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PopMatters

Made in the Dark is a great album, varied and surprisingly heartfelt.

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Slant Magazine

Hot Chip boldly expand and louden up their sound significantly here, while admirably retaining full command of the forms they've already mastered.

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Alternative Press

Dark is one of the first great records of 2008. [Mar 2008, p.146]

Delusions of Adequacy

This is evidence of a group that has really come into their own and while they were at it, refined their skills. It’s to the point that I feel this album is head and shoulders above any of their erstwhile releases.

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Lost At Sea

But what makes Made In the Dark their best album to date is how great the ballads are, a trick no mere techno act was supposed to master.

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Filter

Dark isn't a huge departure from the previous record, and it doesn't mark some major step in Hot Chip's evolution either. But there's something to be said for holding your liquor, keeping momentum, and showing the world that this whole ride is as wicked-fun as you thought it would be. [Winter 2008, p.92]

Blender

Even as they cherry-pick from seemingly incongruous sources (deep house, hard rock, smooth R&B), there’s a newfound decisiveness, a move toward heavier beats, meatier grooves and warmer sentiments.

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Boston Globe

Made in the Dark announces its intent early: it's straight electro, with a naked disdain for the minor key.

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Vibe

They grab hold of genres long stuck in straitjackets and, if only for a few minutes a pop, let them run amok. [Mar 2008, p.99]

Prefix Magazine

This album stands out because of its stadium-worthy aspirations.

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Q Magazine

For the most part, Made In The Dark pulses with an unusual intelligence and creative bravery. [Mar 2008, p.101]

Uncut

As a listener, it’s equally hard not to feel the love. With Hot Chip, it now feels like the right time to commit.

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Hot Press

In almost every respect, Made In The Dark is an immaculately poised record, the poptronica super geeks at last striking the perfect balance between head and heart.

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NOW Magazine

Made is at once more adventurous and more accessible, with a greater respect for straightforward(ish) pop.

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Observer Music Monthly

Perhaps Made in the Dark's greatest achievement is to keep back a bit of mystery for itself above and beyond the enveloping sense of destiny fulfilled.

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Rolling Stone

'Wrestlers' epitomizes what makes this quintet the sharpest dance rockers this side of their pals LCD Soundsystem: catchy tunes, monster grooves, and lyrics resolving the heartfelt and the smartass.

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Urb

Hot Chip hasve always guaranteed a certain degree of respect for the listener's intelligence, even on their most fance floor ready album yet. [Jan/Feb 2008, p.102]

Paste Magazine

On Made in the Dark, Hot Chip has stopped trying so hard to integrate the dance and bedroom sounds it loves, instead segregating them to eliminate the compromises of the ﬁrst two albums.

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Billboard

This is the same pop-wise Hot Chip, only wilier and with a more dastardly sonic arsenal.

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Spin

This is some serious whimsy. [Feb 2008, p.92]

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All Music Guide

They're still a quirky band, no doubt, but now they're using those quirks to make their most accomplished album to date.

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Los Angeles Times

On its third album, the Londoners struggle a bit to escape the cold climate of the digital domain, but the band does manage to get the molecules agitated.

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The Onion (A.V. Club)

From the unguarded yelps and wiggling drums that mark its first track, Made In The Dark sounds more forceful and lithe than anything in Hot Chip's past.

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The Phoenix

At their best--during the disc’s torch-lit forays inward, the piano-ballad title track and the forlorn 'We’re Looking for a Lot of Love'--Hot Chip get serious, delving into the up-late tangles and riddles of the 21st-century heart.

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Tiny Mix Tapes

Hot Chip sound like such a broad swath of pop music on this album that you can’t quite call them out for biting any single obnoxious influence too much, even when they do get so hyperactive it’s annoying.

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Village Voice

They're very much of their time--friendly indie kids from the Go! Team to Hot Hot Heat are cheerily dabbling in dance music nowadays--and much better than most of those peers.

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Dot Music

Amid such hi-octane dancefloor tracks such as this, current single 'Ready For The Floor' is, in context, pedestrian--its uncomfortable resemblance to Russ Abbot's 'Atmosphere' becoming more apparent with every listen.

