Ready for the Floor
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| “Ready for the Floor” | |||||
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| Single by Hot Chip from the album Made in the Dark |
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| Released | 28 January 2008 | ||||
| Genre | Indietronica Electro-pop |
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| Length | 3:55 | ||||
| Label | EMI (UK) | ||||
| Hot Chip singles chronology | |||||
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| Made in the Dark track listing | |||||
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"Ready for the Floor" is the second single by Hot Chip from their 2008 album Made in the Dark. It was released on 28 January 2008 and reached number 6 in the UK Singles Chart.[1]
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[edit] Style
Guitarist Owen Clarke said the band intended for the style of "Ready for the Floor", to be "impulsive".[2]
[edit] Music video
The music video for "Ready for the Floor", directed by Nima Nourizadeh, was described by Pitchfork as being "all about duality", showing Alexis Taylor "going back and forth (and sometimes split down the middle) between mild-mannered tech wiz and, basically, the Joker." [3]
Alexis Taylor gave an explanation about the use of the line, "You're my number one guy" in the song, and also explained how it visually impacted the music video, (Taylor is dressed as the Joker); "I really like this line in the first Batman film, not the very first one that was made, but the first Tim Burton Batman film. Jack Palance tells Jack Nicholson, 'You are my number one guy.' And it's a completely false statement. The very next scene is Jack Nicholson being set up and about to be killed off by Jack Palance's character. Then he survives all of this and he comes back as the Joker and he kills Jack Palance. And later on he quotes Jack Palance, he says it to his goon, Bob the Goon, 'You are my number one guy.' He says it in a really funny, mimicking way. I quite like it. He's not only mimicking the character in the film, he's also mimicking Jack Palance as an actor. He's mimicking his melodramatic style. That line has always stuck with me."[4]
[edit] Critical reception
"Ready for the floor" was generally well received by music critics and charted well in the UK, reaching position 6.[1] Drowned in Sound gave the single a score of 9/10 and described it as one that "might not sell a million records" but that it could make "'household name' an achievable status".[5]
Drowned in Sound said that it had "a chord change that uplifts the soul" and that the song was "a slice of sweetly insistent ‘80s Italo-house lite" but also said it could also be described "as a piece of sophisticated mainstream pop".[5] MusicOMH.com said that "Ready For The Floor" bore an "undoubted resemblance to Boy From School at first glance" but said it was "more subtle in its use of brushed electro beats and clever countermelodies".[6]
A number of reviews discussed the style of Alexis Taylor’s vocals. One reviewer described his voice as being able to denote "soft falsetto womanly urgings".[2] MusicOMH.com described his vocals as "quietly dreamy" whilst Drowned in Sound said there was "something incredibly sweet about the way that Alexis Taylor croons 'you’re my number one guy'" and described his vocals as "full of nerdy sexual chocolate."[5][6]
Boomkat.com said that "Ready for the Floor (Smoothed Out on an R&B tip Version)", sounded "more in line with Morr-ish poptronica than R. Kelly" and was "undoubtedly tinted with a slightly more downbeat hue than the album and radio edits." Boomkat.com also commented on the B-side, "My Brother Is Watching Me", describing it as "a slow burning, exceptionally quiet electronic ballad".[7]
[edit] Kylie Minogue collaboration
Some media reports incorrectly asserted that Hot Chip had originally written the song "Ready for the Floor" for the Australian singer Kylie Minogue.[8] Alexis Taylor explained; "It started because someone asked me if we would ever write for Kylie. I said that we'd been asked to write for her but we'd never got round to it. And I said if we had to give her one of our songs, Ready for the Floor would probably be the most suitable. From that, I got misquoted. We didn't write Ready for the Floor for Kylie, didn't send it to her and she never heard it."[3]
[edit] Track listings
[edit] Enhanced CD
- Ready for the Floor
- Shake a Fist (Diplo's Noise of Art Remix)
- Bubbles They Bounce
- Ready for the Floor (Soulwax Dub)
- Ready for the Floor (music video)
[edit] 7" single 1
- A: Ready for the Floor (radio edit)
- B: Bubbles They Bounce
[edit] 7" single 2
- A: Ready for the Floor (Smoothed Out on an R&B tip Version)
- B: My Brother Is Watching Me
[edit] Chart positions
"Ready for the Floor" charted for 24 weeks in 5 different charts. It peaked at position number 6, on the UK Singles Top 75, and stayed there for 1 week.[9]
| Chart | Peak Chart Position |
|---|---|
| Austrian Singles Chart[10] | 73 |
| Bulgarian National Top 40[11] | 20 |
| UK Singles Chart[1] | 6 |
| UK Download Chart | 9 |
| Irish Singles Chart[12] | 22 |
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Ready for the Floor UK Chart Position. Acharts.us. Retrieved on 2008-05-05.
- ^ a b Dancefloor sounds from the bedroom. Retrieved on April 27, 2008.
- ^ a b Hogan, Marc. Hot Chip's "Ready For Floor" Video Explained, Kind Of!. Pitchfork Media. Retrieved on 2008-02-16.
- ^ Video: Hot Chip: "Ready for the Floor". The Fader Magazine. Retrieved on 2008-05-05.
- ^ a b c Dobson, Gareth. Hot Chip: Ready For The Floor. Drowned in Sound. Retrieved on 2008-04-27.
- ^ a b Hogwood, Ben. Hot Chip - Ready For The Floor. musicOMH.com. Retrieved on 2008-04-27.
- ^ Hot Chip - Ready For The Floor. Boomkat. Retrieved on 2008-05-13.
- ^ Kylie Minogue writes song for Hot Chip. NME. Retrieved on 2008-02-16.
- ^ Ready for the Floor. Acharts.us. Retrieved on 2008-05-05.
- ^ Ready for the Floor Austrian Chart Position. Acharts.us. Retrieved on 2008-05-05.
- ^ Ready for the Floor Bulgarian Chart Position. Acharts.us. Retrieved on 2008-05-05.
- ^ Ready for the Floor Irish Chart Position. Acharts.us. Retrieved on 2008-05-05.
[edit] External links
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