The Warning

Infobox Album
Name = The Warning
Type = Studio
Artist = Hot Chip


Released = 22 May 2006 (UK) 13 June 2006 (U.S.)
Recorded = Putney, London
Genre = Electronic, indie, pop
Length = 52:04
Label = EMI, Astralwerks, DFA Records
Producer = Hot Chip
Reviews =
* Allmusic Rating|3.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=Axt2ibkd9fakn link]
* "Drowned in Sound" (8/10) [http://www.drownedinsound.com/release/view/7432 link]
* "NME" (8/10) [http://www.nme.com/reviews/hot-chip/7944 link]
* "The Observer" Rating|4|5 [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/omm/reviews/story/0,,1777074,00.html link]
* Pitchfork Media (8.1/10) [http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/18654-the-warning link]
* "PopMatters" (8/10) [http://www.popmatters.com/pm/music/reviews/hot-chip-the-warning/ link]
* "Rolling Stone" Rating|3|5 [http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/10436439/review/10962979/the_warning link]
* "Stylus" (A-) [http://www.stylusmagazine.com/reviews/hot-chip/the-warning.htm link]
Last album = "Coming on Strong"
(2004)
This album = "The Warning"
(2006)
Next album = "Made in the Dark"
(2008)
| Misc = Singles
Name = The Warning
Type = studio
Single 1 = Over and Over
Single 1 date = 27 February 2006
Single 2 = Boy from School
Single 2 date = 27 June 2006
Single 3 = Colours
Single 3 date = 14 August 2006
Single 4 = Over and Over (Re-release)
Single 4 date = 9 October 2006

"The Warning" is the second full-length release from the British electronic indie pop band Hot Chip. The album was released in the UK on 22 May 2006 by EMI and in the United States on 3 June 2006 by Astralwerks. Notable tracks include the UK singles, "Over and Over" and "Boy from School", as well as "(Just Like We) Breakdown", which was featured and remixed on the DFA Records compilation album "The DFA Remixes – Chapter One". The album was nominated for the 2006 Mercury Music Prize.

"The Warning" explores the theme of contradiction as well as "slower and darker aspects of electronic music" with the use of "strange violence" in songs.cite web| last = Warren| first = Emma | title = Hot Chip - The Warning | publisher = bbc.co.uk| url =http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/collective/A11816949| accessdate = 2008-03-08|date = 2006-05-18] This technique is best depicted in the song, "The Warning", which uses antithesis; "soft glockenspiel notes" contrasted against "violent" lyrics. The chorus continues the idea with a "patent mismatch of violence and melancholy".

A number of reviews commented on the stylistic and lyrical changes between Hot Chip's first album "Coming on Strong" (2004) and "The Warning". "Coming on Strong" was described as a "successful but safe entrée to the British electro-soul outfit" and although "graceful, delicate melodies of the debut" had been abandoned, they were replaced for "songs with more wallop".cite web| last = Fennessey| first = Sean | title = Record review: Hot Chip - The Warning | publisher = Pitchfork Media| url =http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/18654-the-warning| accessdate = 2008-04-16|date = 2006-05-25] Hot Chip's music changed from the "quirky electro-pop" of "Coming on Strong" to create an album that was "much more focused and pop friendly", "a step away from Prince and a step towards LCD Soundsystem".cite web| last = Raper| first = Dan | title = Record review: Hot Chip - The Warning | publisher = "PopMatters"| url =http://www.popmatters.com/pm/music/reviews/hot-chip-the-warning/| accessdate = 2008-04-19|date = 2006-05-23]

Production

The production of "The Warning" was handled by vocalists Alexis Taylor and Joe Goddard, who produced and recorded the album in the band's Putney home. "NME" commented that the "normality of [their] surroundings" works well for them.cite web| last = Worthy| first = Stephen| title = Hot Chip: The Warning | publisher = "NME"| url =http://www.nme.com/reviews/hot-chip/7944| accessdate = 2008-03-08|date = 2006-05-19] Tim Goldsworthy and James Murphy of DFA Records were involved in the production of one song. Though the song "worked out well as a record", Taylor stated it wasn't "an enjoyable experience in terms of feeling involved". Taylor said that he and Goddard work best as a duo, the success of which he attributes to the years they have been acquainted.cite web| last =Carroll | first =Jim| title =Hot Property | publisher = "The Irish Times"| url =http://www.irishtimes.com/theticket/articles/2006/0602/463103022HOTCHIP.html| accessdate = 2008-09-22| date=]

An idea involving all five members joining together to write songs was rejected because Taylor "didn't think it would come up with anything interesting." Although the album isn't one of all five members, Taylor and Goddard approached the album with "the spirit of the live show [s] ".

