Review: Hot Chip - Made in the Dark

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Repetition is at the heart of what Hot Chip do. So it’s not that surprising on an album that sees the London band attempting something a little more intelligent and personal that the less kinetic ballads that litter Made in the Dark fall someway short of the mark. The album opens, somewhat unwisely, with its three most direct and danceable tracks. Initial listens reward the listener with little beyond the first frantic ten minutes.

Subsequent listens reveal a couple more gems hidden amongst the clangers, Hold On and One Pure Thought are the albums ‘growers’, although once this is established it becomes painfully clear that all these songs share the same technique of repetition to get the listener engaged. The bands tentative efforts at slower, tender and more heartfelt songs are jarringly uncomfortable at times, Hot Chip’s attempts at displaying a variety of sounds and a emotional depth to their output doesn’t quite work here.

The weaker tracks such as In the Privacy of our Love and Whistle for Will are decidedly average in comparison to the all guns blazing, greatest hitsesque opening. Alexis Taylor himself would admit that his voice isn’t anything special, this is forgivable on the more upbeat tracks were his vocals in essence simply become another instrument thrown into the mix and looped repeating the same catchy pop hooks over and over and over.

However when his mild mannered voice is asked to carry the slower songs and infuse them with an emotion and sentiment to compensate for the lack of catchy hooks, his efforts are patchy at best. Some of the slower songs do succeed in lowering the tempo without spoiling the mood of the album, the title track and We’re Looking For A Love of Love both succeed in revealing the slower, more sensitive side to Hot Chip.

However, semi successful attempts at ballads is not the albums most glaring problem. There is an uglier side to Made in the Dark. The half baked ideas and seemingly unfinished songs. Wrestlers is the main culprit here, both musically and lyrically weak it is nearly completely without merit.

Bendable Posable also falters and seems like a B side rather than a justified album track choice, especially as it immediately follows up the thunderous opening of the album. Some of these tracks are seemingly just missing that extra hook which could make them come alive when heard live. Unfortunately these tracks as they are should have been snipped from the tracklist or thrown out as B sides if the band were that eager to share them with us, afterall, weighing in at just under a hour and 13 tracks it’s not as if this filler was needed to make up the numbers.


Made in the Dark is very much an album of two half’s. Or maybe three thirds. The good is definitely good, the bad extremely bad and the ugly downright grotesque.

7/10

Oh, Hi!

I have returned...

Been very busy with College work, or rather not doing College work, but let's not get into that.

Proper updates are incoming, I've got a couple of reviews on Hot Chip's Made in the Dark and Vampire Weekend's eponymous debut that should find their way onto this blog sooner or later.

For the time being I just thought I'd share a thought provoking article I found on Guardian Unlimited's blog page sort of 'area' that I found whilst looking for a review for The Kills latest album.

The couple of tracks I heard just now on Jools Holland sound quite sexy if I say so myself. I had a image of them being another bland 'rent-a-rockstar' type Indie bands that so many bands that have the prefix 'The' seem to be, but refreshingly they couldn't be further from that. A nice minimal guitar-vocals duo that's quite hard to describe in anyway so I'll just leave it to you to work out what I mean.

Anyway enough of going off on Gonzoesque tangents and back on message, I found this and found it quite interesting, especially in comparision to my (much) earlier 'Indie not all that Indie' post and a conversation I was having earlier today about the rise and inevitable fall of 'Indie' rock.

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/02/nme_awards_turning_rebellion_i.html


Turning up at the O2 arena in Greenwich last night was an exercise in quelling cynicism. In an effort to "extend the brand", legendary music magazine NME has moved its annual awards bash to the former Dome, hugely expanded it and appended a "big gig" for 17,000 paying fans to the end. The question was: could the distilled spirit of rock 'n' roll be found here, among the fake palm trees, myriad themed restaurants, ice skating rink, ancient egyptian treasures and punters queuing to see Rambo?

Bloc Party @ Alexandra Palace 15/12/07

It’s nice to be pleasantly surprised. Whether receiving something out of the blue or enjoying a outing that you had previously been dreading. ‘Always expect the worst, and you’ll always be pleasantly surprised’ One saying goes. After feeling just a little under whelmed by The Arcade Fire failing to fully live up to their huge live reputation, in the same venue as tonight’s gig, I did not have great expectations for the supposedly ‘shambolic’ Bloc Party.

