Alexis Taylor Rubbed Out

At the beginning of the year, I was all balls to the wall excited for Made In The Dark, the latest album from Hot Chip. And then I kind of forgot about it as quickly as it came. And then, the other week Alexis Taylor of the above mentioned band surprised the world with a solo album. And then I heard it. And then I was assuaged of all fears and my universe was back to where it belongs.

Rubbed Out is for the hardcore HC fan like myself. Rather than focus on the upbeat dance grooves captured live and on singles "Over And Over" and "One Pure Thought", Taylor brings a more melancholy tone that goes back to Hot Chip's rare Mexico EP. The 15 songs sound as hollow as its surroundings - the album was tracked by Taylor in hotels and airports, apparently. "Collector's Item" has a familiar melody buried on an acoustic guitar underneath echo-y vocals, while the instrumental "Fireworks" dissipates like real 4th of July firecrackers. "I'm Juan" finds Taylor delivering his passage overtop tones that sound like he's following the patterns of his Simon game.

But the centerpiece amongst it all is Taylor's rendition of the Paul McCartney classic "Coming Up". Doing a better job than Mark Kozelek at times, Taylor takes McCartney's upbeat pop song from 1980 and turns it in to such a miserable reading that, though the lyrics are still optimistic the song certainly doesn't sound it.

Download Taylor's version below. But before you go there, here's the original:


Download: "Coming Up" [mp3] // [Buy Here]