Made in the Dark

by

Hot Chip

Edit

"Made in the Dark" is the third studio album from British electropop band Hot Chip.

The first release from the album, "Shake a Fist", created a stir among fans when it crept out on a limited 12" in September 2007 and the new single, "Ready for the Floor", was reportedly requested by Kylie Minogue's management before the idea was dropped.

Although usually placed within the indie category, Hot Chip are notoriously difficult to pin down.

They draw influences from a wide range of sources, from German minimal techno to Prince, Ray Charles, Fleetwood Mac and New Order. With their third album the band have returned to their peculiar brand of mechanically emotive pop and despite having fashioned remixes for the likes of the Rolling Stones, Scissor Sisters, the Go! Team and Gorillaz after their successful second album, Hot Chip remain refreshingly willing to depart from the styles of the pillars of rock and create their own distinctive sound.

Hot Chip's third album succeeds where their 80s electronica predecessors failed - it's avant-garde in places and there are some moments that sound like the devil's ring tone, but, like a striker who instinctively knows where the net is, the band never stray far from a killer melody or wondrous blast of retro-digital heaven.

The main evolution from their earlier work is that "Made in the Dark" contains more ballads than the previous albums.

Tracks like "Whistle for Will", "In the Privacy of Our Love" and "Made in the Dark" demonstrate that Hot Chip are capable of producing melancholy, tuneful and intimate songs which showcase how the voices of Joe Goddard and Alexis Taylor work brilliantly together as well as thumping dance-floor fillers.

The opening trio of "Out at the Pictures", "Shake a Fist" and "Ready for the Floor" are all wonky pop wonders that ease you into the experimentation that follows and, as ever, the voices of Alexis Taylor and Joe Goddard work brilliantly together.

"Made in the Dark" has everything you'd want from a modern pop album - it's fun, cool, occasionally terrifying and full of tunes and charm.

...While making the majority of this album. It was "made in the dark" & they couldn't see the damn power button on the speakers. In all seriousness though, this album is nothing compared to their previous effort "The Warning". Most of this album is just noise generated from a computer with only a few exceptions. "Hey, but it's art man"! No it's not, seriously, it's a bunch of guys who got a big head after releasing their 1st album & apparently raced through a 2nd album to make some more cash before their 15 minutes run dry.

Those few exceptions mentioned earlier being "Shake A Fist", the title track "Made In The Dark" & "One Pure Thought" are okay, but not worth even the $7.99 Amazon is asking for it. The same crowd that dig this album are the same artsy weirdos that wear women's jeans & got into "LCD Soundsystem" just cause it was the weirdest thing around at the time. Aside from the 3 tracks listed, there's not one track worth a repeat listen, & even the 3 listed above wouldn't warrant more than maybe a couple more listens at best. I wouldn't ever dig out the album just to listen to those couple of tracks, put it that way.

I was a big fan of their 1st album, with hits like "Over & Over" I had high hopes for their future work. If this is the best they can do, I won't be around for the next one. Check out "MGMT", "The Whip" or even their 1st album "The Warning" for some good Alternative Electro stuff, skip this one though, you'll probably be dissapointed (unless you're an artsy weirdo :P).