I arrived late, nearly too late. But that’s another story. As I shuffled in The Rakes were just finishing off what appeared to be a dull, lifeless performance. I wormed my way towards the front, passing all the early comers who had been placated by the performance of one of the Indie genre’s many anonymously named bands.

They payed their thanks and shuffled off - anticipation for the main event grew, the crowd were in good spirits, and entertained themselves with the dance hits booming out of the PA system that you suspect were chosen by Kele and the band to improve their image as not only ‘another indie guitar band’ but something more. A strategy evident already in the frantic, D&B inspired drumming of Matt tong and the release of the bands latest single, the dance-pop number ‘Flux’. A lone glowstick waved in the darkness as testament to this attempt.

The music faded, the lights went down and Bloc Party took to the stage. Kele is very much the focus of this four piece, despite it being the angular guitar riffs of Russell Lissack and the aforementioned drumming of Matt tong that the crowd reacts to the most, and not his sometimes sappy lyrics. He remains one of modern music’s more identifiable front men, his sharp dress sense, knobbly hair and nasal, yelpy voice standing his out from the rest of the floppy haired pretenders to Bloc Party’s ‘Art Punk’ crown.

There was little acknowledgement of the crowd as the band settled into position on stage and got down to business and opened their set with one of the better efforts off the disappointing Weekend in the city ‘Song for Clay’

The rest of the gig is a bit of blur. As the crowd erupted in response there was very little time to ponder or cringe over the sometimes sloppy lyrics, or space to worry about what they would play next. The crowd bellowed every lyric and bounced to every thunderous guitar riff and drum beat. In larger venues such as this, you’re enjoyment is often as much down to how well the energy of the music is conducted through to the crowd, rather than any deeper aural appreciation of the bands song craft. And it is here where Bloc Party, or perhaps their fan base succeed. Their brand of snappy and infectious dance-rock works perfectly with the younger audience in attendance.

After the initial flurry of up tempo hit’s the crowd was afforded a much needed rest bite by one of the bands more sedate and ballady tracks; ‘Waiting for the 7.18’ which was appreciated, perhaps more down to the chance to regain your breath than anything else, despite the songs up tempo second half, with expansive tremolo guitars it lacks the immediacy and rhythm that gained the band their fame and the kind of song the audience is evidently here for, as they remain relatively subdued for the remainder of the track.

Using this breather, I soaked in my surroundings. I had surged a few feet towards the stage and was now facing the stage dead centre a few rows from the front, An Ideal position to enjoy the rest of the show. As 7:18 dragged on to an end the frenzied torrent of flying arms, legs and fingers continued as the instantly recognisable riff of Banquet fired up. As hit followed hit the crowd became more possessed, recent additions The Prayer and Uniform proving their worth and holding up well in comparison to ’older’ material in getting the desired response from the audience.

I had not experienced such a level of crazy europhoria for most of the year. Even the might of heavier rockers such as Muse, The White Stripes and QOTSA rarely get the crowd going as hysterically as the relatively meek Bloc Party were here. Kele joked that he had “Nearly broken into a sweat” as he surveyed the sweaty sea of bodies amassed before him. Waves of people continually fell to the floor in comedy domino fashion and only then did the sensible British reserve return to allow the fallen comrades to return to their feet and continue jumping as before, undeterred.

Worries over the band’s tightness faded away as they continued to storm through a seemingly never ending set, which thankfully leaned towards the band’s more prompt numbers. Kele by now seemed relaxed and chatted jovially with the crowd between number’s making the venue seem more intimate than the sometimes cold Alexandra Palace really is.

Despite clearly being the centrepiece of the band, he is by no means a magnetic front man , his voice whilst instantly recognisable in it’s yelpy quality is not breathtakingly spectacular. Kele succeeds as a the centre of attention in his relative normalness. There is no glass shattering screams, peculiar uniform or hip shaking moves. He stands, plugging away at his guitar providing the anthemic vocals for the crowd to join in with.