In an interview with Jim Carroll from "The Irish Times", Taylor stated that Hot Chip had two different strands; one consisting of Taylor and Goddard who control the recording process, and a second involving all five members of Hot Chip for playing live versions of their albums. Taylor said he believed two groups were needed to avoid delivering repetitive performances; "You can do very different things in a room playing to people than when you're in a room layering sounds and getting embedded in production trickery".

The recording of the album took place in Goddard's bedroom, where Goddard had "an old Dell desktop that [he] bought maybe four or five years ago" running Steinberg Cubase. The album was recorded mostly using live instruments, including tambourines and bongos, but multiple vintage synths were also used in the creation of "The Warning" such as, a Roland SH-101, a Teisco 60F and a Casiotone MT-70. Goddard said the majority of the album was recorded with the Casiotone MT-70 due to it's "soft, simple sound" that "fits with the sound that [they] try to create" and works well with Taylor's voice. Goddard stated a preference for using a mix of analog and computer sounds rather than a concentration of Virtual Studio Technology (VST) instruments. However, one VST instrument was used, the Arturia Moog Modular, because Goddard felt it created vintage sounds that weren't "too shiny or new-sounding".

Musical style

The musical influences of Taylor and Goddard, such as R. Kelly, Wookie, krautrock, Kraftwerk, Prince and Madlib, were brought together on "The Warning". Taylor stated that he wanted the variety of musical interests to sound as if they had "all been mixed together in a good way" rather than "bolted together crudely", because of his belief that music shouldn't sound like "just a load of instruments".cite web| last =Kennedy | first =Lori J.| title =Let It Burn | publisher = "Remix magazine"| url =http://remixmag.com/artists/remix_let_burn/| accessdate = 2008-09-23| date=2006-06-01]

Release and reception

"The Warning" sold over 100,000 copies and peaked on the UK Album Chart at number 34 and number 13 on "Billboard" Top Electronic Albums. [cite web| last = | first = | title = The triumph of the Hot Chip geeks | publisher = "The Independent"| url =http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/the-triumph-of-the-hot-chip-geeks-810828.html| accessdate = 2008-09-24|date=2008-04-18] cite web| last = | first = | title = Artist Chart History - Hot Chip | publisher = "Billboard"| url =http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/retrieve_chart_history.do?model.chartFormatGroupName=Albums&model.vnuArtistId=470671&model.vnuAlbumId=772669| accessdate = 2008-03-08]

"Boy from School" was the first single released from "The Warning", peaking at position number 40 on the UK chart. The second single released, "Over and Over", entered the UK chart twice, beginning with the 27 February 2006 release that reached position number 32. It re-entered the UK chart on 9 October 2006, peaking at position number 27 in the UK Singles Top 75, and reached position number 44 in the Ireland Singles Top 50.

Promotion

Hot Chip embarked upon a tour of America in March 2006 to promote "The Warning". Felix Martin wasn't able to participate due to severe illness, so fellow band members "had to figure out how to do his parts whilst [doing their] own" and enlisted the help of LCD Soundsystem drummer, Pat Mahoney.cite web| last =Walker | first =Jonson | title = Hot Sh*t: Hot Chip | publisher = Gigwise| url =http://www.gigwise.com/contents.asp?contentid=16843| accessdate = 2008-03-08|date = 2006-05-08]

