Hot Chip - Made In the Dark
Okay, I really hope I can pull off this review without being misinterpreted. I can’t put my finger on it, but I am going to try: this album really left me questioning my sexuality. Don’t ask me why, but this latest release by Hot Chip has made a huge splash amongst both my straight and lesbian girlfriends and, for some idiotic reason, the fact that I love this album as much as they do has left me challenging my manhood because not one typical male friend of mine can stand this recording. Listening to Made In The Dark gives me a very dirty feeling because it makes me feel like this could be the movie soundtrack to my life as seen through an aping of a Chasing Amy plot—that Kevin Smith movie where the underlying theme is that the last frontier of rugged and individualistic masculinity domination is to convert all lesbians back to heterosexuality.
Maybe it is because the music’s illuminating melodies and breakneck beats are catchy enough to touch that deeply buried dance fever phobia in us straight males but not throbbing or techno enough to pass muster amongst the gay males at the local dance club. The 13 songs found on this recording are quirky enough to be hypnotic, yet exuberant enough to be brash, and I think it is this game of limbo that leaves me feeling subliminally contrasted.
In retrospect, Hot Chip has created a very challenging piece of art music, and whether it touches on your sexuality or your sensitivity it is a great listen. An album that can leave you feeling nervous after listening to it must have something to say about its validity. And, a band that can pull off that kind of unpleasantness should be a force to be reckoned with because predictability in music is not music at all, and we should all thank Hot Chip for taking the necessary risks to challenge their listeners emotionally and mentally.
