FATBOY SLIM to Reissue BETTER LIVING THROUGH CHEMISTRY for 30th Anniversary

Thirty years after BETTER LIVING THROUGH CHEMISTRY introduced the world to the unmistakable sound of Fatboy Slim, aka Norman Cook, his seminal debut album is set to be reissued digitally via UMe on September 25 as an expanded digital deluxe edition. The 30th Anniversary Edition features exclusive bonus tracks including B-sides, rare material and brand new remixes from Dutch DJ and producer Sem Jacobs and Peruvian electronic artist Chinonegro and Defected favorite Ammo Avenue. 'Song For Lindy (Sem Jacobs Remix)' is available to hear now, and BETTER LIVING THROUGH CHEMISTRY (30th Anniversary Edition) can be pre-saved at https://Fatboyslim.lnk.to/BLTC30PR.

Fatboy Slim said: 'Better Living Through Chemistry was basically me figuring out what I was doing. I was making music for the dancefloor, the bedroom, the afterparty and anyone who'd listen. Looking back, it's got all the mistakes, experiments and madness of that time in it, but that's probably what I love about it most. It was the beginning of the Fatboy Slim adventure, and I'm amazed that, all these years later, people are still discovering it, dancing to it and asking me about it. It feels pretty bloody good to give it another lease of life.'

Following his much talked about performance at Coachella earlier this year where he played a sprawling two-hour set on the Quasar Stage, Fatboy Slim will bring his high-energy mix of house and dance music to the Portola Music Festival in San Francisco on Saturday, September 26 almost exactly 30 years after the album was released in the U.S. (September 23, 1996). While in town, he will play a special Portola Week club show at the 808 Garage on Sunday, September 27.

A defining record in the evolution of British dance music, BETTER LIVING THROUGH CHEMISTRY laid the foundations for Fatboy Slim's explosive career and helped shape the emerging big beat movement of the late 1990s, capturing the energy, creativity and genre-defying spirit of a scene that would go on to influence generations of artists.

Originally released in 1996, Fatboy Slim's debut album BETTER LIVING THROUGH CHEMISTRY was the moment Norman Cook transformed years of musical experimentation into a defining sound of the 1990s. By this point, Cook had already lived several musical lives; from The Housemartins and Beats International to Freak Power, Pizzaman and Mighty Dub Katz, but it was with this album that he helped shape the movement that would become known as Big Beat. Inspired by the emerging sounds coming out of London's electronic scene, including The Chemical Brothers, Cook began blending seemingly unlikely influences: hip-hop, funk breaks, house, reggae, indie and acid. The album was born out of his legendary Big Beat Boutique club nights at Brighton's Concorde, where he tested ideas on the dancefloor and let audiences help define the sound. In many ways, BETTER LIVING THROUGH CHEMISTRY captured that moment of discovery, a genre being created in real time and recorded.

Beyond its sound, the album represented Cook's fearless approach to sampling and production. Drawing from soul, rock, house, film scores and decades of musical history, he treated samples not as shortcuts but as building blocks, creating new conversations between different eras of music. The iconic floppy disk-inspired artwork, a nod to New Order's influential Blue Monday sleeve, reflected the album's playful relationship with electronic music history. Bold, inventive and full of character, BETTER LIVING THROUGH CHEMISTRY established Fatboy Slim as one of the most important figures in the rise of Big Beat and helped define the sound, energy and attitude of late-90s British dance music.

Tracklist

Song For Lindy

Santa Cruz

Going Out Of My Head

The Weekend Starts Here

Everybody Needs A 303

Give The Po' Man A Break

10th and Crenshaw

First Down

Punk To Funk

The Sound Of Milwaukee

Michael Jackson (B-side to 'Going Out Of My Head')

Next to Nothing (B-side to 'Going Out Of My Head')

Everybody Loves A Carnival (B-Side to 'Everybody Needs A 303')

Es Paradis (B-side to 'Everybody Needs A 303')

First Down the Disco (Archive recording first released in 2016)

Sunset 303 (Original Version)

Neal Cassady Starts Here (B-side to 'Santa Cruz')

It's a Dream (Archive recording first released in 2016)

Knuf Ot Knup (B-side to 'Punk To Funk')

Big Beat Souffle (B-side to 'Punk To Funk')

Everybody Loves A Filter (B-side to 'Everybody Needs A 303')

Weekend Bonus Beats (B-side to 'Santa Cruz')

Crenshaw Siren Beats (LP bonus track)

Song for Lindy (Sem Jacobs Remix)

Song for Lindy (Chinonegro & Ammo Avenue Remix)

Fatboy Slim U.S. Live Shows

September 26 – San Francisco, CA – Portola Music Festival

September 27 – San Francisco, CA – 888 Garage (Portola Week)

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