Hailing from London, Hot Chip entered the picture with the release of their 2000 debut, Mexico. The EP was released by Victory Garden Records, a label owned and operated by members of London's resident lo-fi psychedelic rock institution, Southall Riot. The Mexico EP was a hypnotic wash of subtle -- nearly subliminal -- pulse-like techno beats, acoustic guitars, and plinky pianos, but the vocals were the true star of the show (no small feat in a musical climate overrun with disaffected Lou Reed-esque mumblers and bland Eddie Vedder impersonators). The voices of Alexis Taylor and Joe Goddard are a fine study in contrast. Taylor offers dreamy, effortless falsettos that cut to the heart of the beauty of performers like Jeff Buckley and Nick Drake (minus any of the pretentiousness of Radiohead or even Coldplay or the bland vocal acrobatics of Remy Zero). Meanwhile, scattered throughout the record (and in the occasional duet), Goddard offers a tone that sounds a bit more world-weary and at times almost gruff in comparison to Taylor, calling to mind Damon Albarn's cool monotone tendencies. 2002's self-released Sanfrandisco E-Pee showed the band dabbling in more playful sounds, from the beatbox dubbing of the title track to the closing notes of "Fanta," in which Taylor pleads with the listener to "make sounds of the summer." There are moments of gorgeous melancholy as well, but on the whole the album feels a bit more hopeful than Mexico had. The group signed to revered N.Y.C. record label DFA in 2005 and released the Over and Over EP, as well as the excellent 2006 release The Warning. Hot Chip kept busy in 2007 by supporting The Warning with singles and consistent touring, and released a DJ Kicks mix album. Late that year, the single Ready for the Floor heralded the arrival of Made in the Dark, which featured some of the band's most focused grooves and poppiest melodies to date.

Listen: Hot Chip, "One Life Stand"

Along with JD Twitch, Belfast Playboy Mr JG Wilkes formed the phenomenon that is Optimo (espacio), to be found at the Sub Club in Glasgow on Sunday nights.



JG Wilkes (aka Mary Hill) has releases on Ze Records and other labels across Europe. Most recently as Naum Gabo, a name which you’ll find has remixed Franz Ferdinand among others.

Rumors of NYC nightlife’s demise have been greatly exaggerated. While the ever-pervasive rumors of “no dancing allowed” and draconian cabaret laws continue to reverberate around the world’s cities, the state of underground dance music in the big apple is indeed much stronger. This is thanks, in no small part, to the efforts of Dave Pianka and Josh Houtkin (DJing as Dave P and JDH, respectively). The two have been responsible for bringing over some of the most credible DJs and live bands and giving them a proper venue and environment in which to play. In addition, they have honed their DJ and production skills over the years, and are increasingly breaking new records and sounds with their back-to-back sets. Dave has also recently kicked into gear with production duties, contributing remixes of established acts like the Klaxons and Bloc Party.

The two first met through Josh’s affiliation with Flyer, a now-defunct cultural magazine. They were frequently booked separately to DJ at the same parties in NYC, often in the same rooms.

“We both came from very similar musical backgrounds growing up in the punk/hardcore scene,” says Dave. “We both basically progressed in the same direction from there, into indie rock and into the more electronic sounds where we find ourselves now.”

Says Josh, “Our influences come from a pretty wide variety of places. We both were heavily into the early-90's punk/ indie scene. Fugazi, Dischord Records, Bikini Kill, that sort of stuff.”

The two quickly teamed up, expanding their horizons into techno, electro and other permutations of dance music. In early 2004, they started a party called Fixed at the Tribeca Grand hotel, where they quickly established a forward-thinking booking policy that found heavyweight, Berlin-based techno jocks like Ewan Pearson playing one week, with on-the-rise indie acts such as the Long Blondes the next. To date, blue-chip artists like Erol Alkan, Soulwax, Whitey, Justice, Digitalism, the Klaxons, Peaches, LCD Soundsystem, Mylo, Vitalic, Simian Mobile Disco, The Rapture, Art Brut, Tim Sweeney, and many more have all made appearances.

In a city full of nights with style over substance, Fixed is now known as a party with an eclectic crowd of sincere music lovers, where all sorts of interesting styles and genres find a place to come together.

“Aside from our musical upbringing, we are both influenced by nights such as Optimo, Trash, and Bugged Out!, says Josh. “These are great parties that don't necessarily have a musical "policy" or "style." For us, every style of music is good and merits attention.”

In terms of their DJing, the two have forged a defined musical understanding over the years. They often play back-to-back, each pushing one and other to find the perfect record to follow another with. “There are times when Josh and I are djing and one of us will put on a record and we'll both reach for a track to play out of it and then realize that we both grabbed the same one,” says Dave. “We’re both very conscious of flow.”

Their Go Commando! Mix features many artists the two have brought over to perform, and also represents a broad cross-section of the styles and genres they play in a night. Joakim’s pop-funk kicks off the mix representing the more melodic side of their collective taste, later panning through avant-disco Stylings of Prins Thomas and In Flagranti, the deep, brooding techno of Swedish performers The Knife, into an electro barnstormer from Vitalic and finally touching down on a beautiful note with the panning synth swells of Superpitcher and Michael Mayer’s remix of Gui Borratto’s “Like You.”

Going forward, JDH and Dave P look forward to continuing helping interesting acts around the world establish a beachhead on US shores, as well as continuing to bring their act on the road. With recent DJ tours in Canada, Spain, the UK and Germany, they’re finding wider acclaim on a global stage while keeping up the ravenous appetite for breaking new sounds.
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