The carefree feeling of a band enjoying themselves at the end of a busy year touring Is evident in their donning of tragically unfashionable Santa Claus hats towards the end of the set. This attitude is perfectly mirrored in the audience, who are desperate to have a good time. Perhaps there was a time where they were rubbish as a live band, but tonight they most definitely were not.

As the night comes to a close they only stumble once more in their song choice. Choosing the painfully dreary Sunday, which becomes even more of a wasted song when it becomes apparently they won’t play the turbo-charged Luno. In an audience as up for it as this one it seemed the obvious choice in retrospect. However complaints such as this are small and only reveal themselves when I dig deep for one to make.

I could go on about the venue, its mind boggling tokens system, excessive queues for coats and it’s relative isolation from any form of public transport but this is a music review and I’m sure’s there’s plenty of bad words out there if you want to find them.

The night arguably peaks with Helicopter which prompts several crowd surfers as the end draws close. The reflective Pioneers acts as the perfect come down for earlier highs, the spent crowd muster one last applause but do not rally too hard for another encore, they are satisfied. As the lights return and blind the audience briefly there is definitely no nagging feeling of disappointment lying under the contentment that often plagues gig’s you’ve hyped up. Instead an exhausted satisfaction is etched on the sweaty and dazzled faces of the audience as they staggered out of Alexandra Palace into the chilly Winter night.

A fitting end to a quality year of live music. Here’s to a better 2008!

Setlist for Bloc Party @ Alexandra Palace - December 15th 2007
Song For Clay
Positive Tension
Hunting For Witches
Waiting For The 7.18
Banquet
This Modern Love
The Prayer
Two More Years
Little Thoughts
Uniform
So Here We Are
Like Eating Glass
Flux Sunday
She’s Hearing Voices
Helicopter
The Pioneers

Hip Hop is dying.....An update

The future of UK Hip'Hop? (Sounds familiar)

Well, I guess I was wrong.

Kanye West defeated 50 cent in their chart battle of epic proportions and single handedly saved Hip Hop. Or at least that’s how I remember it, my memory is foggy.

Of course, Curtis Jackson already has another album on the way. ‘Before I Self Destruct’ due March 2008, which coincidently has a collaboration with Kanye West originally intended to go on Curtis, according to a interview on American TV. You would be forgiven to think that this whole thing just might have been manufactured to increase record sales and that despite their fierce media battle, Kanye and Curtis get on perfectly fine.

Of course that’s just a scandalous accusation and completely untrue, its merely coincidental that both albums became the first two albums to sell over 600,000 units in the US each in the same week since 1991’s Guns’n’Roses Use your Illusion I and II.

In my previous post I stressed the importance for Hip Hop to ‘innovate itself once again’ to reclaim its fair share of the mainstream. As modest as I am, I realise the influence my prophetic words must have on the music industry but I was shocked over the speed in which artists would heed them. Lately I’ve been monitoring Lethal Bizzle, who seems to have followed my master plan word for word.

A member of the ‘Grime’ wave here in the UK which has been, apart from himself, Kano and Dizzie Rascal, largely unsuccessful due in large to its resemblance in subject matter to US Gangsta rap which, as tends to be the case in most aspects of life, is something that the Americans just do better and bigger. The lacklustre and frankly embarrassing MOBO awards this year only reinforces the current lameness of the UK Hip’ Hop scene, regardless of whatever you call it.

However Bizzle is networking, reaching out to the incumbent indie scene, going on NME ’Rock and Roll’ tours and getting press inches as a result for the Grime scene some accuse him of abandoning. Probably the same traditionalists deriding Kanye West for using Daft Punk samples in his songs and collaborating with Chris Martin.

The same music elitists who would rather their favourite sub genre stay overlooked. It’s necessary to mix a few pop sensibilities into your music if you want to breakthrough to the mainstream, which is something that is true whether you are a new Grime artist or a Death Metal band, before you reel away from your screens and imagine your favourite band attempting a Britney Spears cover, im thinking more Nirvana’s Nevermind than Ms Spears Baby one more time. Radio 1 doesn’t want to hear it if it aint catchy.

It’s a fact which he’s more than aware of himself, as he talked to the Guardian’s Lindesay Irvine.

