In case you didn’t know, I like Hot Chip. I find their live show to be one of the best performed live acts on the music circuit today. Per standard for a music act, they are following up their upcoming album release (In Our Heads) with a tour and they will be hitting the Boston area on 7/17. That’s a Tuesday night folks. A tad better day then their last two outings here, which both landed on a dreary Monday night. Tough for us “working for a living” folk.
Check out the video for “Flutes”, their single off the new album (for those easily dizzied, you may just want to stream while you work on something else)
Well, we didn’t talk much about Hot Chip for the entire year and now this will be the second post in under a week. But this remix was too much to pass up. If you haven’t seen the original video for “I Feel Better”, you can do so now on our previous post.
A good friend recently asked why I haven’t talked much about Hot Chip on the square. By now if you’ve visited my site you know how much of a fan I am of these guys. And yes, their recent release, One Life Stand, has been jamming in my headphones since its release. So, to please my good friend, here’s their masterful new video for “I Feel Better”. Included is a lip-singing boy band, a bald alien that shoots laser beams from his mouth and a crazy girl fan base. Oh, and don’t forget the fire breathing head that has a striking resemblance to Cee-Lo Green from Gnarls Barkely at the end of the video.
What’s fascinating about Hot Chip is how much their style evolves from album to album yet some how they manage to keep the unique Hot Chip sound in tact. What is the sound you ask? It’s the sound of electrical pulses hitting you from every dimension – 1st, 2nd, 3rd and even the 4th – which forces your body to react. Some react positively while others gasp at the electronic cross over attempt. I for one was never a big electronic music fan. I’ve always been a sucker for the classic four-piece rock band – lead guitar, bass, drummer and either rhythm guitar or keyboard player. But Hot Chip has managed to combine the best of both worlds. They usually don’t use a drummer in the studio, leaving the masterful beat making up to Felix but every now and then they’ll recruit a friend to hit the skins at their live shows such as Pat Mahoney (also plays for DFA’s LCD Soundsystem project) during their 2007 fall tour.
I’ll never forget the first show at Great Scott in 2006 on a random Monday night. I had only heard about them from a Philly friend who described their sound as being super chill. Chill was the last thing on their minds this night. The Warning, the follow up to Coming on Strong, had yet to be released in the states but it was a clear departure from their laid back style on Coming on Strong. This first ever stop in Boston had the band testing out their new songs and when we walked out of that show we had sweat stained clothes and big grins on our faces. I, or rather we, became instant fans and have been ever since.
Members:
Joe Goddard – vocals, synthesizer, percussion
Alexis Taylor – vocals, synthesizer, guitar, percussion, piano
Felix Martin – drum machines, synthesizer
Al Doyle – guitar, synthesizer, percussion, backing vocals
Owen Clark –guitar, bass, synthesizer
Bonus Video: This is from the show in April 2008 where we interviewed Joe Goddard before hand. Amazing show. This is “Crap Kraft Dinner” off of Coming on Strong. The song builds and builds to a climax that always gets the house rocking. It’s common to hear them throw in the Fleetwood Mac song, “Everywhere”, at the beginning during their shows, which they do here.
