Music / Dig Your Own Hole

"Back with another one of those block-rockin' beats"

Dig Your Own Hole is the second studio album by the British electronic duo The Chemical Brothers, released in April 1997 under Virgin Records and their own inprint Freestyle Dust. It was supported by the singles "Setting Sun", "Where Do I Begin", "Block Rockin' Beats", "Elektrobank", and "The Private Psychedelic Reel", and it features guest vocals from Beth Orton^note In "Where Do I Begin". and Noel Gallagher^note In "Setting Sun".

This album was the commercial breakthrough for the duo, peaking at #1 in the UK Albums Chart and entering in the top 20 of the Billboard 200.

Tracklist

1. "Block Rockin' Beats" (5:14)
2. "Dig Your Own Hole" (5:27)
3. "Elektrobank" (8:18)
4. "Piku" (4:54)
5. "Setting Sun" (5:29)
6. "It Doesn't Matter" (6:14)
7. "Don't Stop the Rock" (4:50)
8. "Get Up on It Like This" (2:47)
9. "Lost in the K-Hole" (3:52)
10. "Where Do I Begin" (6:56)
11. "The Private Psychedelic Reel" (9:22)

Block Rockin' Tropes

• Alliterative Title: "Setting Sun".
• Broken Record: The intro of "Piku" starts out like this.
• Deliberately Monochrome: The cover art with a drawing of a woman over a black background.
• Fading into the Next Song: The "Elektrobank" → "Piku" sequence and the "It Doesn't Matter" → "Don't Stop the Rock" → "Get Up on It Like This" run.
• Epic Rocking: "Elektrobank", "It Doesn't Matter" and "The Private Psychedelic Reel".
• In the Style of: "Setting Sun" was clearly inspired by The Beatles' "Tomorrow Never Knows", albeit building the former with their own samples rather than anything from the Fab Four.
• Limited Lyrics Song: "Block Rockin' Beats", which is made up of a sample from a Schoolly D song.
• Longest Song Goes Last: "The Private Psychedelic Reel", which as mentioned above clocks out at nine minutes.
• One-Word Title: "Piku", "Elektrobank".
• Sampling:
  • "Block Rockin' Beats" uses samples from Schoolly D's "Gucci Again".
  • "It Doesn't Matter" samples "It Comes On Anyhow" by the 60's psychedelic rock band Lothar and the Hand People.
  • "Get Up on It Like This" samples the "Money Runner" by John Schroeder.
• Song Style Shift: At the third of "Elektrobank", the song switches from a Big Beat track to an outro that's very reminiscent of Noise Rock.
• Special Guest:
  • "Setting Sun" has Noel Gallagher on the vocals, and it includes lyrics that he composed during the formation of Oasis back in 1992.
  • Folk musician Beth Orton provides the vocals in "Where Do I Begin".
  • Jonathan Donahue from Mercury Rev in "The Private Psychedelic Reel" on, of all things, the clarinet.
• Title Track: "Dig Your Own Hole".
• Word Salad Lyrics: "Elektrobank":
  "Who's this, doing this type of synthetic alpha beta psychedelic funkin'?"

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Sunday morning I'm waking up
Can't even focus on a coffee cup
Don't even know who's bed I'm in
Where do I start
Where do I begin