Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
It's fun, cool and full of tunes and charm., February 11, 2008
"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.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Not all of Hot Chip's songs are for everyone, but they are all for me!, June 24, 2009
I guess I'm not surprised that Hot Chip's weirder songs bother some people, but man, I can't relate. I love it all. These guys are geniuses.
I like this 3rd outing better overall than "The Warning" but not by much. All their work has been incrdible.
Hot Chip is just plain fun to listen to, folks.
Best tracks on this one are Made In The Dark, Ready For The Floor, and One Pure Thought.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Flawed, as they say..., November 12, 2008
Their first album was no indication of how far they'd come. It hasn't been that long, yet they've rode a wave of hype and DFA backing to become truly great. They have their own sound.. no matter how fast or slow the tune is. With every track on "Made In The Dark," you can an irrefutable feeling they knew exactly how they wanted each song to come out.
So my 4 stars reflects the percentage of the songs that connected with me, and that I actually enjoyed. Favorites are the obvious 'Ready For The Floor,' and 'One Pure Thought.' Another hit was 'Wrestlers,' my favorite song on the album. What had been described as 'bad goon-hop' by lesser minded critics, I profusely enjoy the way it plays out, the vocal bridge.. everything. It's just the perfect song. Much like 'The Warning' from the same titled last disc has snuck up on me after a time, after the initial singles wore off.
Give this a sample listen before hand.. maybe buy a few songs as individual tracks. If you like it, get the disc as I have, help support them and their free-spirited experimentalism. If not.. just find something else.. not everyone will feel comfortable with the sounds on this disc. Different strokes....
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