Miss Kittin & The Hacker

Anyone that attended an indie dance club from 2001-2003 got down to Miss Kittin & The Hacker’s ‘Frank Sinatra’. It was standard issue for every DJ. At the time I honestly wondered if everyone had been visited personally and handed a copy. But hey, they were all playing it for good reason, really, as it personified what Electroclash could achieve, in the right hands. How could it not be, with trashy lines like ‘In limousines we have sex, every night with my famous friends’?

Electroclash rightfully combusted rather quickly thereafter, but neither Miss Kittin nor her partner The Hacker followed suit. They both released solo albums in 2004, and engaged in various side projects. But they apparently heard the call of collaboration, and reunited in 2007. Two was the end result.

If you’re looking for the same old sound, you’ll likely be disappointed. The duo have obviously moved onto an electro sound more in line with the current status quo (La Roux, The Golden Filter, Filthy Dukes). That’s not to say they come off as bandwagon jumpers, just that they’ve decided to explore the other side of the coin. They’ve ditched the cold, detached and minimalistic signature sounds of their first album for a warmer pop-disco feel. Take ‘Party In My Head’ – I’m fairly certain it’s all driven by a sample from ‘Heart of Glass’ by Blondie (or maybe it’s ‘Same Old Scene’ by Roxy Music, I’ll have to do a comparison), and if it’s not they’ll probably be getting a call from Debbie…er, Deborah, any day now. Point being, it dips its toes in the sounds of the pop sea far more often than album 1.

I didn’t think I liked this at first, but the more you listen to these tracks the more you realize just how easily they crawl inside your head, and eventually you find yourself unconsciously bobbing up and down or dancing in your chair. Worth a listen, for sure. And as unlikely as it may seem, they cover ‘Suspicious Minds’ by Elvis (my favorite Elvis tune, actually) with surprisingly solid results. Check out the video below, and look for Two on May 19th.

Miss Kittin & The Hacker – Frank Sinatra

Tags: miss kitten, new releases