Salt & sauce
Henry Northmore catches up with electro masters Hot Chip as they prepare to take Glasgow by storm this Hogmanay.
ptimo at New Year is always a sale het. securing some ol' the most interesting acts on
the circuit. and this year is no exception. .\'ot
only will 'l‘witch and Wilkes he manning the decks. with a hit ol help from Death Disco’s Mingo-(io with 'shoken intcl‘jections’ l'rom Aidan Moltat tl'rom the recently defunct Arah Strap). hut Mercury .\Ittsic pri/e nominees llot (‘hip will he on hand for a lull live set. "I‘here‘s not a lot ol parties that we would do then as it‘s nice to have the night ol‘l‘f explains the (hips vocalist and main programmer .loe (ioddard. ‘hut an ()ptimo party is one that we get excited about.. Ilaving Played the Sub (‘luh het‘ore (ioddard and co know the levels of insanity they are letting themselves in l‘or. James Murphy and l.(’l) Soundsy'stem have openly said that their l’avourite ever gig was at ()ptimo in (ilasgow and it was pretty much the same for us.‘ says (ioddard. “There are still people who love dance inusic. hut not in the way that they love it in (ilasgow'.' And (ilasgow loves Ilot (‘hip hack. It‘s been one hell of a year for them. The hypnotically inl’ectious grooves and addictive heats ol ‘()ver and ()vet” hecoming a modern classic; their grasp of eclectic pulsating rhythms made The ll'urning one ol the alhums ot' Zone. ‘l’m a tan of house music. but there’s very l‘cw house albums that are satisl'ying. that I listen to at home.’
says (ioddard. 'So we wanted to make a load ol other
kinds of music that we love. .-\nd it would generally he the case that we'd make one track and say “We’ve done that now. let's do something dil'l'erent".'
'I'heir seemingly overning success hasn't heen
without a fair amount of hard gral‘t. the core unit ol
50 "i- lit: :“f‘i'li -'- .lti'l .3 All.
‘PEOPLE LOVE DANCE MUSIC BUT NOT IN THE WAY THEY LOVE IT IN GLASGOW'
(ioddard and his vocal sparring partner and key hoardist. Alexis 'l‘aylor. met when they were l7 and they‘ve heen making music ever since. Sell-releasing (‘l)s. gigging like envy and of course there was lell—l's (outing on Strong on Moshi .‘vloshi. It‘s their enticing take on wonky electro that has struck a cord with the dance and indie community. ‘We like to descrihe it as. basically. electronic pop musicf explains (ioddat'd. “We just make pop music and give it a strange twist. We really attempt to get some strange sounds into the mix. we try to make it sound a little more home-made and human and a little more soullul.~
It's something they have heen ahle to translate to the stage. something that can often trip up elcctronica acts when they attempt to go ‘live‘. 'I‘heir gigs earlier this year showcased their eclectic take on dance music and transliormed venues into exuherant mutant mosh-pits. "I'here are a lot ol' acts that do it all with laptops. so we thought it would he entertaining il. a hand made that kind of music hut did it for real. the way old disco acts used to dof says (iodard. ‘everything for real. tight and l’unky. I think the audience appreciates that there's someone playing it. doing it for real. sweating up on stage. going for it. We like that.’
It'll he hard to resist their squelching heals and lo-li p—l’unk. especially when coupled with the ever excellent sounds ol' ()ptimo this New Year. Welcome to 3007.
Hot Chip play Optimo Espacio presents Hogmanay 2006, the Old Fruitmarket, Glasgow, Sun 31 Dec.
Freq Spanish techno whizz kid, Alex Under brings his own brand of electronica and jazz-- infused techno house-scapes to the Sub. Sub Club, Glasgow, Fri 15 Dec.
Mothergroove Ultragroove and Mothertunk give you a great excuse to miss the big Xmas movie as they lay down the best in house and funk. Lulu. Edinburgh, Mon 25 Dec.
Taste No time for snoozing as Taste give a big wake up call on the clubbing calendar with a Christmas Day special and a runthrough of the ‘Very Best of Taste‘ for those with the stamina on New Year's Day. Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh, Mon 25 Dec 81 Mon 7 Jan.
Colours Boxing Day Party Too many names to mention here but a special shout out to James Lavelle and Roger Sanchez who lead the pack. The Arches, Glasgow. Tue 26 Dec. Tokyoqu The live mutant house explosion is joined by Chibuku Shake Shake's Tane (pictured) adding a dose of electro. disco and jazz to proceedings. Ego. Edinburgh, Fri 29 Dec.
Atlantis Revisited The Club that the Subby was famous for in the early 908. back for a one-off show with three of the original DJs. Harri and the Slam crew. Sub Club, Glasgow. Sat 30 Dec.
We Will Break You Gear up for New Year with this warm-up gig of electro, breakbeat and hip hop from some of the best DJs Edinburgh has to offer. Ego, Edinburgh. Sat 30 Dec. Hogmanay Too many cool club nights to mention. From Hot Chip guesting at Optimo Or Modeselektor at Numbers or Colours and Hed Kandi joining forces in both Cities or the annual Vegas Ball or of course future world funk from a raft of live acts at Departure Lounge or glam it up at Bring in the House. To surmise: there's shit loads on and it's all good. Check listings for details, Sun 37 Dec.