Critical reception

The critical reception to the album was generally favourable and was given a score of 79% by review aggregate website, MetaCritic based on 27 reviews.cite web|last =|first = |title =Made in the Dark |publisher = MetaCritic|url =http://www.metacritic.com/music/artists/hotchip/warning|accessdate = 2008-04-06] Allmusic said that "Over and Over" had "DFA signature production" and described the chorus as sounding "hauntingly similar to something Paul McCartney would write had he been paying attention to the music of the youth in his own backyard."cite web| last = Theakston | first = Rob | title = The Warning Review | publisher = Allmusic| url =http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:azfyxqwdldde~T1| accessdate = 2008-03-08] The production of the title track, "The Warning", was likened to outtakes by The Postal Service and it was said that it "wouldn't [sound] out of place on I Am Robot and Proud's last few records". Pitchfork Media described the song as one of the centrepieces on the album and that "like a lot of the band's best songs, it splits into three and four parts, veering into bridges where there should be choruses, verses where there should codas, and dirges where there should be melodies". "Prefix magazine"'s review discussed the idea of antithesis in the song, "The Warning", which had "soft glockenspiel notes" in contrast with "violent" lyrics. "Boy from School" was described by "NME" as "a sweet, melodic mid-tempo dance anthem", whilst Pitchfork Media said the song was "marked by Alexis Taylor's sweetly thin vocals and the heartbroken line, 'We try, but we don't belong.'" "Tchaparian" and "Arrest Yourself" were named by Pitchfork Media, as songs that were "needlessly jagged on an album full of round edges". Pitchfork Media also said that "momentum and retraction" of "Careful", which "opens softly and quickly erupts into choppy sample darts, then cools back down again" was "a good metaphor for the [whole] record".

Two reviewers noted similarities between Hot Chip and New Order, with "NME" stating, "there’s something of New Order in Hot Chip [...] [with] the same mix of art school-meets-working man demeanour", whilst Allmusic stated that "The Warning" was "like listening to early New Order records for the first time, waiting for the next one with a little bit of excited anticipation".

Allmusic said that "the core of what made The Warning [...] enjoyable right from the onset" was a result of Hot Chip "focusing more on song arrangements and structure rather than technology and programming showmanship". "Prefix magazine" said that alongside exploring the theme of contradiction, "the duo explore [d] the slower and darker aspects of electronic music" with "a number of slower, adroitly manoeuvred songs".cite web| last = Laing-Peterson| first = Lars Garvey| title = Hot Chip - The Warning | publisher = "Prefix magazine"| url =http://www.prefixmag.com/reviews/hot-chip/the-warning/15295/| accessdate = 2008-04-16|date = 2006-07-20] bbc.co.uk said that Hot Chip had managed to "meld wonky electronics, pillow-soft soul and lyrics [together] to weave strange violence into gorgeous soul songs". NME described the album as being "underpinned by a ‘fuck you’ attitude" resulting from the audience's "past ambivalence towards them" but also said that "in channelling this anger they’ve produced the finest album of electronic rock since Mylo's "Destroy Rock & Roll"."

Accolades

The album received a number of accolades, including a nomination for the 2006 Mercury Music Prize. Certain tracks received recognition such as "Boy from School", which was ranked at number seven on Pitchfork Media's list of the top 100 songs of 2006, while "Over and Over" was ranked at number 16. [cite web| last = | first =| title =The Top 100 Tracks of 2006 | publisher = Pitchfork Media| url =http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/feature/40070-staff-list-the-top-100-tracks-of-2006/page_10| accessdate = 2008-09-19| date=2006-12-18] "Over and Over" was also named "Track of 2006" by "NME". [cite web| last = | first =| title =Hot Chip named track of the year | publisher = "NME"| url =http://www.nme.com/news/nme/25390| accessdate = 2008-09-22| date=2006-12-10] Additionally, the album was ranked number 26 on their list of the top 50 albums of the year. [cite web| last = | first =| title =Top 50 Albums of 2006 | publisher = Pitchfork Media| url =http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/feature/40007-staff-list-top-50-albums-of-2006/page_3| accessdate = 2008-09-18| date=2006-12-19]

Track listing

# "Careful" – 3:28
# "And I Was a Boy from School" – 5:19
# "Colours" – 5:28
# "Over and Over" – 5:47
# "(Just Like We) Breakdown" – 4:12
# "Tchaparian" – 3:20
# "Look After Me" – 4:50
# "The Warning" – 4:51
# "Arrest Yourself" – 2:31
# "So Glad to See You" – 4:05
# "No Fit State" – 5:38
# "Won't Wash" – 2:35 (Unlisted bonus track)

Album personnel

*Owen Clarke – artwork design, art conception
*Tom Elmhirst – mixing
*Matt Paul – assistant engineer
*Richard Wilkinson – engineer

Chart positions

Album

ingles

"—" denotes releases that did not chart.

References

External links

*musicbrainz artist|id=4f5a5266-d7c9-494a-a6ab-35e74950f618|name=The Warning