Release : Miss Kittin And The Hacker - Stock Exchange
Artist : Miss Kittin And The Hacker
Album : Stock Exchange
Genre : Electronic
Source : Vinyl
Label : International Deejay Gigolo Records
URL : http://www.misskittinandthehacker.com
Date : 00-00-2009
Encoder : LAME v3.97 -V2 --vbr-new
Quality : 204kbps 44100Hz Joint Stereo
Tracks : 2
Time : 12:03 (min)
Size : 18.45 MB
1. Stock Exchange (Original) 5:37
2. Stock Exchange (Adam Sky Remix) 6:26
12:03 (min)
It was in 2001. The "Frank Sinatra" electro ditty, with its light melody and
Miss Kittin's cutting sense of humour, has toured the world: "To be famous is
so nice. Suck my dick! Lick my ass! In limousines we have sex, every night with
my famous friends." Karl Lagerfeld, Marilyn Manson and Elton John (who says he
gave a copy to all his friends) are self proclaimed fans of the duo. With Miss
Kittin & The Hacker's success, the French music scene has found its,
unexpected, second wind after the French touch disco loops.
Caroline HervΘ (a.k.a. Miss Kittin) and Michel Amato (a.k.a. The Hacker) meet
in Grenoble during the early 90s at a rave. This trend, at full tilt in the UK,
is slow to pick up in France: "In Grenoble, there must have been about 10 of us
who went to techno parties", remembers The Hacker. For many people of their
generation, techno is a musical and cultural slap in the face. The two friends
both buy decks and become DJs. Their notoriety, essentially on a national
scale, grows little by little. In 1996, the French label, Tekmics, asks Miss
Kittin to write a track for a compilation. She turns to The Hacker for help (he
is already producing tracks under the XMF project and techno themes on his
own). The Miss Kittin & The Hacker duo sees the light of day. Their first track
is called "Gratin Dauphinois". Others are soon to followà
At this time, techno, in the strictest sense of the term, is at its apogee. The
tempo often rapid and the music violent, based on a layering of hypnotic loops.
Miss Kittin & The Hacker use this style when DJing (Jeff Mills is one of their
heroes), but they decide to take a different direction with their compositions,
preferring to dive into na∩ve, free and easy electro-pop. Their arrangements
are direct, spontaneous, seemingly unplanned, and mainly generated with basic
material (some synths, a beat box, a microphoneà). Miss Kittin & The Hacker's
tunes are somewhat unorthodox. Their techno has a song-like format, based on
the verse-chorus pop schema and is heavily influenced by the 80s (Cabaret
Voltaire, Depeche Mode or New Order in particular).
Munich's DJ Hell, who is in the process of founding the International DJ Gigolo
label, loves the duo's demos and signs them in 1997. The first Miss Kittin &
The Hacker EPs (e.g. "Champagne" and "IntimitΘs") are an immediate hit, even
beyond the Rhine. The hit, "1982" (a throw back to the music of that year),
even makes it onto MTV Germany. Another track quickly sets itself apart, "Frank
Sinatra", a distinct and delirious anthem, composed during an afternoon jam in
the Ozone record shop studio in Grenoble.
Miss Kittin & The Hacker soon find themselves playing live. An impressive sight
to behold: Her, exuberant, front stage, dressed as a dominatrix nurse and Him,
in the background, statuesque behind his machines. The ultimate 1980s duo
fantasy: The Diva under the burning spotlights and the composer in the shadows.
Soon, other artists make names for themselves using the electro-pop glam vocal
formula. Tiga and Fisherspooner both become stars under the electroclash banner
of which Miss Kittin & The Hacker are recognised as pioneers.
Preceded by a new single version of "Frank Sinatra" ("Frank Sinatra 2001"),
"First Album" is released in 2001. This first album revisits the themes that
the French seem so fond of: Synthetic smiley and naive electro-pop ("Life On
MTV", "Stock Exchange"à) or darker and pernicious ("Stripper"), distinguished
by Miss Kittin's French accented voice, full of derision. The album earmarks a
next step. Touring intensifies, the duo play every weekend and fly to America,
Canada and South Americaà
At the end of the summer of 2002, electroclash reaches its peak. Miss Kittin &
The Hacker are at their summit. It's here that they decide to call it a day.
"We were knackered, we needed to take a break, take time out for other projects
and not tie ourselves down to one musical style", admits The Hacker. Many spoke
of a split, not true. "We never separated, we just took a long break" grins
Miss Kittin.
Late 2002, Miss Kittin & The Hacker, together as well as solo, become points of
reference within electronic music. The former is a sought-after voice
(collaborating with Felix Da Housecat, Sven VΣthà), a DJ star with an eclectic
ear (demonstrated by her mix CDs: "Radio Caroline", "A Bugged Out Mix"à) and
with a successful album under her belt ("I Com", 2004). The latter goes on to
become an unrivalled electro and techno DJ, going from EPs to remixes (Marc
Almond, Laurent Garnier, Air, Nitzer Ebbà). His career takes a new turn with
the success of his second album, "RΩves MΘcaniques" (2004), propelled by the
hit, "Flesh & Bone".
Finally, amid their flowering solo careers, the duo once again come together as
they did initially, by accident. Throughout 2006, spontaneously, without any
pressure and just for the fun, the French duo compose a few tunes together. Two
of these come out in the spring of 2007 on the "Hometown" EP (released by
Goodlife, founded in 1998 by The Hacker and his friend Oxia). Miss Kittin & The
Hacker full of new perspectives and seemingly complementary extremes.
"Hometown" encompasses a light, emotional disco theme (in homage to their
hometown Grenoble). "Dimanche", written in Berlin on return from an afterparty,
is darker minimal techno influenced by the 1990s raves.
Very quickly a tour is organised. Kicking off with a huge gig in front of
thousands of people under the famous "Pont du Gard" bridge in South France, in
July. Each date is the same: A massive turnout. The duo uses this experience to
define a new on-stage style. Between "revisited" and new tunes ("Belgium",
"PPPO" or the superb cover of Elvis Presley's "Suspicious Minds"), Miss Kittin
& The Hacker leave behind electroclash contrariness and unmask a perfectly
accessible, more elegant, more mature and more distinct - yet, still pop -
side. An initial and tempting appetiser to their new album and forthcoming tour
that will, undoubtedly, be one of THE great electronic music events of 2009.