Album Review: Virgo, Blaktro & The Movie Disco - Felix Da Housecat

In which our man Felix gets concept once again.



Three years have passed since the last Felix Da Housecat long-player and it's impossible not to think that he's missed a trick a bit. Following the crossover hit of Kittenz & The Glitz and the overtly commercial Devin Dazzle & The Neon Fever such a large hiatus has killed the momentum somewhat.



Which begs the question, "What now?" The answer comes in the form of yet another concept album, this time supposedly influenced by black pop, disco and electro of the late seventies & early eighties. In reality such insipation is just that - nothing more than inspiration. With the exception of funk shakedown 'It's Your Move' nothing on Virgo, Blaktro ever sounds like anything other than Felix churning out another pop album. An enjoyable re-tread of Devo's 'Snowball' anyone? Hardly black is it.



Still, well constructed pop is a glorious thing and for its part, there are moments of sheer joy here. Indeed the aforementioned Devo re-work 'Sweetfrosti' may add nothing to the original and be completely ridiculous yet it still ends up pretty glorious if only for the fact that *that* synth don't get old.



'Radio' envelopes the listener in a giant melody sandwich, a giant pean to the joy of the wireless, whilst 'Like Something 4 Porno' and its utterly ridiculous lyrics will crowbar their way into your subconscious. The purring 'Lookin' My Best' is total glamour-puss Felix but the album highlights come in the form of 'Tweak' and 'Something For The Dawn'.



Both are Felix's most dancefloor focused tracks Devin Dazzle's lead single 'Watching Cars Go By'. 'Tweak' is total acid techno, reminiscent of '...Strobe' off Felix's unreleased album, I Know Elektrikboy (yes, another concept album) and it sounds like it was made to soundtrack nightclub scenes in films and on TV. Closer 'Future Calls The Dawn' is pure Felix and BlackPlastic loves him for it. Similar in style to both Kittenz and Devin Dazzle it is a driving house number with Felix's trademark vocals with an understated breakdown that's just too cool.



But what's wrong with it? It's just too damn short basically. Of the 16 tracks four (two back to back) are little more than skits and another five are under two-and-a-half minutes long. The result is that much of the album instinctively feels unfinished and, suprisingly for a concept album, unfocussed. It's good to be left wanting more but not if it is at the expense of overall quality. The length would have been fine with a few less but more fleshed out tracks.



Still, what BlackPlastic really wants to know is when Girl's Aloud are going to wake-up and hire Felix as their producer. Now THERE is a concept. As the girl says on one of the skits: Pretty girls don't dance, they just pose to techno.



Paris Is Burning.



BP x



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Sent using a Sony Ericsson mobile phone

MP3 Link: Eraser (XXXChange Remix) - Thom Yorke

Yeah, yeah, so every other blog has an opinion on In Rainbows, Radiohead's possibly free, were it not for the guilt, new album. BlackPlastic says "Hell, do what you want, you always do anyway!" but politely reminds you of all the drunken arguments you've had that revolved around the fact that if you could by DRM free downloads straight from the artist you'd at least give them a a bit of money.

Anyway. The cool kids are still wigging out to Thom Yorke's solo effort 'The Eraser' (we mean the extremely awesome song more than the good album) and what would you know, XXXChange, of Spank Rock fame (what do you mean, who?) turns out a mix of Yorke's most beautifully paranoid effort in years. This is on Panda Toes, although Discobelle may have had it first. A commenter on Discobelle likens this to the DFA and they are bang right. Somehow XXXChange has stopped thinking about fine ass for a minute and turned in an understated cut (not that BlackPlastic doesn't love the sick bass on 'Backyard Betty') with some very nice drums. Imagine 'Eraser' meets the DFA mix of Goldfrapp's 'Slide In' and you are half-way there.

Word is there is no release. Grab it whilst it's there. Yes, BlackPlastic knows storage is expensive. This comes with a 'worth 6mb or more' guarantee.

Album Review: Eskimo Volume V - Selected & Mixed by The Glimmers

Regular readers of BlackPlastic will no doubt be aware of long-standing love that exists here for anything out of either the Eskimo label or mixed by The Glimmers and so it is always an pleasure to see another collaboration between the two. Coming hardly hot on the heels of 2003's warm and luscious Volume IV comes the latest installment, Volume V (with the also very good eponymous The Glimmers mix released in between, c. 2005 as BP recalls).

Anyone familiar with anything from Eskimo or The Glimmers will know that a straight up mix CD is the last thing you should ever expect, with the compilations reflecting less the DJ mixes that surround them in the CD rack of your local megastore and more a trip into the rabbit whole of an obscure flea-pit jukebox. Kicking off with the absolutely-classic-and-virtually-universally-liked 'Loaded' by Primal Scream (one of the only tracks many a listener is likely to know) Volume V instantly shows it colours as a journey through percussion with the bongo-infected rhythm smoothly swallowed up by The Glimmers' own dub of Shirley Bassey's 'Slave To The Rhythm'. It is a testament to The Glimmers' production abilities that when Bassey's ballsy vocals kick in she never sounds anything other than effortlessly cool.

Harvey's take on LCD Soundsystem's awesomely good 'All My Friends' could easily be accused of throwing the baby out with the bath water, maintaining nothing discernible from the original yet still conjuring a nice laid back jazzy groove before the percussive 'Bullish', by Herb Alpert, kicks in. 'Bullish' itself gives way to Mac Attack's hip-house on 'The Art Of Drums'.

The beauty of a good Glimmers mix is always the variety at play and the curveballs - demonstrated here by the complete left turn into the heavily Asian influenced (whisper it) Bhangra Dissidenten's 'Fata Morgana'. It should be irritating, yet somehow it comes off as infectious.

Virtually every track adds something to the mix but clear highlights come in the form of Runaway's Wurst Edit of 'I Don't Mind' by Eugene Record and, interestingly, The Glimmers own 'Kiss Me'. 'I Don't Mind' is a slinky disco-house number that builds to a climatic finale as soft acid lines path the way for a very disco vocal whilst 'Kiss Me', The Glimmers' first truly convincing artist track, is a simple yet effective acidic groover which builds over the course of five minutes into something that Eddie Van Halen would make if you let him loose on a 303. Patrick Coutin's 'J'Aime Regarder Les Filles' also deserves a mention for it's timeless feel together with the fact that it simply oozes film-noire cool. As Coutin shouts out 'J'aime! J'aime!' it is difficult not to imagine this soundtracking either Tarantino's or Soderbergh's next pic.

Eskimo Volume V is yet another classic Glimmers mix, quite possibly their best yet. Seek it out.