9 and 10 of 25: Hot Chip - Made In The Dark; Justice - †

Due to the complete violation of body, mind, and soul that was leveled on me today by my exam, I've decided to just combine the two posts I owe for today and yesterday. Coherent commentary will return as soon as I get back from counseling.

Made In The Dark - Incredibly enjoyable and diverse album. With the exception of "Bendable Poseable" and "Don't Dance," every song is worth listening to. Opener "Out At The Picutres" slowly builds into an up-tempo dance track, and follow-up "Shake A Fist" includes an end-of-track breakdown section of otherworldly sounds. After coming back down, "Ready For The Floor" kicks off with the words you will be repeating hours after listening: "Do it do it do it do it do it do it do it now. Say it say it say it say it say it say it say it now." It looks ridiculous in print, and admittedly, it sounds kind of ridiculous coming out of your mouth, but you have no control over it. Oh, and the rest of the song is really good. The album features a solid mix of tempos, and although it can sometimes feel choppy going from a song like "Made In the Dark" to "One Pure Thought," it keeps the album from getting stale. Album highlight: "Wrestlers" has a completely infectious piano intro and the lyrics are stupendously asinine and awesome. I think the concept is that relationships are like wrestling... not Greco-Roman style, but WWE throwdowns with chairs and shit. Just endlessly awesome to listen to.

† - Honestly, I haven't listened to this album a lot since it first came out back in 2007. Justice = 2 French guys with computers. So basically, like most other electronic music from over there. A lot of this album won't be something you listen to every day. Take "Let There Be Light": completely badass, it sounds like it could be the soundtrack for one of the original 8-bit Castlevania games. But it has this GRATING, consistent synth line that sounds like it's being dragged through a boiling vat of acid, put on this chick's nails, and then run across a chalkboard. But it's listenable! And then it drops out towards the end of the song and gets replaced by a smooth electronic keyboard... the sonic equivalent of aloe on a sunburn. Which is good, because it leads you right into "D.A.N.C.E," the most well-known track on the album. The opening AM-tuning effect leads into something that sounds like a Saturday-morning educational cartoon sing along. There's more than enough flip-switching, base-pumping, synth-destroying, sample-disfiguring, in-your-face Euro-dance. If that doesn't elicit a somewhat terrifying but altogether exciting image for you, the music will pick up the slack.