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Chromeo

Who? A love of hip-hop brought Chromeo members Dave One and Pee Thug together in high school, but an infatuation with ’80s black pop music — think Prince, Cameo and The Jets — soon took over. Pee Thug’s army of analog keyboards, moogs and drum machines provided the musical artillery for early singles such as “Destination Overdrive” that piled on bouncy, frivolous fun. After stints as Montreal area hip-hop producers — Dave One did a track on Non Phyxions’ 2002 debut record The Future Is Now — the two produced 2003’s She’s In Control, while their latest effort, Fancy Footwork, hit store shelves via the Vice label earlier this summer.

What’s the Deal? The twosome’s frequent comparisons to Daft Punk fall far short, unless it was Chic’s Nile Rodgers and Kool Keith donning the Parisian’s robot suits. Or if Bootsy Collins got behind the boards with Add N to X. Fancy Footwork and tunes like “Call Me Up” manage the tricky balancing act of presenting beat-driven, electronic arrangements that come across as the work of a band with distinct personalities focused on loosening listeners’ inhibitions. “We sway in different directions live because we’re not a dance-rock band like The Rapture but it’s not strictly DJ music we’re doing either,” Dave One tells SPIN.com. “Because of that, we can go from opening for Bloc party to playing more traditional electronic music venues.” Having just finished an East Coast tour, the two will cap July with a string of West Coast dates.

Fun Fact: The men of Chromeo do most of their creating via tele-collaboration. Dave One moved to New York City to work on his Ph.D. in French Literature at Columbia University, while Pee Thug remains in their native Montreal. The two usually work face-to-face to put the finishing touches on their records.

Now Hear This:
Chromeo – “Tenderoni” DOWNLOAD MP3

On the Web:
chromeo.net
Chromeo at MySpace

Talk: Are you hip to Chromeo’s Fancy Footwork?

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