase. But that's how it goes."

Come With Us
"This starts off the album. I love it. It's got a huge intro with a spoken bit from a sample we found. It's very dramatic and one of the toughest breaks we've broken for a while - a proper back-to-the-dancefloor number."

It Began In Afrika
We've re-jigged this for the album. We first made the track to DJ with after getting into disco percussion records like 'The Break' by Kat Mandu. We tried to mix that percussive explosion with some acidy sounds into a bite size chunk.

Star Guitar
A very beautiful track but with a certain toughness too. We played a rough version at Creamfields in Ireland and it was one of those lovely ecstatic moments. It has this amazing morphing section where the track turns inside out.

Untitled feat. Beth Orton
It's great working with Beth. She's got the most beautiful voice and you can speak to her about things as a friend rather than just musician to musician. We're doing some stuff on her new album too. This track's one of my favourites.

Untitled feat. Richard Ashcroft
Working with Richard was inspiring. It was the most passionate thing I had ever seen in a studio. Ed and I looked at each other and went, 'Oh My God'. It closes the album, because it's a real huge and epic one.

Tom on The Whole Album
It takes you into it's own world. Muscular and funky would be good words to describe it - but then it goes off in a completely different direction in the middle. For Ed and I the key thing is to put on a record and turn around and go 'Woah!'.

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"Chemicals Fluke A Hit" - this news article appeared in dotmusic today: 

The Chemical Brothers have a hit on their hands that they never even intended. 'It Began In Afrika' was a hit across clubland, especially the recent Creamfields festival, before it was planned as a single. The track was given to a few of Tom and Ed Chemical's mates. Those mates, mostly A-list British DJs, played it to a rapturous response from clubbers. Such was the pressure on the pair that they released it as a single, going straight in at number 8 this week, well above the Dido and Manic Street Preachers' new entries. The Chemicals are now finishing off their album, due next year, but they do have something else up their sleeve in the meantime. "We've got another song called 'Star Guitar' and we're gonna do the same again - ie give it to some DJs for Christmas!," they told Radio 1. "You have to attach singles to albums but you don't know what will work. With 'Afrika' we didn't make a video or make a fuss - it was just there."

"It Began in Afrika" enters the UK charts at an impressive Number 8. This is all the more impressive considering no promotional video was made for the track. However, Planet Dust expects "It Began In Afrika" to fall quite significantly next week. Tom and Ed also tell the BBC today that it was never even supposed to be released as a single. The duo also revealed during a short interview with BBC Radio 1 that "We've got another song called 'Star Guitar' and we're gonna do the same again - ie give it to some DJs for Christmas!, You have to attach singles to albums but you don't know what will work. With 'Afrika' we didn't make a video or make a fuss - it was just there."

"It Began In Afrika" released today on CD single and 12", the first new Chemical Brothers single in 18 months.

The Chemical Brothers new album now looks set to be completed on September 17th. A release date is still to be decided. Possibly looking at a 2002 release.

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The Chemical Brothers are on the verge of completing their new album, reports the NME today. 9 tracks are apparently complete. As previously reported in Planet Dust intelligence, Richard Ashcroft is gusting on one track, and also Beth Orton, who appeared on both “Exit Planet Dust” and “Dig Your Own Hole”.

The Chemical Brothers play the Creamfields UK festival in Liverpool, see image of Tom live at Creamfields below.

The Chemical Brothers played an hour long DJ set on Pete Tong’s Essential Selection show on BBC Radio 1. The set lists includes some new Chems tracks, possibly from the new album. Full track listing was:

