HOT CHIP
DJ-Kicks
!K7
· Wait! Is this a Hot Chip album or not?
DJ-Kicks compilations have been in circulation since 1995. They started out largely as seamless techno or house DJ mix albums by the top club spinners du jour. Over the years, the roster expanded to include a variety of noteworthy electronic performers. For instance, Kruder & Dorfmeister’s DJ-Kicks album is regarded as being among their best remix work. This time around though, Hot Chip, the five hip Londoners who are responsible for 2006’s critically acclaimed The Warning, have compiled a unique, unusual DJ session.
This DJ-Kicks release maintains an overall sense of humour as it shuffles through all sorts of genres. The mostly electronic compilation gives us insight into what Hot Chip find entertaining: soul, nerdy TB-303 bleeps and bloops, cheesy hip hop, jungle, New Order. The opener, "Nitemoves" is a new song by Grovesnor (featuring Hot Chip’s old drummer Rob Smoughton). Acting as a cente=repiece is an original Hot Chip track, "My Piano," which fits oddly between a stunted latin beat and instrumental homage to 80s sci-fi noises.
At times, the album sounds like the band’s iTunes playlist rather than a DJ mix. Hot Chip let tracks play out, choosing to ignore standard mixing techniques like beat matching in favour of pushing through a huge volume of tracks.
Due to their association with DFA records (The Rapture, LCD Soundsystem, etc.), Hot Chip have managed to crossover from being a traditional electronic act while cultivating an entertaining live show and a dedicated following. Despite this compilation’s shortcomings as a mix, Hot Chip tactfully acknowledge a variety of artists that have influenced them but remain careful to not draw too many direct comparisons to their own sound.
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