FELIX DA HOUSECAT VIRGO BLAKTRO & THE MOVIE DISCO ALBUM PIAS RELEASE: OCTOBER 1, 2007 REVIEW: NOVEMBER 3, 2007

It's been a while since we last heard from Mr. Housecat – let's use this pre-review introduction then as a chance to get reacquainted with the man.

It all started for him in the late eighties with a track called "Phantasy Girl", his first single. The track was brought into being through the help of his growing friendship with the Chicago house legend DJ Pierre. From here the nineties provided a steady stream of hits through a growing number of aliases (Thee Maddkatt Courtship, Aphrohead and Sharkimaxx), as well as ownership of one of Chicago's premier house labels – Radikal Fear. As the Nineties turned into the Noughties, praise for each release grew proportionately per new album, from "I Know Elektrikboy" (2001), through the very popular "Kittenz and thee Glitz" up to "Devin Dazzle and the Neon Fever".

Although his style has predominantly been house, there is much more to this Housecats game. Fond of old electro sounds, his style has ranged from the dancey retro sounds ever-so-popular not so long ago, all the way through to his George Clinton and Prince-a-like funk stylings.

So, this album, the rather imaginately titled (as usual) "Virgo Blaktro & the Movie Disco" has been a long time in the coming (check the review of his last album here in Release for confirmation of this!). So is the Housecat still sitting pretty at the top of the dancefloor pile? Well, as should be expected really, yes, he is. The production on this album is truly first-rate. A noticeable thing is the album is much more varied than previous efforts. There is a really broad range styles on this musical palette; from P-funk to electro, trancey ballads to near-techno moments.

Some of the best on show are; "Like Something for Porno", which is so in the style of Funkadelic, I don't think it would actually have sounded out of place on one of said band's releases. "Tweak" is also a very catchy number, using the same kind of minimal acidic noises which are continually tweaked to higher pitches, reminiscent of a certain Josh Wink in his heyday. The main credit you have to give this album though is it doesn't run out of steam at all, even the last track turns from a typically trancey finale, into a catchy electro-house number, complete with the typical repeated phrases, synthy-squiggles and pounding bass we have all come to know and love. Also I noticed that some of the tracks, "Moviedisco" for example, seem to sway strangely into Air territory – no bad thing, but slightly strange to see Felix getting so breezy and atmospheric.

A great album, Mr. Housecat has done it again. It could finally be time for Felix to stop trying to prove himself to be master of his own genre – for he is now the Prince or George Clinton of house.

MIKE WHYTE