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musicOMH.com

Whilst this isn't the album many may have expected, it should match their hopes in a different and, ultimately, fulfilling way.

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Drowned In Sound

Made In The Dark must rank as something of a missed opportunity, but as a bigger, bolder (if overlong) follow-up to a deservedly popular second album, they’ve succeeded admirably.

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Pitchfork

Good record but not a great one.

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Dusted Magazine

Though it may hardly win over detractors, there's not much of Made in the Dark that can be lambasted as puckish or precious.

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cokemachineglow

So Hot Chip have built a very admirable sound. What confuses the issue with Made in the Dark is that it presents so many glaring kinks that still need working out.

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Entertainment Weekly

Hot Chip's signature balmy synths and daydream-dizzy vocals are still body-moving, but less heart-stirring. [8 Feb 2008, p.68]

Under The Radar

At times, the sheer busyness of the album’s songs prevents the listener from becoming fully immersed. [Winter 2008, p.82]

Mojo

They wear their ideas on their sleeves, certainly, but under all the layers, a heartbeat is sometimes hard to find. [Feb 2008, p.104]

The Guardian

There is merely a niggling sense that certain songs could be better.

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The Wire

Their focused, cleverly crafted pop fiffs are impressive, for a time.... But by the fifth track, things start to go wrong. [Mar 2008, p.48]

Almost Cool

Discombobulated and downright clunky, Made In The Dark is a bit of a step back for Hot Chip.

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Sputnikmusic

There’re a lot of fumbles here unfortunately, a couple tepid ballads, a lot of irritating goon-hop, and a couple songs that go on for far too long (though most of those fall under one of the former categories.) However, the band impress again on ‘Touch too Much’, possibly the album’s best track.

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cokemachineglow

There is nothing here but a band very awkwardly trying to have a good time, and that’s the kind of party you always leave early.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this album is 7.3 (out of 10) based on 30 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Neil L gave it a10:
It is interesting to me that one reviewer below calls "Wrestlers" the weakest, most self-conscious song on the album while the very next review proclaims that it is one of the best on the album. Just goes to show that one should mainly ignore critics, or find one who has views close to one's own, and thus articulate one's own reasons for liking or disliking an album or artist.

David H gave it an8:
it's a great album, different, unique, experimental and utterly satisfying! every track is great really, even the simplicity of the title track is beautiful! only touch too much and whistle for will fall short, everything else is great! best tracks are out at the pictures, ready for the floor and hold on!

Aidan K gave it a7:
Overall a good record, 'ready for the floor' and 'one pure thought' are the definatley the stand out trackls which is irritating because they are both singles. The more mellow tracks are boring quite frankly and spoil the album.

Jason W gave it an8:
While this record is not as good as Warning, there is still plenty to be pleased about. Songs like Wrestlers for example, the lyrics could have been written by a 10 year old wrestling fanatic but at the same time it fits and when the piano comes in it changes everything. It's a perfect mesh of beauty and adolescence. Of course there are stand out tracks that hit you right away like ready for the floor, shake a fist, wrestlers, and looking for alot of love but then there are others that grow on you the more you listen like hold on, dont dance, and one pure thought. Made in the Dark is no Warning but then again Hot Chip may never top that. If your are a fan of Hot Chip and there style you will have no problem with this album.

KG FReeze gave it a7:
Not even close to The Warning. Good, some effects/vocals/songs are a little grating. Not as immediately rewarding. Still alright, just not the extremo follow-up some of the critics are making it out to be.

Guy H gave it a5:
Pretty weak compared to the previous album. I find it an effort to listen to this - not a good sign. Loads of ballads and not one comes close to matching 'Look After Me' so why bother? On a positive note I love the video for Ready for the Floor and there are two other decent songs on the disc - namely Out at the Pictures and One Pure Thought. Wrestlers can be quite a chucklesome listen if it catches you in the right mood too but as you can most likely tell I'm starting to struggle here... Oh, and seeing live performances on TV proves without doubt that Hot Chip are strictly a studio act only (to put it kindly!!!)

Ben S gave it a7:
About as 7/10 an album good. A nice change from the usual or at least "my" usual music. The first three tracks are class but the other hits are too sparodic to call this anything other than very good.

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Made In The Dark

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