Results tagged “hotchip”

While in town for ACL, everyone's favorite avant pop icon took some time to take a dip in Barton Springs.

Photos from Hot Chip's performance on the AT&T Blue Room Stage.

Photos by Kristin Bigott

As the sun began to head west and the evening rolled in, London's Hot Chip played their endearing brand of creative and awkward dance-rock to a truly massive crowd on the AT&T Blue Room stage. The band focused heavily on material from this year's release Made In The Dark, which traded in the beat-heavy laptop pop of 2006 LP The Warning for a full band sound. The songs generally played better live than on record, and the group turned up the keyboards and drums to maximize their sonic power. Co-founder and second vocalist Joe Goddard kept the crowd happy with banter and a surprise announcement about DJing a house party later in the evening, while lead vocalist Alexis Taylor kept quiet but delivered a pleasing and energetic set. The band also rewarded longtime fans with older tracks like "Down With Prince," "Boy From School," and a cover of Prince's "Nothing Compares To U." The fact that a band as eclectic as Hot Chip can now play a late afternoon slot at a mainstream festival is surprising enough...but what impressed us most was how surely they belonged there. This was a day one highlight, and the crowd danced with abandon and walked away happy.

The crowd waited eagerly even if impatiently, a mother requested us to move so her child could get a better look at the royalty, and finally after having made the audience wait for nearly half hour past the scheduled time, Prince took the stage at Coachella on Saturday evening. Backed up by an extensive band featuring the horns section of Austin’s own Grupo Fantasma as well as long time associates such as Sheila E. and Morris Day, Prince readied the masses with a touch of caution -- “I will come to party..but I get to choose the music. Is that alright?” We didn’t care, even if it meant that our optimistic dreams of hearing something off the Batman soundtrack were quashed instantly. Early set highlights included “Jungle Love” (with Day taking over lead vocals) and Sheila E.’s Prince penned, Grammy nominated (in 1985 that is) “Glamorous Life.” Prince, meanwhile was clearly up for it, prancing around stage all evening long and his genius on guitar was evident throughout. Drummer CC Dunham was impeccable and caught our eye very early on, and the ensemble’s exhilarating combination of funk and soul invigorated the hordes for a good hour and a half.

Though wholly deserved, it was a little surprising to find our favorite bedroom nerd-rockers Hot Chip on the cusp of huge fame last year. Their album The Warning went gold in the UK, a Mercury Music Prize nomination followed, and sold-out shows across the US and Europe became the norm. This from fellows who record in a London bedsit and look like they walked out of the Dell engineer's cafeteria. As a sold-out crowd at Antone's last May attested to, the group's unique mix of electronics, blue-eyed soul, club bangers, and indie-rock captivated many worldwide searching for a new voice. Hot Chip have always claimed that they loved lots of music, but that nobody made the exact music that they wanted to listen to. And their pastiche of their influences backed the statement up - critics weren't sure what to compare them to. But they sure loved them.

Alexis Taylor & Co. were almost laughably adorable when they warned us, "Hot Chip will break your legs, snap off your head," but with Made in the Dark they've lived up to their promise. The album begins with an ode to the low end, a sonic challenge to the listener, and the intensity doesn't let up: "Shake a Fist" asserts the band as much more than a smooth electronic dance outfit. As Todd Rundgren's goofy voice (how fitting) interjects midway through the track, we're asked to grab a set of headphones...

Robert Wyatt Comicopera (Domino) Best known for his work with Britain's art-rock pioneers Soft Machine, Robert Wyatt has done little aside from create brilliant, truly different pop music since the '60s. Though his career is long, prolific and full of intriguing stories and tragedy, we've most recently been enamored with 2003's Cuckooland, which was nominated for the Mercury Prize. This year's Comicopera is a sort of hysterical (in the laughing and the sad way)...

By now, the media buzz surrounding blogger darling and dance party curator Dan Deacon has made his upcoming gig at Mohawk chatter-worthy (after his performance at Emo's earlier this summer, party animals who missed the event started marking their calendars) and his career absolutely viable: he's toured with Girl Talk, and only needs to press 'play' to get a news item on Pitchfork. Rather than remind you (again) to go check him out, we'd...

Upon arriving around 2:50pm, we found quite a bit of chaos. An unfortunate propane tank explosion had injured four ACL staffers, so fire trucks, EMS vehicles, and golf carts were buzzing everywhere. Our tickets were stuck with a friend inside, so we found a shady tree and hung out until the dust settled around 3:15. We entered to the wafting notes of Peter, Bjorn, and John, who had attracted such a huge crowd we...

There's really no way to talk about just one of the bands that's playing tonight at Emo's. Though not widely praised in Austin's rock-loving community, we think they're wonderful, each with its own fanciful and individual personality. Come early. Be loud. Stay late. Avoid the bathroom. Headlining the show are locals The Boxing Lesson, whose lo-fi and indie sounds "deserve more of a following" says The Chron. Also, you'll get another chance to see Tussle,...

WEDNESDAY [25] comedy • Tig Notaro and Steve Burr at Cap City Comedy Club books • BookPeople's First Annual Spelling Bee at BookPeople (7:00pm, 13 and under) books • Jacqueline Taylor presents Waiting for the Call: From Preacher's Daughter to Lesbian Mom at BookWoman (7:00pm) dance • Fetish and Other Dances, part of Refraction Arts' Fuse Box Festival at The Off Center (8pm) film • "The Life and Hard Times of Guy Terrifico" at Alamo...

