Tom Rowlands: 'Through Me / Nothing But Pleasure'

Let this be a topic to discuss about it.


As for my subjective take...

Anyone still a fan of this?

I was listening to Satur8's 'FurtherMore' the other day, and he makes use of it in his mix (Great job, by the way). Unfortunately, it has re-triggered my dislike for this release. I even actively skipped radio stations when "Nothing But Pleasure" was on, while playing Grand Theft Auto 5.

I understand this an established artist going solo and exploring his boundaries while focusing on a club style release. But I can't understand the vastly inferior execution.

Was there any further motivation for this release? Put a down payment on a rare, retro synth, maybe?

It's one of my least listened parts of the "Chems" catalog for sure. I can't say I dislike it - I remember being so hyped after hearing the DJ vids ahead of its release - and I think that's where the release lives alone, in an environment where you've got the crowd ready for a dirty, completely unpolished, raw and out of nowhere build up and drop. I do like the Soulwax Edit in GTA that shakes up the structure and gets to the point faster.

I don't even think about Through Me. It's like Electric Battle Weapon 9.1. Just a weird thing.

Seemed like Tom just having fun putting out some tracks not polished to the same standard as a typical Chems release - in my impression, not so much Tom "going solo" and exploring, as much as wanting to release something he worked on that was pretty good and that Ed wasn't going to touch while taking his time off from the band.

I still listen to both these tracks occasionally , Nothing But Pleasure is a good track and it works in a live setting ,  see video below , i think its from one of their DJ sets at the time. I like the simple but effective visuals of frequency wave-forms then forward-motion light zooms as the song peaks and intensifies. The crowd are enjoying it . . .

 

Thanks for the responses guys.

I think what bothers me with the release is it doesn't feel very inspired. I realize not every track needs to be the meaning of life (I believe Ed or Tom said something like that in an interview, and I try to echo those sentiments), but I feel like there is a lot of lesser-named producers out there that could put out this same quality and it would be largely ignored because: (A) it's not that great, and (B) they don't have a name behind it.

So why should a fully established producer lower his standards and release something so sub-par? Feels a bit selfish to purposely humanize yourself amongst a field of up-and-coming producers that battle for that type of air-space.


...I'm not being fair. Dude, just wanted to put out some music.

Well, I've got to be honest: I really dislike Nothing But Pleasure. So much so that I didn't even bother to put it in my collection. It's got a few nice parts, but overall, this one is rather tedious to listen to. Like you guys said, it comes across as uninspired, empty even, repeating its main theme over and over without going in any meaningful direction. It's a little bit like their official remix of Boyz Noize's XTC.
Especially the main leading synth Tom uses to build the tension in NBP is hard on the ears and makes me uneasy the longer it goes on.
The one thing I do like about this track, though, is the drums.

Through Me is the much better song of the two in my opinion. It has more of a structure with less annoying instrumentation and it's got more layers than NBP. The acid lines are nice and the climax at around 3:20 is dope and typcial Chems (or should I say Tom) style.

Maybe Tom wanted to help push Erols label a bit by contributing a song from one half of the Chems? Maybe he found it behind a sofa? Or maybe he just wanted to release some more experimental stuff for the fun of it without being bound by any Chems label.

Nothing But Pleasure is like a clash of a Thomas Bangalter Roule production and the irritation of the
"Harlem Shake".

After giving it some further thought, I think this is why I like "Go" so much. 'Further', 'Hanna', 'Don't Think' and "Theme For Velodrome" were some epic highs for me. So when we moved on to this release, The Klaxons remix (which I now appreciate in retrospect), "This is Not a Game", and "Sometimes I Feel So Deserted", I was really concerned. But once we got our first crack at "Go" I was absolutely bouncing from wall-to-wall. The magic came back in one big rush.

Songs like Nothing But Pleasure and Through Me are essentially DJ tools...and that's okay.  They shouldn't be compared to the complexity of classic Electronic Battle Weapons. These tracks are meant to be played late at night for a dancefloor packed with fucked up strangers pressed up closely together. No matter how much I love Esacpe Velocity...and I still LOVE it...I sometimes wonder if a track like the XTC remix gets more international play in clubs. I try to do my own thing and make it up as I go, but I think having dancefloor tracks accessible to the masses is always a positive.

I also understand the contrast of this valid point:

So why should a fully established producer lower his standards and release something so sub-par? Feels a bit selfish to purposely humanize yourself amongst a field of up-and-coming producers that battle for that type of air-space.

On a slightly tangent note, I love Tom's RAR Mix of Hearts. It's a different tpye of track than the ones listed above, but it's still unique. Is that one generally more popular with fans?

I didn't think this was so disliked. I love Nothing But Pleasure, and I like Though Me, but I don't listen to it as much.
I also love the Love Frequency remix, that I feel is in the same bag as Nothing But Pleasure. What's your opinion on it?

The Love Frequency remix is fine. I didn't like the original track, but Tom managed to salvage everything worth saving into a very manageable dance track. It's got fun little builds and a very addictive, driving "BONG" melody. It's just one of those tracks were it sounds good, but I don't feel compelled to hit repeat.

I like them both. They fit the Phantasy label very well. It's Erol Alkan's label and a lot of releases on it are sort of a "lo-fi" electronic meant for being used as DJ tools.







Also Through Me has a special place in my heart as every time I have to pee after drinking coffee, I always impersonate that song and go

"The coffee is running through me


The coffee is running through me"