"Brotherhood" falls somewhere between being a sequel to "Singles 93-03" and an update of that compilation. "Singles 93–03" was an incomplete chronology of the singles of that period, focussing mainly on the more obviously commercial ones. "Brotherhood" retains some of those selections (especially the collaborations) and intersperses them with pretty much all of the singles released since, with the exception of "The Salmon Dance", perhaps the Chems' kookiest single, and with the non-single "Saturate" included instead. Like any modern singles album, this includes a couple of new tracks: "Keep my composure" and "Midnight Madness". The latter borrows heavily from longtime Chems' influence New Order - you can sing practically all of "Bizarre Love Triangle" right over it. As with "Singles 93-03", mid-period tracks such as "Let Forever Be" sound more dated than either the big beat monsters that preceeded them and more ambitious recent singles such as "Galvanize". "Brotherhood" is an enjoyable and beautifully packaged album, but overall it might have been better to wait until the Chems had another studio album under their belts, and then release a proper sequel to the first best-of, rather than this halfway-house. Still, if they'd waited that long, there might not be any such thing as a Chemical Brothers single. You know that vinyl singles really are in trouble when you can only get the latest Chems single as a download ...

The title, dreamy packaging and sticker announcing 'soundscapes for daydreams' all suggest that 'Ghosts I-IV' is going to be a smoother ride than it really is. I was expecting a Reznor take on Brian Eno's ambient albums such as 'On land'. But while there are gentle pieces included here, they sit alongside several other kinds of instrumental. There are piano sketches similar to the quieter moments of 'With Teeth'; blurry, harshly distorted guitar workouts; John Carpenteresque would-be soundtracks; pieces in the style of Aphex Twin's 'Selected Ambient Works II', but produced with more clarity; and various odds and ends that feel as if they were outtakes from vocal songs. The tracks are brief (unsurprising, when there are 18 on each CD!), and the vast majority have something either pleasant or interesting to offer. Occasionally direct influences peep through - part 5 of 'Ghosts I' sounds very similar to The Cure's 1981 film soundtrack 'Carnage Visors', and various other parts of this album return to that expectant, slightly plodding mood. There has always been a danger of NIN becoming a parody of itself, but here Reznor reveals his palette as being much more varied than he's usually given credit for.

The tracks are divided into four sections - I to IV - but it's difficult to tell why; any of them could easily be swapped with others from the other sections. I'd expected more differentiation between one movement and the next.

If you're looking for an ambient album that you can fall asleep to, there are better-known and more appropriate releases elsewhere. Likewise, if you prefer your instrumentals to really develop and go somewhere, this is not for you. But if you're a fan of Reznor's instrumental work, and don't mind a lot of chopping-and-changing over the space of one album, 'Ghosts I-IV' is well worth investigating.

The title of this compilation is misleading, as not all of the singles of this period are included. The missing ones are: "My Mercury Mouth"; "Life Is Sweet"; "Loops Of Fury"; "Elektrobank"; "Music: Response"; "It Began In Afrika"; and "Come With Us" (which was a double A side release with "The Test"). Given that it isn't included on any other Chemical Brothers album, "My Mercury Mouth" would have been nice to have. The absence of "It Began In Afrika" is also surprising, as it was the first single from the "Come With Us" album. "The Private Psychedelic Reel" shouldn't be here. It was a limited edition single only (20,000 copies on CD and 10,000 on 12"), and certainly not a hit. It would have been better to include "Elektrobank", the single of which is much shorter than the version on "Dig your own hole". As for the obligatory pair of new tracks, "The Golden Path" is a horribly sickly whinger with pseudo-mystical lyrics courtesy of The Flaming Lips, but "Get yourself high" fares a little better, with some shouted vocals from the Brothers themselves to punctuate the rapping, and a more solidly electronic bias. Both new tracks were released as singles, albeit in reverse order to how they appear here.

Listening to this collection as a whole, the first three tracks stand out as somehow less dated than the bigger hits of later years. Perhaps this is purely because they're free of the guest vocalists who clutter up the Brothers' mid-period albums. The two Noel Gallagher collaborations sound particularly tired - "Setting Sun" is a hopeless attempt at shoving The Beatles' "Tomorrow Never Knows" (doesn't Gallagher have a single idea of his own?) onto a big beat dancefloor, and on "Let Forever Be" Gallagher commits the worst grammatical offence on any pop record since Wings' "Live and Let Die": "how does it feel like?". "Block Rockin' Beats" and "Hey Boy Hey Girl" are the obvious chartbusters - moronic, repetitive, great. It's a pity that the singles from "Come With Us" are played down, as for me it's the most successful Chemical Brothers album. But it's also the one which relies least on guest singers, and was accordingly less of a hit.

One day Tiga will have an original idea of his own. In the meantime, "Far from home"'s correct writing credit should be "Sumner/Marr", as it is a straightforward cover version of Electronic's 1991 hit "Get the message", which can still be found on their eponymous debut album. Alongside other tuneless contemporary electro pretenders such as Ladytron, Mr Sontag is a fine example of (copied) styling over (likewise copied) content, delivered with neither passion nor frisson.