It’s fucking crazy how hard it is to have a favorite band anymore. I find it’s really easy to get caught up in the constant bustle of new bands coming out. Music moves so much faster now, but it still takes roughly the same amount of time before you know you mean it when you call something “great”, and tell your friends, “See, this shit is what I am talking about”.

But a month or so ago I admitted to myself that Hot Chip is my favorite band, and I couldn’t be happier about that. Here’s some of what I know and love about them:

They formed in 2000, and started slow:

“Beeting”, from the Mexico EP (2001)
Download audio file (?f=Hot Chip - Beeting)

Then they released a few promos and albums:

“What You Find Strange”, from All Killer, No Filler! (2005)
Download audio file (?f=Hot Chip - What You Find Strange)

They’re terrific selectors, having turned in what I believe is the second best DJ-Kicks album (next to Erlend Øye’s), and they make remixes that can make me enjoy regularly shitty songs:

“Rehab”, by Amy Winehouse, remixed by Hot Chip (2006)
Download audio file (?f=Amy Winehouse - Rehab (Hot Chip Mix))

They can make sterling, complex electro with pop strung through it:

“Oi Oi Berlin This Is…”, from their MySpace page (2007?)
(note: this one might actually be from a separate project, Greco-Roman International Sonic Wrestling, of which at least Joe from Hot Chip is a part of)
Download audio file (?f=Hot Chip - Oi Oi Berlin This Is..)

They have a new album coming out in February:

“Made in the Dark”, from the forthcoming album, Made in the Dark (2008)
Download audio file (?f=Hot Chip - Made in the Dark)

Their videos are brashly inventive.

Ready For The Floor (2008)

Over and Over (2006)

Boy From School (2006)

Plus: “I have all the Kriss Kross 12″s on import”

Hot Chip strikes is me as a bunch of honest, regular guys, who understand the power of melodrama and the potential of modern pop music. I highly recommend that you take this band seriously, because they deserve it.

Links:

Hot Chip Homepage
Hot Chip Wikipedia Entry
Hot Chip on MySpace