"It's true that the grime scene can come across as too intimidating. I'm trying to move away from that: it's OK for five minutes but it doesn't take you very far." That variety of bruising two-step battling, he adds, "is like the early days, the nicking-cars stage of the game. Then you realise that there's more than that. Me, and Dizzee Rascal too, realised we want to get beyond that."

Maybe using the analogy of ‘nicking-cars’ for describing Grime is an iffy one, but he is more than aware that he acts as a ambassador for the Grime scene, maybe UK Hip’ Hop as a whole. And as Kanye West has dethroned 50 cent as the ‘king’ of International Hip Hop by attracting a whole new audience to the genre by sampling Daft Punk. It’s just as necessary that Dizzie Rascal collaborates with the Arctic Monkeys and Lethal Bizzle tours with The Gallows.

Hip Hop is dying

The future of Hip' Hop?

All eyes, for the moment at least, are on Hip’ Hop. Next week will see the release of the Third albums of arguably the genre’s two biggest stars, Kanye West’s Graduation and 50 Cent’s Curtis

Its an important date for the music industry too as this blog from a Chicago Tribune Blog points out.. http://leisureblogs.chicagotribune.com/turn_it_up/2007/09/showdown-betwee.html


Two of the biggest-selling artists of the last four years go head-to-head Tuesday in the record stores with new albums: Kanye West’s “Graduation” (Good/Roc-A-Fella) and 50 Cent’s “Curtis” (Aftermath/Interscope).
It’s a big day not just for West and 50, but for the ailing music industry. With sales down 30 percent this year, the major labels who have dominated music for the last half-century are in need of a blockbuster album (seven or eight of them, actually) as the holiday buying season looms into view. Hip-hop in particular is tanking. In the ‘90s the genre led the surge in CD sales. Now it’s in the doldrums, with only three of the top-20 best-selling titles of 2007.

Hip’ Hop may not quite be ‘dead’ as the album title of Nas’s latest effort suggests, but its definitely in decline.

Why is this the case?

Well, my generation at least and seemingly the market as a whole has been turning enmass away from Hip Hop towards the skyrocketing genre’s of rock, whether that be emo, indie or even the classic variety.

Quite a range of tastes and preferences, which mainstream Hip Hop, just doesn’t have. Its dominated still by gangster rap and chauvinistic men boasting about their strength, magnetism and how many times they’ve been shot. Its not exactly appealing to the music fan who wants a bit more substance from their music.

Cue a great exodus of teenagers, including me, who were of the age were you truly become critical of the music you listen to, rather than merely accepting it. As a result a whole generation of 14 and 15 year olds switched allegiances away from the Hip’ Hop and embraced Rock which had arguably suffered its own crisis in the late 90’s where in the temporary gulf in the absence of Britpop, it was perhaps justifiably seen as the genre for miserable Goths, if you told someone you listened to rock. Jokes about Korn and Slipknot would invariably follow.

Rock has since smashed into the mainstream and managed to diversify itself, the NME lead revolution of fresh garage rock bands such as the Strokes and The White Stripes replaced the since Dormant Blur and Oasis and Pop Punk bands such as Blink 182 and Sum 41 offered a more cheerful alternative to Korn and Slipknot, unfortunately these two strands of Rock would later create two of the most despicable social scenes ever created in history, ‘Indie’ and ‘Emo’ but that is the price you have to pay for mainstream success.

Hip Hop will need to innovate itself once again and provide, like Rock has , greater variety, more originality and greater creativity to pull itself out of its rut, mainstream hip hop is and has been for quite some time, dominated by this ultra masculine and often homophobic figures which as gun crime spirals in the UK appears less and less attractive.

Hip Hop’s great hope lies In artists like the outspoken Kanye West, the self proclaimed nerd, who is more than happy to throw in political and social commentaries into his lyrics rather than talking about shooting cops and has denounced homophobia and chauvinism in Hip Hop in the past.

Or the outstanding Outkast, Imparticular the unpredictable Andre 3000, who is more than happy like, Kanye West to borrow from other genre’s, throwing in a guitar lick here and there and lending drums that sound more like drum and bass than a traditional hip hop loop. Rock music has always been ’borrowing’ from traditionally black genre’s, Rock juggernauts Led Zeppelin and Rolling Stones have made their fame and fortune on blues rock originated from the deep south of America.

