Damn those hipsters! Wearing their Diesel jeans and thrift store shirts, snubbing their nose at pop music, sometimes it seems as though all their superfluous posing has no point. Miss Kittin agrees with us. The potty-mouthed singer/DJ has built an entire album out of ridiculing the excesses of the elite, privileged and hip. Garnering acclaim for her vocal contributions to Felix da Housecat’s recent hit album, Kittenz and thee Glitz, Miss Kittin’s sultry yet monotone delivery combined with ironic, deadpan lyrics provides a fresh take on the entire club scene. On First Album, her production companion, the Hacker, provides a superb electro-synth song structure evoking memories of Afrika Bambaataa and an early 1980s Juan Atkins. First Album breathes new life into a long- stale genre, providing a humorous yet eerie and ominous listening experience.
- Paul Wong
- Four stars.
Touching right at the heart of hipness and excess, Miss Kittin is a walking parody of herself. Speaking “foreigner English” like she just stepped out of the first lesson of night-school class, she doesn’t manage to sing her lyrics, instead telling them to us like a delighted child telling an overused joke. The delivery sounds like a sort of ironic stupidity, but it holds a degree of biting wit. Her topics never diverge from the crude, addressing such “heavy-hitting” issues as champagne and caviar, sex in limousines and Swiss peep shows. Perhaps the best evidence of her style is the hilarious dance hit “Frank Sinatra.” The song has little to do with the famous crooner other than hinting at his love of nightlife excess. Instead, Miss Kittin suggests, “To be famous is so nice / Suck my dick, kiss my ass.” The comments are worth more than their shock value. They become a not-so-subtle commentary on the fleeting nature of fame and money.
Not only does First Album amuse with Miss Kittin’s strange, grammatically incorrect ranting, the production work is top-notch. The Hacker’s tracks glisten with the glossy euro sound they closely imitate, but synthesize that sound with a darker, industrial edge more similar to electro-techno and Detroit techno sounds. Miss Kittin’s collaboration is gimmicky, yet still groundbreaking – a worthwhile addition to any jaded hipster’s collection.