| Two | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 12 March 2009 | |||
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| Length | 57:46 | |||
| Label | Nobody's Bizzness | |||
| Producer |
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| Miss Kittin chronology | ||||
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| The Hacker chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Two | ||||
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Two is the second studio album by French electronic music duo Miss Kittin &The Hacker,released on 12 March 2009 by Miss Kittin's label Nobody's Bizzness.
In 2007,Miss Kittin &The Hacker reunited to release the single "Hometown / Dimanche" through Good Life Recordings. [1] The music video for "Hometown" was directed by Régis Brochier of 7th floor Productions. [2] Miss Kittin &The Hacker reunited for a European tour in 2008,but they also toured throughout America and around the world,before they both started recording new songs,some of which were performed whilst touring. Several of the songs that they composed while on tour were included on the album Two. [3]
Miss Kittin &The Hacker toured as part of the Get Loaded in the Park festival in August 2009. [4]
Miss Kittin &The Hacker filmed a promotional music video for their cover of "Suspicious Minds",which was directed by Régis Brochier of 7th floor Productions. [5] "Suspicious Minds" was later featured on the downloadable for free mixtape Skull of Dreams by Little Boots . [6] [7]
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 62/100 [14] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| The Guardian |   [15] |
| Pitchfork | 4.4/10 [16] |
| PopMatters | 8/10 [17] |
| Resident Advisor | 3.5/5 [18] |
| Slant Magazine | [19] |
| URB |  [20] |
| Venus Zine | [21] |
| XLR8R | 6/10 [22] |
Two received generally favorable reviews from music critics. At Metacritic,which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications,the album received an average score of 62,based on 7 reviews. [14] David Abravanel from PopMatters opined that "Two is as nakedly honest and lush an album as either party involved has made. [...] the record is a fantastic progression for Miss Kittin &The Hacker,managing to preserve what made them great partners in the first place,while gracefully maturing into something more multifaceted and emotionally open. [17] Tom Naylor,writing for NME ,commented that the album "finds them little changed. The Hacker is still a dab hand at dark electro,his rich,chewy tracks bubbling like molasses in a cauldron;Miss Kittin still veers close to self-parody (see 'Ray Ban') and they still sound best –'Party In My Head','Emotional Interlude',a delicious,Europop cover of 'Suspicious Minds' –when they allow light,and vulnerability,to penetrate the gloom." [23] URB remarked that "It seems as though they're as strong as ever. Is the production skeletal? You could say that. There isn't really a reason why that should be an issue though. Less is often more:any electro-head should know this to be true." [20] Resident Advisor 's Stéphane Girard opined,"In the end,Two isn't a massive step forward,but it isn't a step backward either. 'Suspicious Minds' aside,though,there is an air of self-confidence emanating from the songs collected on here that wasn't present eight years ago." [18] In a review for XLR8R ,Rob Geary stated,"Despite the ridiculously blank 'Ray Ban,' enough of Two excites by delving deeper into the subconscious (the crashing,Nord-led aggression of 'Indulgence') or stepping out into the sunlight (a goofy,cheerful cover of 'Suspicious Minds') to justify marking a calendar eight years from now for a Three." [22] Angela Shawn-Chi Lu from Venus Zine stated,"Abstract expressionism has finally met its electro-clash match. At times experimental with instrumental song intros and abstrusely minimalist with their lyrics,French duo Miss Kittin &The Hacker would do Franz Kline proud with their knack for scrumptious,slaptastic tunes ideal for the BDSM scene." [21]
Conversely, The Independent 's Simon Price noted that "the temptation to revisit that blueprint –Kittin,the elegantly bored Euro-siren,meshing with Hacker's chattering techno textures –has eventually proven overwhelming. While Two never hits those heights,it has its club-friendly moments." [24] Moreover, The Guardian 's Alex Macpherson concluded that "on last year's sleek BatBox ,she proved there was life in a shtick that,by rights,should have burned out half a decade ago in the dying embers of electroclash. But even as she pulled it off against the odds,one sensed the line between success and failure was being cut ever finer;and,in hooking up with her original partner in crime,The Hacker,Kittin has fallen on the wrong side of it." [15] David Raposa from Pitchfork described the album "as a supposed remembrance of the heyday of electroclash,it's a nostalgia trip that's best left untaken." [16] Eric Henderson,writing for Slant Magazine ,commented that when compared to the duo's First Album ,"The words are flatter,the music is more generically attractive,and maybe we're all getting a little too old for this club." [19]
All tracks are written by Caroline Hervé and Michel Amato, except where noted.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Womb" | 5:45 | |
| 2. | "1000 Dreams" | 5:26 | |
| 3. | "PPPO" | 6:29 | |
| 4. | "Party in My Head" | 6:38 | |
| 5. | "Indulgence" | 4:08 | |
| 6. | "Emotional Interlude" | 5:31 | |
| 7. | "Suspicious Minds" | Mark James a.k.a. Francis Zambon | 5:58 |
| 8. | "Electronic City" | 4:46 | |
| 9. | "Inutile Etérnité" | 5:27 | |
| 10. | "Ray Ban" | 4:36 | |
| 11. | "1000 Dreams (Reprise)" | 3:02 | |
| Total length: | 57:46 | ||
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Two. [25]
| Chart (2009) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Belgian Alternative Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [26] | 48 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [27] | 87 |
| French Albums (SNEP) [28] | 102 |
Electroclash is a genre of music that fuses 1980s electro, new wave and synth-pop with 1990s techno, retro-style electropop and electronic dance music. It emerged in the later 1990s and is often thought of as reaching its peak circa 2002/2003. It was pioneered by and associated with acts such as I-F, DJ Hell, Miss Kittin and The Hacker, and Fischerspooner.
