Made in the Dark

Hot Chip mostly record their music in a bedroom. However, the band took a different approach in recording Made in the Dark to make it sound "not quite so homemade". At the London-based studio called the Strongroom, "One Pure Thought", "Hold On" and "Shake a Fist" were recorded live, instead of on multitrack, and were subsequently pieced together. This was the first occasion that Hot Chip had recorded music in a studio environment. Featured collaborators In March 2008, Hot Chip re-recorded several songs from Made in the Dark, with Robert Wyatt. The album features Emma Smith, who had previously joined with Hot Chip to play violin and saxophone on their first two albums. Other reports incorrectly suggested that Hot Chip had written Made in the Dark's second single, "Ready for the Floor" specifically for Minogue. After the first rumour circulated, Joe Goddard created a reverse rumour, saying that Minogue had written a track for Hot Chip. He told NME, "Kylie wrote a song for us, She sent it through our management to us—it was totally bizarre. It was the beginnings of a track—I think she wrote it and just thought, 'This would be perfect for Hot Chip', or possibly for a collaboration. It's a crazy song. It's industrial and clanging and even has farmyard animal noises on it. It's the kind of music you'd never normally associate with Kylie. When I'm allowed to send it around it's going to change a few people's ideas about her. Maybe it's one for our next album, after Made in the Dark." Taylor later admitted that it was a joke created to fool people because the band were tired of people phoning them up to ask why Minogue had apparently rejected a song she did not hear. == Composition ==

Influences The album is influenced by music Goddard and Taylor listened to during their childhood and adolescence, such as Prince's ''Sign o' the Times'' and the Beatles' self-titled album. The album contained maximalist and minimalist songs; several tracks on the album were influenced by rock and heavy metal music, and the track "Wrestlers" started taking a new direction because the band was "wrestling with the idea of making an R. Kelly kind of slick R and B number" and ultimately "[sounded] more like Randy Newman's "Short People". The song "Out at the Pictures" is an homage to British pub chain J D Wetherspoon. == Packaging ==

Artwork Darren Wall (Wallzo) and Owen Clarke designed the artwork after several graphical experiments. After the initial experimentation, Wall wanted to create a cover that was "more brooding and conservative" and formed a list of ideas that the band had responded positively to. The list included dual colour illustrations, circles, and verdigris—the green coating formed on copper during oxygenation. Wall amalgamated the ideas to create the image used on the album's cover, which was named "The Artifact". The image was embossed on metallic copper card to give a "tactile feel" that would imply the album was "an object rather than illustration-based design." Album title Several titles were considered during production, including "Shot Down in Flames" and "IV". The former was rejected because Martin thought it sounded like a title The Beta Band would use. Taylor supported the name "IV" because he liked "giving people the wrong impression all the time", and defended his opinion, saying "if [people] give us any time, they would see that we're very serious about comedy ... and serious things as well". The album was called "Made in the Dark" because it was a title the band agreed on. Taylor considered the eponymous track to be one of his favourite songs, and thought it was nice to name the album after a thoughtful song, in contrast to Coming on Strong and The Warning, which he described as being "big, slightly jokey, macho phrases". == Release and reception ==

Made in the Dark charted for 23 weeks in over 10 different charts, entering the UK Album Chart at number four, The album, according to Nielsen SoundScan data reported by Billboard, has sold 47,000 copies and has been certified Gold for UK sales. "Shake a Fist", the first single to be released from the album, was released on 12" vinyl single at the beginning of October 2007 but did not chart. The second single released, "Ready for the Floor", charted for 24 weeks in five different charts, peaking at number six on the UK Singles Top 75. Critical reception Made in the Dark received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 78, based on 40 reviews. with similar comments from AllMusic who said, "Made in the Dark main weakness might be its ballads, but that may just be in comparison to its many energetic moments, which are so addictive that it feels like a forced come-down whenever the band slows things down." However, The Observer gave a positive evaluation of the ballads; "Hot Chip have had a happy way with a subliminal power ballad. And Made in the Dark can boast four of the best." Pitchfork described it as a "patchy, turbulent record" due to the use of many different individual components and also said that it was a "good record but not a great one". Martin responded to the criticism made by Pitchfork: Pitchfork, despite their initial rating, went on to list the album number 23 on their list of the fifty best albums of 2008, and would later state that "its bold charms have lent it a fond longevity." Another element that caused mixed reception was the use of a Todd Rundgren sample in "Shake a Fist", which musicOMH called "delightful" but The Guardian described it as grating. musicOMH, whose description of the album was positive, said that tracks "Ready for the Floor" and "Bendable Poseable" had elements reminiscent of previous album The Warning. In regards to lyrics, AllMusic said the album "boasts some of Hot Chip's most kinetic music, with rhythms and melodies that are just as hyper-articulate as the word play." == Track listing ==

All songs written by Hot Chip, except "Shake a Fist", co-written by Todd Rundgren. iTunes bonus tracks • "So Deep" – 2:34 • "With Each New Day" – 2:58 iTunes deluxe version bonus tracks • "Touch Too Much" (Fake Blood Remix) – 5:52 • "Hold On" (Switch LDN Remix) – 4:01 • "Touch Too Much" (Ewan Pearson Remix) – 9:32 • "Wrestlers" (Video) – 3:59 • West Coast Tour Documentary – 17:25 Japanese bonus tracks • "Bubbles They Bounce" – 5:53 • "My Brother Is Watching Me" – 3:49 Special edition bonus DVD • "Shake a Fist" (Live at Melt!) • "And I Was a Boy from School" (Live at Melt!) • "Hold On" (Live at the Electric Ballroom) • "One Pure Thought" (Live at Glastonbury Festival) • "Over and Over" (Live at Glastonbury Festival) == Personnel ==

Hot Chip • Alexis Taylor – vocals, synthesiser, guitar, percussion, piano • Joe Goddard – vocals, synthesiser, percussion, mix control • Owen Clarke – guitar, bass, design • Al Doyle – guitar, synthesiser, percussion, backing vocals • Felix Martin – drum machines Additional personnel • Dan Carey – mixing • Jonathan Digby – engineer • Ian Dowling – engineer (assistant) • James Shaw – engineer (assistant) • Darren Simpson – engineer (assistant) • Alexis Smith – mixing (assistant) • Emma Smith – violin, saxophone • Wallzo – design == Charts ==

Weekly charts Year-end charts == References ==