Release Date: 5th September 2011
Label: Kitsuné
Flying the flag for the latest Kitsuné Tabloid Compilation is Brazilian producer/DJ duo The Twelves who bring a consistent flow of electronically charged indie, pop, funk and disco to the record. Following in the footsteps of the likes of Digitalism and Phoenix, The Twelves state in an interview (provided with the record in poster-form) that they hope they’ve “brought a genuine Twelves feel to it, whilst still being true to the label ethos.”
Kicking off with their own toe-tappingly catchy offering ‘Handshake’, The Twelves proceed to stick to that Kitsuné ethos with a selection of uber-fashionable indie-dance choices. Throwing in some experimental edginess to boot to the likes of Black Strobe’s ‘Me & Madonna’, the duo’s mix is a record of two halves. The first being a seven track selection of unreleased dubs of Twelves’ mixes and the second being a seventeen track marathon of influences and flavours all woven together with a characteristically funk focus.
Only on occasion to certain tracks feel like filler, or more accurately, bridges between two stronger selections. After a solid start to the second section with Ratatat’s ‘Wildcat’, a track that is almost impossible to resist dancing to, it feels like a long wait until the next floor-filler moment. If this was a live mix it would be this point that people head for the bar, before returning for Twelves’ take on Shit Robot’s ‘Take ‘Em Up’ or Pol Rax’s quintessentially 80’s styled ‘For You.’
It’s not that any of the tracks in the middle section are ‘bad’ but they seem to meld together with an almost identical bassline running throughout, rather than matching the ebb and flow of funk, indie, pop and dance that works so well in the rest of the record. For the first seven, arguably more indie-tinged, tracks The Twelves’ Kitsuné Compilation is worth a listen alone, along with the gems dotted amongst the longer, latter half.
[Rating:3.5]
