Album Review: Hot Chip - Made in the Dark

Hot Chip - Made in the Dark

(DFA/Astralwerks; 2008)

80%


"Wrestlers" [mp3]





Last October Hot Chip’s official web site posted a press release stating Made in the Dark was “faster and rockier” than 2006’s The Warning. “Faster” I could fathom, but a Hot Chip rock album? P4K was apparently similarly miffed heading into their interview with frontman Alexis Taylor, as they asked if these adjectives were accurate. He replied, “Yeah, some of it is rockier, and there are moments that you could detect a bit of a heavy metal influence.”

Heavy metal, huh? Now he’s fucking with us.

Perhaps that’s the most charming quality of a band like Hot Chip. They have a good time. If you’ve ever been to one of their live shows, you know they have a really good time. They write songs that make people dance, even those who normally feel uncomfortable committing more than a fervent head bob. They write satirical songs like “Over and Over” that make fun of the very genre they happen to be mastering. Sometimes, they pen a slow number that melts your heart, right before they bite you on the neck and push you back on the dance floor.

Made in the Dark has all the Hot Chip trappings and much, much more. You have your dancey numbers, a la “Ready for the Floor” or “Touch Too Much.” You have your tongue-in-cheek diddies like “Wrestlers,” a classic Hot Chip number that features Taylor singing oh-so-sweetly, “Everyone knows Monday night means wrestling” over break-your-heart backing vocals/piano. It would be difficult to write a review and not mention the titular track, which features bonafide break-your-heart music and lyrics (albeit featuring a winking line like, “Since I stole this song we have made a new start.”)

There’s a lot to like here, maybe even love. Unfortunately a few snoozers dampen the party. “Shake a Fist,” despite being the album’s first single, fails to make me want to shake much of anything (perhaps they should have stuck with the song’s original title, “Shake a Stick”?). “Don’t Dance,” on the other hand, does a fine job living up to its imperative title.

For the record (ha), the album does employ more organic rock sounds, such as the opening guitar on “One Pure Thought” (which, for one horrifying moment, sounds like the heralding of a Sheryl Crow song). I’m reminded of TV on the Radio’s transition from Desperate Youth to Cookie Mountain – no more drum machines, more guitar – though Hot Chip hasn’t entirely abandoned the electronic sound that defined them on standouts like “And I Was a Boy from School” or “Over and Over.” I’m intrigued by the band’s more soulful side on “Made in the Dark” and “In the Privacy of Our Love,” though the slower numbers on The Warning fit that album’s aesthetic much more seamlessly.

Ultimately Made in the Dark may not be “the definitive Hot Chip” as their press release has asserted. Nonetheless, the band’s shown they have a palette of sounds to choose from as they continue to stake out this satirical/dance/heavy metal territory only they can inhabit. I might even say a palette of colours and colours and colours and – you get the picture.

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First Listen Friday: Tulsa, Thao w/GDSD, and Hot Chip

Man, it's been a long week of work and I'm looking forward to the weekend. Last weekend was jam packed with a trip to Springfield to see the incredible Yo La Tengo, and the work week was filled with stress and overtime. This weekend I vow to take it easy!

Here are some tracks that have got me through.


Tulsa - "Rafter"

The echoing guitars and vocals evoke a nice relaxing mood. I Was Submerged came out late last year from this band out of Boston.

Thao with The Get Down Stay Down - "Swimming Pools"

Off of her upcoming album We Brave Bee Stings and All, to be released next week. I've certainly braved some metaphorical bee stings this week.


Hot Chip - "Ready for the Floor"

The soothing voice of Alexis Taylor takes the edge off. The Range Life staff is excited about this upcoming release and there will certainly be more to come from the blog.

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Have You Heard?

Hot Chip - "Shake a Fist"


Last week Hot Chip announced its third album Made in the Dark is set for a Feb. 4 release. The band's official site promises "rhythmical chaos...soulful introspection...and contemporary widescreen pop." Whatever the latter is, I'm sure it'll bust my bifocals.

Thankfully, in this age of rampant piracy, fans won't have to wait until February. In fact, you don't have to wait at all to hear first single "Shake a Fist." Just bop on over to the band's MySpace and get clickin.

Immediately "Shake a Fist" asserts itself as quintessential Hot Chip, albeit a much darker, more rockin' incarnation. Midway through the song, suavest-nerd-alive Alexis Taylor suggests in a song-stopping voiceover, "This game is called 'Sounds of the Studio'...If you have a pair of headphones, you better get em out and get em cranked up."

Hot Chip is a band that graciously reminds us all that as we get older, being weird/goofy/dorky suddenly makes you cool. That, and, even dorks can dance.

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Music Musings

Hey there, Nicole here again. As I haven't posted much lately, I thought I'd offer some recent music-related ramblings.

Arcade Fire Tours w/ LCD Soundsystem
I admit I'm intrigued by the coupling. The Arcade Fire seems far more capable of following up an LCD dance-fest than say, some other bands I've seen paired with dancier acts. I'm still unsure how I feel about the Tortoise/Hot Chip matchup, and though I was sadly turned away at the Granada door, I've heard the 2003 Rapture/Shins tour was a bit of a letdown. (I'm still itching to write a column about the shows that got away...) Word has it that the LCD/Arcade tour will kick off sometime in September and conclude in mid-October. That means, even if they were to visit the piddling Midwest, they will likely arrive on Sept. 12 or 13, no doubt adding to that whole Flaming Lips/Blonde Redhead/Devendra Banhart debacle.

About That Hot Chip Show...
Admittedly I missed much of Tortoise, as I was then experiencing the beginnings of an illness the likes I haven't seen since last year's bad shroom trip. Thankfully I was able to pull myself together for Hot Chip. I'm fairly new to the world of electro-pop, dance, techno, and so on (I have the Rapture to thank for my initiation, as I'm sure many a indie fan can concur). What I can say is that if you come to a dance band show -- and you dance -- you are going to have a good time.

On a side note: Alexis Taylor, the owner of that sexy, soulful voice, looked like one of my grade school classmates with his shorn hair, oversized glasses, and wife beater (you know, one of those kids) -- I admit I was elated to see him compel so many people to dance like sex-crazed maniacs, myself included. As a one-time hard-core-dork (I too had the oversized glasses), this scene warmed my heart. On a final side note: Succumbing to food poisoning in a public bathroom with a line of drunk bitches behind you is NOT an ideal situation.




(This picture is more dorky-cool, but you can imagine.)






What's the 'Deeler'?
More than a few friends have said of the band Memomena, "I didn't want to like them..." And yet, they do. They really, really do. At first listen, the band may seem like conventional fare, with their often poppy vocals and penchant for catchy hooks. Dare I say the album Friend or Foe is a grower?

After repeat listenings, I was surprised by the attention to detail that undoubtedly resulted from the band's use of its own computer recording system (called Digital Looping Recorder, or Deeler.) Drummer Danny Seim explains Deeler in an In Music We Trust interview: "First, we set the tempo of the click, which is played through a pair of headphones. We then take turns passing a single mic around the room. One of us will hold the mic in front of an instrument, while another one of us will lay down a short improvised riff over the click track. We usually start with the drums. Once the drums begin looping, we throw on some bass, piano, guitar, bells, sax, or whatever other sort of noisemaker happens to be in the room. Deeler keeps the process democratic, which is the only way we can operate."

Check out Memomena rockin' "The Pelican" live on Juan's Basement here. You can see them play the Bottleneck in Lawrence this Friday, 6/22, tickets $9.

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