Do we need to explain this contest? Hot Chip are coming. We implore you to go and see them. And we have a pair of tickets for one lucky reader. Austinist Interviews Joe Goddard of Hot Chip Hot Chip's The Warning Takes #3 on Austinist's Top 15 Albums of 2006 Austinist Glowingly Reviews Hot Chip's The Warning Hot Chip Nominated For Mercury Music Prize Hot Chip Blow The Roof Off New York's Webster Hall...

Saturday evenings at SXSW are usually a disappointment. Everyone is tired, bands are weary, and lines seem to be at a peak. Last year, our Saturday was completely transformed when we attended Hot Chip's showcase at The Parish. Despite some equipment troubles, the band's mix of electronics, enthusiasm, and tough-guy lyrics had the crowd dancing and roaring approval to the point that the floor quaked. Since then, the group have won NME's single of...

The Field From Here We Go Sublime (Kompakt Germany) Apparently dance floor purists are winning the battle against rock and roll, and Stockholm's The Field are leading the march. On an album Pitchfork calls a "safe bet" for "2007's most luxuriant record", sole member Alex Willner utilizes elements of trance, electronica and drum and bass to produce an album that definitely pushes the boundary that other indie disco groups only flirt with. The success...

We don't remember much of SXSW but of what we can remember, we think we had a pretty kickass time. During the week of March 13th to the 17th, we were out surviving on what little we had time to consume (usually free, alcoholic or "containing artificial flavors"), catching every bit of sanctioned and unsanctioned SXSW goodness. While we were out on the streets and bars of Austin, we began to realize a lot...

Originally a one-man recording project in a Brooklyn apartment, in the last three years, Grizzly Bear has picked up three talented musicians and created an album of ghostly and experimental indie rock. Their 2006 album Yellow House (which was actually recorded in a yellow house in Cape Cod) has been praised by critics and other artists the world over, and the album's big song "Knife" has been covered, re-mixed, and mashed-up several times. Even...

Bellingham, WA's The Trucks carry on the loud-and-proud post-riot grrl tradition of acts like Peaches, Le Tigre, and The Gossip, playing guitarless, keyboard-driven pop-punk that'd be perfect for your little sister's sleepover if their hit single wasn't called "Titties." Maybe it is anyway. Depends on your sister. Anyhow we got to chat with singer/visual artist Marissa Moore, who also doesn't get why the SXSW schedule isn't up yet. Share a story about a visit...

15. Mogwai - Mr. Beast (Matador) As ever, Mogwai manage to blend unadulterated post-rock weight to their shoegazer tendencies with tracks like "Glasgow Mega Snake" and "Folk Death 95," showcasing their ability to create anthems with no words. This is where Mr. Beast really shines, in between blistering chord progressions and gradual swings into corybantic climaxes. In some ways a throwback to earlier (and heavier) Mogwai material, Mr. Beast isn't merely a rock album....

In her newest album, Son, Argentine-born Juana Molina embraces experimentation. The actress-cum-musician has been known for her whispery, velvety vocals since her debut, Rara, in 1996. But Son meanders, offering simultaneously the repetition of loops and the unpredictability of winding instrumentation. Sonically, Molina colors outside the lines and toys with the songwriter's inclination toward simple verse/chorus structures. She's inspired, in her words, by "the randomness of the combination of sounds in nature." The result...

Here's what's new this week: The Walkmen Pussy Cats Starring the Walkmen (Record Collection) When John Lennon and Yoko Ono took a break in 1974, the former jumped into the studio with pals Ringo Star, Keith Moon and Harry Nilsson (among others) to produce Pussy Cats, a fascinating mix of classic tunes and originals arranged primarily by Nilsson and Lennon. Misunderstood and bizarre, Pussy Cats is the ultimate buddy album for music geeks with...

Multi-instrumentalist and programmer Evan Mast and guitarist Mike Stroud are very busy boys. Between day jobs running record labels and graphic design, studio and tour stints with the likes of Ben Kweller and Dashboard Confessional and a wide assortment of side projects, the New Yorkers formerly known as Cherry found time to record one of the summer's most talked-about albums and are now touring the U.S. The sound is a more studio developed one...

We'll get the bad news out of the way first: Junior Boys, Hot Chip, and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah have all slighted Austin on their fall tour schedules. So if you were hoping for one of these shows, start saving for a JetBlue flight. Thankfully, almost every other indie-Pitchfork-college rock band known to man will touch down in our town between now and Thanksgiving. There were a flurry of new show announcements over...

Hot Chip destroyed the room that night not with their looks (they don't have them) or a huge production (the instruments broke repeatedly), but with simple, unsuppressable enthusiasm. They looked dorky, they dressed horribly, yet there they were, playing this crazy electronic-pop-soul-r&b hybrid that made the crowd explode in admiration and bouncy dancing.

SXSW.com released an updated lineup for this year's SXSW Music Festival earlier today, and it's one hell of a list. The SXSW committee hastens to note that "This is a partial list of performers confirmed to appear at the 2006 SXSW Music Festival. This list is current as of 1/13/06. All of this information is subject to change." International acts include: Masahiro Nitta, DMBQ, Ellegarden, Tsu Shi Ma Mi Re, PE'Z, The Emeralds (Japan)...

: : FRIDAY : : [film] New Movies @ Your Local Theater! [music] Willie Nelson @ Stubb's (also Saturday) [music] The Queers, The Vibrators, The Independents (outside) and Wolf Eyes, Prurient and Rubble (inside) @ Emo's [music] CD release show for The Lovely Sparrows & Big Blue Marble @ Beerland [music] The Arm and New Model Army @ Elysium [film/lecture] Rabia Clark presents her short film, "The Dervish Project", 7pm @ Ventana del Sol...