OK guys, so I might be a bit of a fan of Kitsuné Records, and if that makes me one of those douchey, hipster, indie-dance-pop sleazetwats, I don’t even care. I don’t even care. Because I just listened to their new compilation, “Kitsuné Maison 5,” and it’s fancy – probably the fanciest one they’ve done so far! It is in the spirit of this fanciness that I write this sparkly review.
Kitsuné’s newest seasonal compilation features a hodgepodge of artists on the spectrum from marginally obscure to probably-doesn’t-even-exist-yet (also known as Bands That Are Well-Known To Hipsters). However, let me assure you, the unassuming public, that every track on this album is solid. Like a cloud. A cloud that’s been frozen.
The label collects these tracks (which are an assortment of new songs and previously unreleased remixes), grasping them to its squishy bosom like your sweaty, overweight neighbor Minnie does with her 17 cats. All of these cats are squirming and trying to escape her sweaty clutches, and finally – meow! – they do. Your ears get assaulted by the bouncy, thrilling sounds of synths and electronics and keyboards and guitars and computers and sometimes singing and sometimes not, but most definitely FANCINESS.
The album begins with a new track from Fischerspooner, who is comprised of one part Fischer and one part Spooner, and who took forever to come out with new music (but my goodness, it was worth the wait). “The Best Revenge” is the perfect blend of draggy bass, poppy synth lines, and horns (the fanciest of all instruments you can put your mouth on).
A few other highlights of the album start with a new track from David E. Sugar, a doe-eyed twig of a lad from London. The way he arranges those bleeps and bloops just makes me want to wiggle like a five-foot-tall plate of Jell-O in an earthquake. M.I.A. makes an appearance as well, in the form of a blistering remix of “XR2” that is all high-pitched synths and electronic drums at, like, eight million beats per minute.
One of my favorite tracks on this compilation is “Let’s Make Out,” a song lovingly crafted and hoarsely executed by a group of boys who ask the question, “Does It Offend You, Yeah?” (That’s also their band name.)
Not only do they have some really fanciful keyboards in there, but they also have heavy bass lines (… la Death From Above 1979), and some fancy drums, too. Soulful and heartfelt lyrics top off this musical taco, as the vocalist growls, “Let’s make out! / Let’s make out! / Let’s make out! / Let’s make out! / Let’s make out!”
Kitsuné Maison 5 closes with the Vicarious Bliss’s remix of Cazals’ “To Cut a Long Story Short,” which has already been remixed by approximately 12,000 other people. Vicarious Bliss does a really good job of taking an upbeat song with guitars and bass and drums and husky man-voices, and turning it into something you would hear during the climactic turning point of a dramatic film, all stringed instruments and emotions, making the listener want to cry or maybe cheer. Probably both at the same time, a sort of strangled squawk. Which rounds out the album quite nicely, I think.
Amber Elisabeth Black is a graphic communication senior and self-proclaimed Director of Bouncing and Wiggling at KCPR, San Luis Obispo, 91.3 FM.
She’s also completely full of it.