The Chemical Brothers - 'Untitled' (Freestyle Dust)
DJ Milo - 'Return Of The Original Art Form' (Mo Wax)
Impulsion - 'Unknown' (White Label)
The Chemical Brothers - 'Hey Riff' (Freestyle Dust)
Metro - 'Here For The Love' (Bassex)
Aphrohead - 'In The Dark We Live' (Bush)
Dan Robbins - 'DBD' (Junior)
Katmandu - 'The Break' (Unidisc)
The Chemical Brothers - 'It Began In Afrika' (Freestyle Dust/Virgin)
Unknown - 'Unknown' (White Label)
Maw Feat Nas T & Denise - 'Work' (MAW Records)
Unknown - 'Unknown' (White Label)
DJ Sneak - 'Recycled Loops' (AV8)
Deskee - 'Kid Get Hype' (White Label)
S.U.A.D. - 'Lambourgini' (White Label)
Funk D'Void - 'Diabola' (Soma)
101 - 'Rock The Beat' (White Label)

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The B-side to "It Began in Afrika" will be a track called "Hot Acid Rhythm 1". According to an Astrelwerks press release (The Chems' label in the US) the track is an electro-rasta acid trip that will remind you why a Chems B-side could easily be an A-side and is the perfect partner to "Afrika...". "Africa" is being released in the US on September 11th, a day later than Ireland & UK. The cover of the single is as follows:

The Chemical Brothers have finally bowed to public pressure and demand, and will release "Africa" on September 10th as a limited edition single. This mainly down to the reaction in clubs when the track has been dropped. It was originally called "Electronic Battle Weapon 5", and only available on limited promos. This will be the second official Chems release this year, following "Galaxy Bounce" on the Tomb Raider Soundtrack.

The Chemical Brothers remix of Fatboy Slim's "Song For Shelter" will be released on September 10th, as part of the double A-side "Song For Shelter / Ya Mama" single. A sample of the remix can be heard at the Fatboy Slim site http://www.gutterandstars.com/ . Cover of the single is as follows:

this report from spaced.co.uk :

Although The Chemical Brothers are in the top ten of every dance chart you'd care to mention with It Began In Africa, it is still not yet clear whether or not it will be released. Reports in the media have suggested that the track, currently in the hands of a select few under the name Electronic Battleweapon 5, will be the first track from their work-in-progress album.

An official spokesperson for the duo, however, told Spaced that there's no official release on the cards. 'There's nothing planned yet. They're in the studio finishing the album and have just played Creamfields Ireland and Gatecrasher Summer Soundsystem. Apart from that they won't be doing anything this year.'

They added that it's unlikely the album will be released this side of 2001. The only Chemicals tune which will see the light of day, however, will appear on the Tomb Raider soundtrack album, released later this month. A new track called Galaxy Bounce features.

Meanwhile, Richard Ashcroft, former Verve front man turned solo star, has contributed vocals to a new track by Tom & Ed Chemical. No news as yet whether or not it'll appear on their fourth, as-yet-untitled album. And in the meantime, look out for their remix of Fatboy Slim's Song For Shelter, a double A-side with Ya Mama to be released on September 3, plus their just announced headline slot at Creamfields UK on Saturday August 25.

The Chemical Brothers have remixed "Cracking Up", a track from the forthcoming New Order album.

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The Chems are reported to have enlisted Richard Ashcroft to appear on a track which may feature on their new album. Speaking in a recent interview with Rolling Stone, the dance duo said that Ashcroft was one of the vocalists on the as-yet-untitled new album, which according to Tom Rowlands, will "blow your mind". Speaking about progress on the new album, band member Ed Simons said: "(Last album) 'Surrender''s got great drums and it's got a front to it, but it's very much a head record. (The new) record is really a grit thing. The drums are tougher, and the bass really hits you in all the tracks." Band mate Tom Rowlands added: "The thing that really got us into making this record was just making it funky. Maybe nearer our earlier records - just a bit more funk and grit, a bit more spanking sound."

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Pete Tong plays new Chemical Brothers track "Africa" on his Essential Selection radio show on BBC Radio 1. The limited promo looks like:

"Galaxy Bounce" has now found its way onto Audiogalaxy, the internet file sharing system..

