I don't know if this is how Hot Chip came up with their name, but it really sums up the two sides of their personality. You know, "hot" dancefloor beats and romantic yearning, but also the type of digital perfection we get thanks to, um, the computer "chip". The video for "Ready for the Floor", a single from Hot Chip's forthcoming Made in the Dark, is all about this duality. It shows singer Alexis Taylor going back and forth (and sometimes split down the middle) between mild-mannered tech wiz and, basically, the Joker.

The clip's female dancers are also split down the middle, something like human black-and-white cookies. Paint gets thrown around, and Taylor plays with dials, switches, and alarm clocks as he is joined by his Hot Chip bandmates. "We are ready, we are ready for the floor," Taylor sings amid bass-heavy electronic beats, and there's an unlucky duder pushing a cart of full glasses right over a rug who is ready for a fall instead. On the basis of this gleaming dance-pop track, Hot Chip are still safely on their feet. Both of 'em.

[from Made in the Dark; due 02/04/08 in the UK and 02/05/08 in the U.S. on DFA/Astralwerks]