FACT 23 is here

Copies of the latest issue of FACT magazine are now available in Brussels La Quaraintaine (Rue Lesbroussart) and Lost in Music (Plattesteen). In the New Year you can also get hold of a copy at Cafe Central (Place St Gery) or at the next Music Muziek Musique.

Loving the Pistols loud!

Thanks to all of you who braved the cold to come to the Fight Night last night. For the record, here's who we think won each fight:

Rolling Stones
Costello
Arctic Monkeys
Stax
Bowie
Prince
The Smiths
The Clash
Kitsune
Detroit Techno
East Coast Hip-Hop
and
Magical Mystery Tour.

Have a great break and see you when Music Muziek Musique returns in 2008.

Your eclectic residents,
DJ Jammer & The Phantom

A Factory Night review

Check out The Phantom's review of A Factory Night (once again) on the Fact magazine website.

DNA DJ set

I really enjoyed warming up the crowd for Torpid side project, Yikez! and John MacAsskill (both from Luxembourg) at the DNA bar last night. Here's what was on the menu:

Pre-show
Alan Shephard - Freedom 7 lift-off / A Mountain of One - Ride
Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band - Big Eyed Beans from Venus
The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army
Alice Coltrane - Journey in Satchidananda
Peter, Bjorn and John - Young Folks (Sitar Mix)
Pop Levi - Skip Ghetto
The Orb - Cool Harbour
Talking Heads - Swamp
The Doors - Five to One.

Intermission
Curly Moore - Get low down
Ambrose Reynolds - White America
DJ Blaqstarr - Give it to u
Mission of Burma - (That's when I reach for my) Revolver
A Place to Bury Strangers - To fix the gash in your head
FrankMusik - 3 little words (Partyshank remix)
Scritti Politti - Doubt Beat
Fujiya & Miyagi - Transparent Things
Goblin - Profondo Rosso (album version)
Hot Chip - No Fit State
The Icicle Works - Love is a Wonderful Colour.

Kitsuné 6 is career suicide

The Kitsuné hype curve is reaching its peak. Among electro-punk/indietronica crossover hipsters, the French record label-cum-maison –de-mode is the hottest thing since the microwave went ping,

For a manager looking to sign one of the best of the up-and-coming UK dance acts, the promise of a slot on a Kitsuné Maison compilation is the deal clincher, the golden carrot. But, how soon before the Parisian label becomes King Midas in Reverse?

When the fifth Maison collection is released in February, the label is set to go overground big style. But is the substance already on the wane?

A few months from now, Kitsuné Maison 4 may be considered the high water mark of the Parisian imprint’s influence, if not its success. But even on that compilation, some tracks stand out while others scream “sit down and shut up’”. ‘Divebomb’, ‘I get around’, ‘Hit Pop’ - yes, yes, yes! But Hadouken’s ‘Tuning in’? Really?? Mike Skinner without the wit or roguish charm: a tune and a beat to forget.

Other recent releases provide further evidence that the Kitsuné A&R department isn’t always on top of its game. Take Bitchee Bitchee Ya Ya Ya, one of the latest additions to the label roster. Last month I saw BBYYY support Crystal Castles on a boat in Brussels. The Toronto noise duo was great; the Paris/London one (+funky drummer) was not. Now comes their debut single. The annoyingly named ‘Fuck Friend’ (do they mean ‘Fuck Buddy’?) hit the shelves last Monday. And what a disappointment it is: a watered down ‘Lady Marmalade’ with a ‘sound-of-2007’ sheen. Like listening to Northside after the Happy Mondays and wondering where your money went.

Actually, Madchester-era Factory is a fairly apt analogy for Kitsuné right now. Both being labels built on the success of a long-running band capable of bridging the divide between the underground dance world, the indie scene and the pop mainstream (Factory directly through New Order; Kitsuné indirectly through Daft Punk, via long-time DP cohort and label co-founder Gildas Loaëc); both privileging design at least as much as music (see the work of Peter Saville, Johnson Panas, 8vo, and Central Station Design on the one hand and of the Åbäke team - Patrick Lacey, Benjamin Reichen, Kajsa Stahl and Maki Suzuki – on the other); both making a mark in fashion (from Happy Mondays’ ‘loose fit’ style and philosophy [even if it was Inspiral Carpets who had the t-shirts] to Kitsuné Maison’s clothing lines); and both moving from a playful artiness towards something more consumer-centric. If Digitalism start booking studio time in Barbados: everyone beware!

For the moment though, Kitsuné’s distinctive collage sleeves are mostly still filled with great grooves: The Teenagers, Lost Valentinos, Big Face – luv it!

So Kitsuné Maison 5 will be the breakthrough – the cool album that goes mass market. Kitsuné 6, on the other hand, is career suicide – at least if your career depends on a certain frisson of newness and exclusivity. By the time it appears, this house of music, design and fashion could seem as shopworn as a Frankie Says Relax t-shirt in 1985.

Until then vive la difference! And enjoy it while it lasts.

The Phantom (Justin Toland)

Kitsuné vs Kompakt at Music Muziek Musique's Fight Night, Friday December 21 at Windows, Brussels 1000 (www.myspace.com/musicmuziekmusique)

DJing for Torpid on December 15th!

I'll be warming up the crowd for the excellent Luxembourgish noise rock trio Torpid a week today at the DNA Bar in downtown Brussels. Check Torpid's Myspace for details: www.myspace.com/torpidland

Ta,
The Phantom