Kiteenz And Thee Glitz

It has become a very prevalent 2001 trend to infuse house music with ’80s synths and vocodered vocals. Daft Punk returned in March with Discovery – which was either underwhelming retro or pop genius depending on how much of a purist you deem yourself to be.

Felix da Housecat has been one of the most startling and influential protégés of the Chicago house scene, recording under the aliases Aphrohead, Sharkimax, Wonderboy and Thee Maddkatt Courtship on illustrious labels such as Strictly Rhythm and Soma. Kiteenz And Thee Glitz is by far his most accessible and commercially minded release to date, choc a bloc with catchy hooks and electrified vocals.

The problem is a large chunk of these sixteen tracks are rather dull excursions in bland AOR funk. ‘Pray For A Star’ is an excruciating listen – the kind of thing that you’d expect from a Human League B-side. Where Daft Punk made their time warp sound fun and fresh – Felix makes botched attempts at lame electro-soul.

But there are some glimpses of genius. The single ‘Sliver Screen (Shower Scene)’ is a shimmering slice of tech-funk designed for maximum dancefloor impact. Even better is the album’s stand-out track ‘Control Freaq’ – a centrepiece of Felix’s recent DJ sets. It’s a towering alternative house epic custom made for discerning club nights. Aside from these two jewels, the rest is only occasionally interesting and more often than not a mammoth disappointment. Da Housecat is still a powerful DJ, so let’s hope he sticks to the floor-fillers at Witnness.