Block Rockin' Beats/The Chemical Brothers (Circuit Tracks Version)

"Back with another one of those block rockin' beats....."
I've been searching around for an ideal Chemical Brothers track to recreate on the Circuit Tracks when up popped one of my favourite channels, ‪@smallplatesmusic‬ with a video about this classic 1997 song off the album "Dig Your Own Hole'. I've loved the band since their 'Dust Brother'/Playstation 1 days and this mix of jazz, hip-hop and breakbeats blended with their signature synths is a true anthem. (plus check out another great band, 23 Skidoo's track 'Coup' for possible 'inpiration')

See the video here for his fascinating deep dive into all of the samples used and the history behind them. Highly, highly recommend for any music fan...plus also some great Koala Sample App recreations too!
   • “Block Rockin’ Beats: The Samples Behind t...  

After commenting I was offered access to the Koala track shown in the video, and many of the samples in this recreation come from that version. Mark this up as my first collaboration on this channel! Huge thanks for the inspiration and help ‪@smallplatesmusic‬

What you hear was all recreated on a single Novation Circuit Tracks with the drum tracks used to sequence the various samples, augmented with synth lines to underpin the sound when needed. It was recorded straight from the audio outs into a Zoom L6 without any extra synths or effects.

I hope you enjoy this as much as I did making it and stay tuned!

More details for synth nerds.

BPM 109.
Synth 1 - sawtooth bass synth
Synth 2 - distorted PWM saw patch playing chords and stabs
Drum 1 - drum loops
Drum 2 - sequenced bass note samples
Drum 3 - vocal snatches and pitched gunshot(!) samples
Drum 4 - crash cymbal and 707 open and closed hihats

The original synth lines on the track apparently are from the duophonic Octave Cat. ‪@StarskyCarr‬ has an excellent run through of what these sound like here,
   • Vintage Classics // Octave Cat  
I think the Tracks does a passable job in the mix - I had to use some aritstic licence with some of the stabs etc.

Let me know in the comments below if you have any questions and I'll do my best to help. Till next time, thanks for watching.