Hot Chip: Made In The Dark (2LP, deluxe embossed gatefold sleeve with new liner notes) [DOMINO RECORD CO.]

Why you'll love it

This is Made in the Dark's first time on 2LP, in an embossed gatefold with new liner notes by Kate Hutchinson. The album reached No. 4 in the UK, and "Ready for the Floor" hit No. 6 on the UK Singles Chart and earned a Grammy nomination.

This edition

• 2LP set
• Embossed gatefold jacket
• New liner notes by Kate Hutchinson
• Pressed in the EU

About the album

Hot Chip made their early records in a bedroom, and for Made in the Dark they decided it was time to sound not quite so homemade. So the London five-piece spread out, recording in studios and live venues so the listener could hear the different spaces, and for the first time worked in a proper studio, the Strongroom, where "Shake a Fist," "One Pure Thought" and "Hold On" were cut live and pieced together afterwards.

Joe Goddard built the "Ready for the Floor" chorus with Arturia's Moog Modular plug-ins, and "Bendable Poseable" grew out of a jittery percussion loop he emailed to Alexis Taylor, who sang over it. Balancing the dance floor material are the ballads, with the title track at the tender heart of the record; Taylor, recently married, said he was proud of the lyrics. Emma Smith returns on violin and saxophone, and Owen Clarke, Al Doyle and Felix Martin shape the songs into what Martin called a true group effort.

The new notes bring in Goddard, Taylor and Clarke on the band's freedom to experiment. Around the time of the album, a rumour that "Ready for the Floor" had been written for Kylie Minogue got so out of hand that Goddard invented a counter-rumour about her sending them an industrial track with farmyard noises, which is one way to end a conversation.

Also at Kops: more Hot Chip on vinyl · browse Electronic

Tracklist

Listen

On Domino (cat# REWIGLP202), a reissue of the 2008 album.