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Ok, so first off I must iterate the fact that this particular run down is in no particular order, nor is it a definitive list of the best British record labels of all time (as if such a breakdown could ever be truly quantified). It is simply a list of some personal favourites within the British...MORE>>

Hot Chip - Hand Me Down Your Love

I always find it somewhat disheartening whenever Radio One pick up on a group and herald them as the next big whoever, or the new such-and-such, especially when the band they are speaking of has a rich and lengthy musical tenure. I find it almost offensive when major radio players such as the Wiley’s, or Moyles’s talk of their latest musical discovery as if they have been bestowed some sort of bastion from the musical echelons and only their cultural gravitas will allow which ever band is fashionable that particular week to be dragged up from the dingy club scene & into the spotlight. This level of offence is brought to an almost unbearable level when the band in question has outdated many contemporary Radio DJ’s careers, but to put my vitriol to the side for a moment, the band I am talking about is Hot Chip, a band whose familiarity will be accessible to all those who haven’t been living under a rock for the last ten years, (yes, that’s right, Hot Chip did exist before the release of Over and Over).

 

Ok, so that outburst may seem somewhat unfounded, but it annoys me when the radio elite proclaim a band to be new & cutting edge, when the band have been doing what they do for quite a while, so it is in fact simply the radio personalities own ignorance that should be championed, as was the case with Hot Chip.

 

Up until the release of Over and Over Hot Chip had been relatively unheard amongst major media circles despite a glittering track record of extremely interesting musical output. Melting the lines between Pop, Indie & Electro, Hot Chip had carved out quite a comfortable little niche for themselves and were the on the tip of the tongue of many a music journalist with any sense of the direction of contemporary music. But as soon as Over and Over got into the grubby little mitts of those at Broadcasting House, an explosion of seismic proportions took place, catapulting Hot Chip into every household in the UK. Not that I believe Hot Chip didn’t deserve this, their brand of Electro-pop is as hypnotic as it is catchy, I simply resent big name radio personalities having as much celebration, if not more, for the new act they have supposedly found.

Anger vented, rant over.

 

Anyway, it has been a decade since Hot Chip’s inception and they continue to create material that is as challenging as it is rewarding to listen to. Their latest track Hand Me Down Your Love requires a multitude of listenings before the spasmodic wonder of the track really begins to reveal itself. It’s a very fine exercise in a field where Hot Chip are one of the main contenders.

 

With Hot Chip’s views now firmly set on a number of dates across the pond, it looks like they could finally be about to go fully International.