Albums
< autoKratz
Down & Out In Paris & London
words by Mandy Drake
As ultra-hip Parisian label Kitsune continually prove with their ‘numbers’ compilations, they’re dance heads that rarely get it wrong. But that’s not to say that they’re not guilty of striking diarrhea at times, when oil was the target (anyone remember The Cazals?). To call autoKratz’s ‘Down & Out In Paris & London’ the trots is more than a little harsh. But, equally, to suggest that rival French house of techno, Ed Banger Records, are losing winks over letting this London duo slip through their hands would be ludicrous. In short, it’s a fence-straddling 5 of a record - the most boring of all numbers. The mutant step-aerobics workout of ‘Pardon Garcon (rewerk)’ nearly gives us something to (literally) rave about, even if it’s fuzzy, bounding loop does have a sense of factory line assembly about it. It’s… okay. As are the Justice-esque whips and heavy synths, that appear all over this record. When at its most annoying, 80s vocals pipe up, making the whole thing a grind in the way that all that is retro is these days. And yet there’s some beats worth pinching here too.
Maybe autoKratz need a big old remix. Or maybe a rethink. Or maybe I need to stop thinking about it because it’s making me bor……zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
5/10 in stores Aug 25
Latest Reviews
Mike Relm - Spectacles
Let the face furniture of San Fran disco-er Mike Relm fool you. Forget that he’s named his second album after his eyewear.
Vivian Girls - Vivian Girls
One of Vivian Girls is called Kickball Katy. She plays bass even more nonchalantly than your average Valium-scoffing four-stringer.
Plastic Passion - Contrived Imagery
They're saying that punk's dead, y'know? Spiritually, if not physically.
Wetdog - Enterprise Reversal
Had ‘Enterprise Reversal’ been a five track EP of a release its toneless blahs from lead shouter Rivka Gillieron would have still been a struggle to sit through.
