Kitsune

The deal hasn't changed: the world's best known couture indie label is still releasing everything from pop to polo shirts, having unearthed the likes of Years & Years, TDCC, Citizens! and, most recently, BeatauCue as they mix style with Gallic substance.

'New Faces 2' is one of their periodic compilations which has a says-it-on-the-tin vibe: 14 tracks (plus a bonus extra on the CD) all released by acts which should - unless you've been hanging out in all the right Shoreditch bars - be new to you. By way of setting expectations, if their previous collections were anything to go by, they confirmed that label supremo Gildas Loaëc is a man with a musical vision that sits somewhere between Europhile gloss and the preppy, Ivy League jangle of American outfits like Vampire Weekend and, perhaps less obviously, 'Kids'-era MGMT.

If that sounds like an odd combination, much of 'New Faces' is determined by these slightly narrow operating parameters and, by extension, a frisson of orthodoxy. Opener 'One Wing' by New Yorkers Beau is a sixties-indebted torch song in the mould of Lucius, whilst Suisfine's 'Heat' is glorious slacker rock, but, largely, the texture of most of the songs here is pristine and synthetic. This doesn't mean that, in series tradition, the odd gem isn't unfurled: RIVRS' 'Last love' is naked, almost prone R&B, with singer Charlotte delivering the band's dark pop in crystalline words; Danglo's 'Catch My Eye' is as sludgy as the Thames by which it was made; whilst Jai Wolf's mix of Mocki's 'Weekend' re-frames its New Jack feel with beeps and bleeps, giving it the authentic je né sais quoi of the week's best two days.

Continue reading: Various Artists - Kitsune New Faces 2 Album Review

Parisian fashion house/label celebrate ten years of releasing music with a fresh new compilation of their current cause celebre. Surely only a groaty music hack could try and spoil that party. Well....

Let's share a little secret, just between us. Whenever a new Kitsune Maison collection pops through the letterbox, I'm always like a kid on Christmas Day. Led by their 'Captain' Gildas Loaec, the outfit have continued to do what they do very well by taking off the creme de la foam of what's hot and then sticking in our ear goggles ever since nu metal was still with us. And - bonus - they rarely fail to unearth some of the kind of stuff we in the trade can always pretend we'd heard about years before you did.

This time though, on Kitsune Maison Compilation 14: The Tenth Anniversary Issue, there's a problem. It's not so much that the quality of their roster is inferior to past outings, but that the continued willingness to explore most of pop's darker recesses in search of obscure gold has somehow failed to locate anything truly ear grabbing this time round. It probably says it all that Loaec's twinkling remix of TDCC's Sun constitutes a highlight, whilst Gigamesh's versioning of Citizens! True Romance lands somewhere between Yeasayer and old timers Erasure in the synth-pop 'til you drop category.

Continue reading: Kitsune - Kitsune Maison Compilation 14: The Tenth Anniversary Issue Album Review

It seems as though French record and fashion label Kitsune have been releasing compilations as long as compilations have been around; while it's not actually been that long in the historical spectrum it's safe to say they have a proven track record when it comes to the high tech mix tape. Their latest Kitsune Parisien II is the second-der-in their series showcasing all French artists the majority of which you have never heard of before. As we've come to expect from Kitsune though the artists here are all either Indie, Electronic, or a nice amalgamation we now know as indietronica.

Continue reading: Kitsune, Parisien II Album Review

For those familiar with much-adorned French record label and high-fashion specialists Kitsune an introduction is barely necessary. Bar a very rare occasional curve-ball the label's output is perfectly representative of a collaborative group who no doubt have wet dreams about putting out Phoenix's next album, and who have cemented a reputation of putting out wave-after-wave of irritatingly catchy, yet ultimately soulless electro-indie.

Continue reading: Kitsune, Maison Compilation 11 Album Review

Pssst! Heard the one about the French fashion house that's home to the creme de la creme of lo-fi disco, sunshine pop and ever so reduced house? Yes, that's right, the guys and gals from Kitsune are back again with a clutch of tunes so wicked that they'll have you twisting your chausettes to them all night long.

Continue reading: Kitsune, Vol.10: The Fireworks Issue Album Review

Mixed by Jerry Bouthier of JBAG, 'Kitsue X Ponystep' was released in July and is a spin-off from the French fashion line Kitsune. Branching into the world of music, the label has releases on its roster from the likes of Wolfmother, Klaxons and La Roux.

Continue reading: Kitsune, Kitsune X Ponystep Album Review

The ice cream pastels embellishing the front cover scream 'summer is here!' And, I'll agree, as the weather brightens up, it's pretty hard to quell that burning sense of optimism in one's gut.

Continue reading: Kitsune, Compilation 9 Album Review

Review of Kitsune's eighth compilation

Continue reading: Kitsune, Compilation 8 Album Review

Review of Kitsune Records seventh compilation.

Continue reading: Kitsune, Compilation Album Review