Review of Vol.10: The Fireworks Issue Album by Kitsune

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.

Kitsune Vol.10: The Fireworks Issue Album

This is the kind of thing of course that we used to do so well here in Albion, touring coffee shops, student unions and dingy rehearsal spaces in our anoraks from Shoreditch to Stornaway in search

of the next small thing. Somewhere along the way however the kind of roster diversity and open mindedness which helped make labels like Creation and Rough Trade a byword for innovation became discarded values, a gap our Gallic friends have filled with zest.

There are a couple of names here you should be familiar with -
Two Door Cinema Club beginning to outlast their welcome whilst Digitalism mine their Daft Punk-esque seam again with Blitz - but as ever the real joy is in diving straight into the long list of new-to-you's on a double disc set crammed full of goodies.

Those who believe that indie pop has now effectively ceased to be after its hostile takeover by a cast of Flintoff-a-likes some three years ago rejoice; after a low key but absorbing start via Cascadeur's low-lit, Mazzy Star referencing Walker, Guards then offer a blast of classic, reverb soaked 60's girl group fuzz, whilst Strange Talk's Climbing Walls sounds like Empire of The Sun after way, way too much sugar. With the compilers happy to genre hop without deux hoots for any sense of continuity, The Aikiu's The Red Kiss bears more than a passing resemblance to vintage Erasure, whilst the even more snappily named Flight Facilities bring some deep house polish via Crave You.

After a nice cup of tea it's time for disc two, which opens with Clock Opera - aka Guy Connelly - whose MO is to dice samples into the tiniest slivers and then reassemble them into his own work, the effect being almost symphonic to the extent that One And For All resembles a one man Arcade Fire. I haven't mentioned France's now truly global export Phoenix yet, but although disappointingly they're not present the aptly named Housse De Racket do a more than passable impression of their laid back elegance on Château.

The beauty of it all is that much like Forrest's box of chocolates, you're never quite sure what's coming next. Teeth! for example are very much in the mould of Crystal Castles, ferociously beating synths into within a diode of their lives in search of the spectacular, whilst by contrast Black Strobe's Me & Madonna takes Ms. Ciccone off for the kind of disco night she probably wishes she got more of. Our winner tonight though Matthew? Step forward Morecambe's finest The Heartbreaks, whose brassy giant Liar, My Dear sounds like Orange Juice taking on your favourite C-86'ers and forcing an unconditional surrender.

It's chapeau off time again then to Kitsune. Vive la difference!

Andy Peterson


Official Site - http://www.kitsune.fr

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