Friday, November 17, 2006

Kitsuné Maison Compilation 3 [cd kitsuné]

Kitsuné has over the years become a household name when it comes to punkfunk and other new wave influenced stuff. Colder, Black Strobe, Digitalism and Zongamin are just a few names that made it real big after appearing on a Kitsuné compilation. But as is the case with a lot of series the third episode of the Maison story is beginning to suffer from diminishing returns. Fifteen tracks in all and it bangs and bumps like on the two previous collections but the element of surprise is gone. All numbers are catchy but it is all so overtly poppy and in some cases blatantly hopeful for that Subpop contract that at times it makes you wretch. With most of those would-be electropunk tracks you can imagine the remix-pack with the Ewan Pearson, DFA, Booka Shade and Riton remixes already during the first refrain. It is not all bad of course: The Van She remix of Klaxons reminds pleasantly of my favourite Daft Punk moments, Boyz Noize and Simian Mobile Disco are not too bad either and Oh No! Oh My!'s 'I Love You All the Time' has the advantage of brevity (1 minute 22 secs), while the autumnal techno tones of 'Done with You' by Erlend Øye's newest project The Whitest Boy Alive go well over five minutes without boring one second, a bit like a good Echo & The Bunnymen track. But that's really it. Last time we checked 5 out of 15 does not make a good compilation.

2 comments:

Tal said...

kitsune is kind of losing their touch, most of these songs were already released here and there. it's like those taste-makers didnt have enough good material and released it too early. it has the whole kitsune feel to it, too poppy, or desperately trying to be pop, but songs like 'i believe' really made it worthwhile. there was supposed to be a nightmoves track in there, but the guys didnt finish it.. what a shame

Mathias Vermeulen said...

well, i didn-t feel any of the Kitsune compilations till now, but i like this one a lot, especially the five songs you mention there V.