Music

Dropped earlier this month, One Life Stand is the latest release of British electro pop sensation, Hot Chip. You might recall their album from 2008, Made in the Dark, which includes one of their most well known singles to date, Ready for the Floor. Hot Chip is striking with their catchy synthpop beats and wonderfully bizarre music videos consisting of band members, Alexis Taylor, Joe Goddard, Al Doyle, Owen Clarke and Felix Martin (who actually look like they work in a room mixing formaldehyde and testing lab rats). The combination of their "blip-blop" tunes with the soothing, effeminate vocals of Taylor and Goddard, make up the distinct sounds of the band. The first four tracks of this album are extremely catchy with infectious dance beats, and then it moves into slower, more mellow and poetic tunes. We find this particular album to be positively uplifting and thus, our personal favourites are the title track, One Life Stand and I Feel Better (which really picks up after the minute mark). Also, for the Hot Chip fans in Toronto - be sure to catch them at Kool Haus on April 20.

Ever since Empire of the Sun's album, Walking on a Dream, debuted in October 2008, their tracks have continuously been at the top of our playlists. Although their band name may sound familiar to some (might we recall the novel by J.G. Ballard, taken to the big screen by Steven Spielberg in 1984 starring Christian Bale and John Malkovich), their name actually comes from the idea of "traveling the world going to all the places of empires of the civilization where the sun has been the theme of worship." We are not entirely sure if this is true, or if their name actually comes from the title of the book, but what's important is that they deem themselves superheroes, and we agree. Dynamic duo, Luke Steele and Nick Littlemore, otherwise known as Emperor Steele and Lord Littlemore make up electronic synth-pop sensation Empire of the Sun. Their music is similar to to the likes of MGMT, La Roux, and Cut Copy. We've recently discovered that they have done a new version of Without You, which is now their fourth single release of their album. It came out in September 2009 and I'm not sure why we hadn't come across sooner since it is that much better than the original. Let's face it, the dance version is beats the mellow original any day. It reminds us of a modern David Bowie meets New Order. We love the 80s electro-pop sounds of the band. It gives us a sense of nostalgia. Kudos to them for remaking Without You. Another track added to the playlist.