It’s time for Hip’ Hop to lend back some ideas to level the playing field and claw back some fans. Next weeks chart battle is not as simple as a fight between two stars of the genre, as Blur vs. Oasis was in the 90’s, its far more important than that. It is a battle between the new wave of Hip’ Hop and the old, the future and the past. Kanye may not win the popular vote, but it is his brand of Hip Hop that offers the genre’s greatest potential growth for the genre.

Klaxons in Mercury win shocker!!!

'Nu-Rave pioneers'

Arguably, the best album on this years Mercury music prize was never going to win. The artists in question won it last year. Having the honour of being the awards ceremony that praises itself on rewarding artistic merit over commercial success, the odds for the world touring, platinum selling Arctic Monkeys far removed from the edgy newcomers of last year, being the first act to win the award twice in a row were low.

The bookmakers odds reflected it, with relative unknown Bat for Lashes AKA Natasha Khan and the troubled Amy Winehouse leading the pack both with similarly fine albums. Surely they would take home the prestigious prize.

Of course not, ever controversial often for the sake of it, they chose the plucky, arguably less talented, outsiders as they done many times before (M people anyone?) It was the Klaxons, who had not been on anyone’s lips as a possible winner who pulled through, with their annoying brand of ’New Rave’, sorry ’Nu Rave’ (ugh) that stole the prize. Acting like drunken schoolboy tossers on stage, declaring how brilliant they were and how hard they had worked to get here, displaying the kind of shoddy mic work that has had them branded as an awful live act.

To add insult to injury the band went on to blow their trumpet perhaps a little too hard, proclaiming the win as a victory for ‘forward thinking music’ and casually dismissing Winehouse’s Back to Black as ’A retro record’ then modestly adding “We have made the most forward thinking record since I don’t know how long” More than happily adopting the underserved crown of musical innovators with little modesty. Quite a contradiction to the humility and maturity shown by last years winners the far more talented Arctic Monkeys “Someone call Richard Hawley he’s just been robbed!” Adopting an arrogance beyond their talents only made the Klaxons made themselves look even bigger wankers.

But hey, it’s the Mercury’s I’ll be sitting in my living room this time next year eagerly watching if Radiohead’s 7th LP can trump Pink Floyd’s critically acclaimed comeback album…maybe

We wouldn’t have it any other way would we? At least it wasn’t The View.

Final Fantasy 7: Ten years on

Ten years ago, a solitary videogame dragged me kicking and screaming away from my until then relatively normal existence and into the dark, cold and lonely world of the so called ‘Hardcore’ gamer.

It triggered a change in me that would remove any healthy social activities I had left in my life. Sunday league football was abandoned, in favour of lazy lie-ins recovering from the Saturday nights gaming session. Playing out was replaced by browsing various games related internet forums, conversing with complete strangers.

You would think I would resent this game intensely, for turning me into a academic underachiever and a social recluse in the space of a few short years. But I don’t.

So what mere videogame could be so good to excuse this unsightly metamorphosis? Well as you may have guessed from the title. It’s Final Fantasy 7.

In the days before internet forums or even indeed the internet *shudder*. I chose it from the shelves of my local rental store on the strength of the cover art alone . I didn’t get far, I didn’t even get out of Midgar during the following 3 days, yet my eight year old self was hooked and wanting more.

The pure scale of the thing was what initially hit me, fresh out of the 16 bit Mega Drive era, the game was huge. In the same way people are today struck by the enormity and immersion of game worlds offered by Oblivion or even the Grand theft auto series. For a impressionable eight year old with little previous gaming experience to be introduced to a large, varied, vibrant and most of all 3D game world as impressively pulled off as in FF7 was a devastatingly huge leap from the 2D sprite based levels of Sonic the Hedgehog.

A few months later and Santa Claus delivered this bundle of joy to me, overjoyed, my love affair with the game continued unabated over the next few months. Being young and not yet ‘Hardcore’ in my passion for gaming the game took me the better part of a year to complete, which perhaps goes some way to explaining my obsession with the game. It was a constant presence for a sizable length of my childhood. The clock had stopped rolling at 99:99 long before completion as I aimlessly stumbled about soaking in the game’s delights. It had taken me a timeframe similar to the game itself, the better part of a year, to complete the game, which inevitably gave me a feeling of resolution, relief and joy somewhat similar the characters themselves that a more hardened gamer completing it in the space of a week might not have.

