Album Review: Various | Kitsuné Maison 7

Originally published in Time Out Chicago magazine: TOC | Kitsune 7

Various Artists

KITSUNÉ MAISON 7

Kitsune•Music

In•die \ in-dee \ adj + El•ec•tro \el-ek-tro \ n

Since 2002, Kitsuné has helped break the careers of Bloc Party, Yelle and too many other dance-rock acts to name. But its breakneck release schedule has little regard for consistency. Still, amid its forgettable releases, the trend-surfing label uncovers hits that’ll have the Ray-Ban-sporting indie kids dancing so hard they’ll wish their jeans weren’t so tight.

The Kitsuné Maison compilation series elicits some eye-rolling—seven already?—but skepticism fades as the Balearic beats, electro fuzz and general class being slung have us wondering how these French tastemakers tapped so many relevant sounds at once

Deviating from the electro trash that dominates its releases, Kitsuné draws on its lighter side this go-around. L.A. duo Classixx’s mellow mix of Phoenix supplies a perfect pregame high. The only thing missing from Prins Thomas’s breezy extension of James Yuill’s “This Sweet Love” is a cocktail. Two Door Cinema Club even does its best Vampire Weekend impression on the white-boy indie highlife of “Something Good Can Work.”

Despite the obnoxiously worn-out contributions from Maybb and Renaissance Man, main events like La Roux’s “In for the Kill,” with its peak-time Lifelike re-rub, and Yuksek’s Justice-esque remix of AutoKratz provide the necessary electro stunners.

All told, the Kitsuné brand easily lives up to its name: Japanese for fox or, in this case, foxy.

- Joshua P. Ferguson

www.kitsune.fr