Report from dotmusic.com :  

Dance duo the Chemical Brothers have announced that they will be headlining Gatecrasher's Summer Sound System next month, and it'll be their only UK festival appearance. The event is set to take place on June 16th at Turweston Aerodrome in Oxfordshire and will now play host to 50,000 revellers instead of the planned 40,000. Tom and Ed will top the bill in the Chemical Generation Arena, which is only one of the 10 arenas making up the event. It's likely that the pair will premiere new material from their forthcoming, but still untitled, long-player. As well as a live stage, which will include performances from the likes of Craig David, OutKast and Morcheeba, there will be the Gatecrasher Arena, Twilo Progressive Arena, Legends Of The Dark Black Arena and the Radio 1 Outdoor Soundstage to name just a few. Other superstar DJs lined up to play include Paul Oakenfold, Roger Sanchez, Artful Dodger, Roni Size, Pete Tong, Carl Cox, MJ Cole, Gilles Peterson, Judge Jules and Seb Fontaine. The Chemical Brothers have spent a lot of hours ensconced in the studio recently, but did find some time to play at the Coachella Festival in California alongside a stellar line-up that included Iggy Pop, Fatboy Slim and Jane's Addiction.

More rumours floating around about the new Chemical Brothers album. Mixmag are reporting that the Chems are collaborating with Deep Dish for a track on the new album. The album is being summed up as being "a more mellow, funked out vibe".

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Reports suggest that Tom and Ed have at this time about 10 and 18 tracks in the works for their next album, which are close to completion. The album probably will see the light of day in 2001, but probably not until towards the end of the year. The bad news however is that it now looks as though the Chems remix of Fatboy Slim's "Song For Shelter" may not get released until close to or after the release of the Chems new album. It is thought this may be the case so as to ensure that the remix does not overshadow any new material the Chems release. The Chemical Brothers remix of "Song for Shelter" was originally due to be released as part of the "Star 69 / Weapon of Choice" pack from Fatboy Slim in April. However, "Star 69 / Weapon of Choice" has been released without any Chemical Brothers contribution.

The Chemical Brothers play a DJ set at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival, in Palm Springs, California, USA. The festival was attended by an estimated 35,000 people. 47 bands in total played, across 5 stages at the 12 hour festival. Other festival appearances came from the likes of Weezer, St. Germain, Sigur Ros, Kruder & Dorfmeister, Fatboy Slim and Jane’s Addiction. The Chemical Brothers came on stage immediately after Fatboy Slim. The Chemical Brothers set included the new track "It Began In Africa", which had previously been aired in New York with the Brothers DJ'ed at a U2 gig in December 2000. The new track is heavily percussion orientated. (see also Desert Sun.Com )

The Chemical Bothers have contributed a new track to the forthcoming "Tomb Raider" soundtrack. The track is called "Galaxy Bounce". The soundtrack will be released on 5th June 2001, with the actual film being released ten days later on 15th June. Other artists making contributions to the sound track include U2, Fatboy Slim, Leftfield and Grove Armada. It is not yet clear whether or not the "Galaxy Bounce" track will also appear on a single. The full album tracklisting is:

1. U2 "Elevation" (Tomb Raider Mix)
2. nine inch nails "Deep"
3. The Chemical Brothers "Galaxy Bounce"
4. Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott f/Nelly Furtado "Get UR Freak On"
5. OutKast "Speed Ballin'"
6. Moby "Ain't Never Learned"
7. BT "The Revolution"
8. Delerium "Terra Firma" (Lara's Mix)
9. Basement Jaxx "Where's Your Head At"
10. Fatboy Slim f/Bootsy Collins "Illuminati"
11. Fluke "Absurd"
12. Leftfield "Song Of Life"
13. Groove Armada "Edge Hill"
14. Bosco "Satellite"
15. Oxide & Neutrino "Devil's Nightmare"

Promos for the soundtrack should reach radio stations around mid-May, so expect "Galaxy Bounce" to start getting airplay around then. (see also Electra Records Tomb Raider site for more details. Audio samples of tracks from the album will also appear on the Electra site soon). Electra advert for the soundtrack:

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MTV reports that the Chemical Brothers aired one of their new tracks "It Began in Africa" at their New York DJ gigs supporting U2. According to Tom Rowlands the new track is described as having "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." (Click here for full report)