Michel Amato, better known by his stage name The Hacker, is a French electroclash and techno producer who has worked extensively with Miss Kittin. His work has been influenced by electronic artists like Kraftwerk, new wave artists such as the Cure and Depeche Mode, as well as the French rave scene of the early 1990s. His artist name comes from the Jeff Mills track of the same name.
Caroline Hervé, known professionally as Miss Kittin, is a French electronic music producer, DJ, singer, and songwriter. Since rising to prominence in 1998 for her singles "1982" and "Frank Sinatra" with The Hacker, she has worked with other musicians such as Chicks on Speed, Felix da Housecat and Golden Boy. She released her debut solo album I Com in 2004, a second, BatBox, in 2008, and a third, Calling from the Stars, in 2013. She achieved international popularity with the singles "Rippin Kittin" and "Silver Screen Shower Scene".
I Com is the first solo studio album by French singer and DJ Miss Kittin, released on 31 May 2004 by NovaMute Records. It is Miss Kittin's first solo release, having previously released albums in collaboration with The Hacker and Golden Boy. As in her previous works, electro-funk and electroclash continue to be the primary genres.
Alejandro Ocana, better known by his stage name 2Mex, is a rapper from Los Angeles, California. He is a member of The Visionaries and Of Mexican Descent. He has collaborated with underground hip hop artists such as Jel, Omid, Thavius Beck, Factor, Radioinactive, and Isaiah "Ikey" Owens. He is a member of the Project Blowed crew, and he is affiliated with Shape Shifters.
BatBox is the second solo studio album by French singer and DJ Miss Kittin, released on 4 February 2008 on her own label, Nobody's Bizzness. It was co-written and produced with Pascal Gabriel. The music combines elements of techno and electro and, as Miss Kittin describes it, "a flirtation with Goth culture."
"Stock Exchange" is the third single from the duo Miss Kittin & The Hacker's debut album First Album.
"The Beach" is a song by French recording duo Miss Kittin & The Hacker from their debut album First Album (2001). Produced by the duo, it was released as the album's fourth and final single in 2003.
"Requiem for a Hit" is a song by French recording artist Miss Kittin featuring L.A. Williams. It is the second single from the Miss Kittin's first solo album I Com. Co-written and co-produced by Thies Mynther, Tobias Neumann, it is composed as an electroclash and electropop song, that is a play on the line "I'll Beat that Bitch with a Bat." The song was later included on her 2005 EP Mixing Me.
"1000 Dreams" is a song performed by French recording duo Miss Kittin & The Hacker, taken from their second studio album, Two. It was released in April 2009, as the album's second single by Nobody's Bizzness. "1000 Dreams" became a minor hit in Belgium, where it reached top-twenty on the Flanders Ultratip chart. The song was used to open the 2009-2010 Fall/Winter Dior haute couture collection.
First Album is the debut studio album by French electronic music duo Miss Kittin & The Hacker, released in 2001. It includes the tracks "1982" and "Frank Sinatra", two anthems of the late-1990s electroclash scene that had been first released on the EP Champagne (1998).
Or is a collaborative album by Swiss musician Golden Boy and French singer and DJ Miss Kittin. It was released in Austria, Germany and Switzerland on 13 August 2001 by Ladomat 2000 and internationally on 23 March 2002 by Illustrious Records in the United Kingdom and Emperor Norton Records in the United States. The album includes the successful club single "Rippin Kittin" and a cover of "Campari Soda".
French singer and DJ Miss Kittin has released seven studio albums, one live album, three compilation albums, seven extended plays (EPs), and thirty-seven singles.
"Party in My Head" is a song by French recording duo Miss Kittin & The Hacker. It is the third and final single from their second album as a duo Two (2009).
"Frank Sinatra" is a song by French recording duo Miss Kittin & The Hacker. The song was originally included on the duo's 1998 EP Champagne and became an anthem of the electroclash scene. It was later included on the duo's debut studio album First Album (2001), as well as on Miss Kittin's DJ mix album On the Road (2002).
"1982" is a song by French recording duo Miss Kittin & The Hacker. It is the first single from the EP Champagne (1997) and became one of the first anthems of the electroclash scene. It was later included on the duo's debut studio album First Album (2001), and has been remixed by Vitalic and Anthony Rother.
Champagne is the debut extended play (EP) by the French recording duo Miss Kittin & The Hacker, which was released in July 1998. The EP became an immediate hit in Germany and Europe. Several of the album's songs were later included on the duo's debut studio album First Album.
"Dirty Talk" is the debut single by Klein + M.B.O., released in 1982. It is from their debut studio album, First.
Calling from the Stars is the third solo studio album by French singer and DJ Miss Kittin. It was released on 19 April 2013 by Nobody's Bizzness and wSphere.
Daniel Brandt is a German electronic musician from Wiesbaden. He is a member of the ensemble Brandt Brauer Frick and also records as a solo artist for the British record label Erased Tapes.
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