However citing this as the main reason for my love of the game would be unfair, on my subsequent visits to the game In more recent years in more mature, cynical state the quality still continues to shine through as brightly as it did 10 years ago.

Final Fantasy 7’s story is as clichéd as, well, other Final Fantasy’s. Hero faces inner struggle, village gets burnt down and world is doomed by mysterious villain, it’s textbook fantasy. What separates it from its predecessors and even now from its followers is the deceptively dark game world. People died in FF7 despite your best efforts to save them, not only supporting characters but the central cast were also not invulnerable from the grip of the Grim Reaper. Every beautifully rendered member of your party had its own convoluted pasts and intertwining sub plots and reasons for being other than ‘saving the world!’. Your hero; Cloud, was and remains the very definition of the troubled, but not (too) angst(y), anti hero in videogames, rather than your generic whiter than white poster boy that still plague videogames and even the series itself today.

All this, set to the backdrop of the near future alternative reality of Gaia, where castles were replaced by Corporation headquarters and dungeons replaced by MAKO reactors gave a dark twist to the traditional ‘save the world/princess’ storyline, which Final Fantasy, for the most part, still followed.

Every member of the Squaresoft team was on top of their game for not only the series first foray into the fifth generation but its debut on the yet unproven Sony Playstation brand.

Nowhere is this excellence more personified in the musical score written by the legendary veteran Nobuo Uematsu and the bold distinctive Manga influenced character designs of relative newcomer Tetsuya Nomura.

A constant presence on all Final Fantasy scores since FF2, only recently taking a break on FF12 which unfortunately suffers from a bland inspiring soundtrack in his absence. Uematsu’s score for Final Fantasy 7 was and remains his opus. His songs carry the memories of long forgotten locations and long since fought battles in their rousing melodies. They personify ably each character without simplifying them and stir emotions from the games many highs and lows. None more so than the rousing Aeris’s theme, which both serves to not only remind you of the game’s lowest low but also carries a hopeful, stirring vision of hope. It is one of the few original game scores that deserves to be listened to in its own right, rather than just to serve as a nostalgia trip and compliment the game it stands out on its own as a brilliant piece of music. The many live orchestral and, in the case of the Black Mages, rock renditions of the soundtrack confirm this as a serious standalone piece of music all created on the most constricting of audio technologies, MIDI, it is nothing short of amazing.

Despite the graphical leap from previous incarnations Nomura has stated he felt the graphical limitations prevented him from achieving his ‘true style’. The clean manga style does stand out In particular from the more photo realistic designs seen in future Final Fantasies in particular 7’s immediate successor FF8. However they remain amongst the strongest seen in the series and definitely show no signs of compromise which is testament to his versatility as an artist.

The bold and simple designs make no apologies for revealing the characters traits in their attire, however the game is not cheapened as a result. As much as the strength of Uematsu’s soundtrack is displayed by its many live renditions. The quality of the cast of FF7 is shown not only by the dozens of badly dressed Clouds and Sephiroths at any self respecting Cosplayers convention, but by the wide range of favourites the game generates, many love the quiet struggle of Cloud Strife, just as many love the spunkiness and vitality of Yuffie Kisagari.

However the highest testament of the character design is the love shown to the villain of the piece, despite shedding a tear as many other’s did over the result of his most dastardly deed, I still love Sephiroth, I wanted to be him for a brief period. He was the very definition of badass cool, his long flowing grey locks and ridiculously sized Masumane outdid even Clouds admittedly impressive Barnet and Buster Sword and like all good villains you wanted him to win just a little bit, deep down you know you did.

I could go on forever about the quality of every aspect of the game, In particular the gorgeous map design and the ingenious battle and Materia system that has yet to be bettered. But if you don’t know about it already, you owe it to yourself to find out about these things for yourself and treat yourself to the most cinematic gaming experience ever created. Forget Metal Gear Solid, this did it first and better.