Various Artists - 'Kitsune Maison 5' (Kitsune) Released 04/02/08

Over the course of the previous four compilations Kitsune have established themselves as the one stop shop for all the underground electro acts and the very best remixes of your favourite indie acts. From Gossip to Tom Vek, Klaxons to Fox ‘N’ Wolf many of the current top acts have had early breaks on the French label come fashion houses compilations. In previous years the collections have seemed slightly disjointed, too obvious a gap between the guitar bands and the electronic acts however Volume 5 is the most coherent effort yet with as eclectic a play list so far.

Kicking off with Fischerspooner is a superb idea as they are surely the forefathers of the music that is now considered the norm in the alternative clubbing scene. ‘The Best Revenge’ is Casey Spooner and Warren Fischers first new material in over two years and the time has not been spent vegetating, a laid back Gallic affair is what’s on the table with the laid back air of err Air accompanied by the brass instrumentation that prominent in much of the new music coming from New York in 2008.

Kitsune has always been about the future though and there are few acts in Britain, never mind this album, that have a brighter life ahead of them than Late Of The Pier. Taking three songs and cutting them all together is the name of LOTP’s game and that method is displayed to splendid perfection on ‘Broken’ a less intense but equally effective slice of the Pier Pie. Following hot on Late Of The Piers dust are fellow Brit bands Friendly Fires and Does It Offend You? Yeah both of whom contribute here (‘On Board’ and ‘Lets Make Out’ respectively). These three acts show that Britains contribution to dance floor filling bands is now on a par with the French acts that have dominated recent history.

Speaking of the French they are unsurprisingly well represented here. The Teenagers pop up to remind us of those bizarre few months in 2007 when everyone thought they had a future, even with a nice remix they still just appear like three guests who have over stayed their welcome. The same however can’t be said for the gloriously monikered Bitchee Bitchee Ya Ya Ya who courtesy of a high profile CSS remix show that girls + synths + incessant beats always = a brilliant musical party.

At 17 tracks long there are very clear peaks and troughs on this compilation. The album could have easily ended with Friendly Fires and not subjected us to Big Face, Kid and the bizarrely resuscitated Cazals efforts. The highlights meanwhile all come in the first half of the mix with David E Sugars ‘To Yourself’ running away with crown of most glorious under stated pop track on the album. Everyones favourite party political ring leader MIA also pops up with an amazingly retro remix of ‘XR2’ courtesy of Silverlink and Kicks Like A Mule that somehow crosses the dance hall with the Hacienda. Also one to watch is Bloc Party fringe magnate Russell Lissaks new side project Pin Me Down with New York singer Milena Mapris. Early 90’s pop and dance with the standard Bloc Party riffs are the name of the game which sounds like Madonna covering ‘Helicopter’. Nice.

Time and time again Kitsune deliver the goods with their albums and volume 5 is no different. Exciting new British talent, returning American forefathers and a new wave of French acts all combine to create a map of what’s hot in the world now. deliciously transient this compilation will seem out dated in a years time but then we will have volumes 6 and 7 so who cares. All round to Kitsune for the best maison party of the year.