To folk musicians, chemical music is sipping from a bottle of Jack while jamming on a guitar. But the age of technology has prevailed and a different sort of chemical music is finding a way into modern radio frequencies.

Sure, musical purists are getting pissed. But I say let ’em. I like this new craze of digital techno.

Just as Elvis opened the doors to rock ‘n’ roll, computer geeks like The Chemical Brothers are paving a pathway for 21st century rave.

Originating from the club scenes along the East and West coasts, digital techno was released from the underground to enhance the production of some of the more experimental artists of this decade.

The Dust Brothers deserve much of the credit for its projects with the Beastie Boys and Beck.

Purists may cringe at this thought, but most of the artists falling under the chemical or digital music label can’t even sing. They’re just normal people with computers and synthesizers that have nothing better to do with their time than come up with some cool sounding mixes.

But that’s not to say this isn’t art, or that it doesn’t take any skill.

What’s beautiful about the new chemical craze is that there are virtually no limits to what can be done with it.

Digital tunes can spice up an industrial sound, or venture back into the 80s and recreate some of the original break dancing masterpieces.

But so far the coolest development in digital music is combining it with a pop singer.

To say that Noel Gallagher isn’t one of my favorite artists would be quite an understatement, but his latest duet with The Chemical Brothers blows me away.

There is definitely more room in the music market for this kind of stuff.

If digital music were to make more of a mark on radio, it would have to be done through songs like “Rising Sun,” in which both the digital and the lyrical sampling elements are featured.

For those of you willing to get chemical with your CDcollections, a number of digital artists have released discs in the last month.

Ben Neill’s Triptycal mixes the European sounds of trip-hop with some very funky digital beats. The record is a little repetitive, but remains fairly catchy. And of course, there is no singing.

Robert Miles’ Dreamland is a little more commercialized and features two already radio hits in “Children” and “One and One.”

It has some singing done by Fiorella Quinn and Maria Nayler, but is not quite as upbeat as you would expect.

But to experience chemical music at its best, stick with The Chemical Brothers.

They have a number of E.P.s, including Rising Sun, but its full length Exit Planet Dust still takes top honors.

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Corey Moss is a freshman in journalism and mass communication from Urbandale. He is the assistant Lifestyles editor.