I don't know if you know this, but Radiohead's track "My Iron Lung," off '95s The Bends, was recorded live in concert. Their producer, John Leckie, felt that they weren't capturing the immediacy he had sensed during pre-production, when the band had performed their new material for him. So he rented a mobile studio and followed the group to their gig at the London Astoria. If you're listening on headphones you can hear phasing (swishy sound), a problem created when the same sound is being picked up by different mics at different distances - and exacerbated by the unruly acoustics of a live venue room. Which makes it not only a feat of delivery but of engineering as well. Anyway, I always appreciate this track more knowing that it's a live performance, especially with all of those abrupt transitions and tempo shifts. Radiohead have said that they didn't figure out how to be a good live band until the Kid A and Amnesiac tours, but clearly they had it going on long before that.
Radiohead - "My Iron Lung"
I'm jealous of the name Hot Chip. It's perfect. It's one of those perfect band names that comes along every five years. Like Sonic Youth or Daft Punk. The words "hot" and "chip" together seem to imply so much goodness. Like melting circuit boards inside a malfunctioning keyboard. Or spicy snack foods. And these are all things that Hot Chip delivers musically. Loads of analogue and soft synths in service of a master funk, hot beats and hook city. This is from their new one, Made in the Dark.
Hot Chip - "Ready For the Floor"
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