The Year of the Fox

It doesn't seem at all long since the last one, but you'll find a new Kitsune Maison compilation (volume 3) in the shops next week.

However i'm afraid to say this is one of the first thing's the label has released that i've been a little disappointed by. Perhaps it's just the high standards set by 'Love', 'Midnight', 'Maison' and 'Maison 2', but I feel that unlike those albums this is a document of the last 6 months music rather than the next 6 months.

Though you can't argue with the Soulwax mix of The Gossip & the Van She mix of 'Gravity's Rainbow' (possibly the two best remixes of the year, after all) they've both been knocking round a fair while... the Klaxons one in particular. Likewise the Metronomy mix of Dead Disco, and Alex Gopher's 'Motorcycle' are excellent. But not the vision of the future I hope from when listening to these compilations. The big name new tracks by Simian Mobile Disco and Freeform Five are pretty average by their high standards.

The track i'm enjoying most is this one, by the marvellous Fox 'n' Wolf. But this is pretty old as well (from 2003 no less), and my main enjoyment stems from the fact that I hadn't managed to get hold of it until now!



I do love their slightly psychotic playground chanting style, which has lit up many records this year. This is an ASBO anthem in the making. Hoodies up!

FOX 'N' WOLF - YOUTH ALCOHOLIC


Don't let me put you off the album too much... it's still well worth your money. After all, it also includes this superb (but also rather old) track by the Godlike Erlend Oye. The Whitest Boy Alive album doesn't seem to have quite captured the imagination like his last solo effort, or indeed like his DJ Kicks album, but it's still liberally doused with Erlend's magic.



This track is a subtly hypnotic little animal, and I hadn't really appreciated how good it was until it cropped up at the end of the Kitsune record. Only Erlend could sing 'I'm Done With You' and make your ears melt!

THE WHITEST BOY ALIVE - DONE WITH YOU