Miss Kittin/Various

This double disc mixes displays Caroline Herve’s (aka Miss Kittin) commitment to staving off the tendencies of techno connoisseurs to become overly serious about what they’re up to, reminding us all that the main activity that encourages participation in this music is on the dance floor and that it’s supposed to be fun! Both albums reveal a polished journey along the terrain of electro, acid, techno, down-tempo and ambient, the featured range of artists including, for example, Monolake, Wagon Christ, Aphex Twin, Sixtoo, Hawtin’s Concept 1 and Biosphere. Each disc begins with her signature a cappella intro yet Perfect Night leads the listener into deep dance floor territory without a breather, as this mix is fuelled by dark electro beats and bona fide or soon-to-be techno/acid classics, from Cajmere’s "Percolator” to Adam Beyer’s "A Walking Contradiction,” back to Armando’s "151.” Awesome 3’s acid house number "Don’t Go” is full of diva vocals and harkens images of day-glo shirts and ecstatic ravers living out a cultural peak. Perfect Day initiates an itinerant down-tempo mood beginning with Wagon Christ’s "Shadows” and morphing into sparser territory with Baby Ford and Monolake. The soulful Cassy Lee a cappella remix of Villalobos’ "Easy Lee” gently tugs at your nostalgic threads, while Jay Haze’s minimal tribal-glitch wanderings are taken over by Richard Devine’s corrosive coughing sampler that gradually develops into a grimy two-step with Artwork’s "Rank.” The range of what Miss Kittin mixes truly reveals her talent for bringing disparate styles and rhythms together in a way that makes sense.