MISS KITTIN I COM ALBUM NOBODY'S BIZZNESS RELEASE: JUNE 1, 2004 REVIEW: MAY 18, 2004

I tried to visit the web address just now. There is nothing there, apparently. The ultimate website for shameless exhibitionism is not even used then. Or maybe the address is just too damn expensive.
”I Com” is Caroline Herve on her own legs as a musician for the first time. Let’s forget the album which she recorded with The Hacker for a moment and remember that Herve is a professional DJ with two very good mix records behind her and a much coveted residency at Sven Väth’s Cocoon club in Frankfurt. In her efforts to create her own music, she uses the same general pattern that can be found in DJ sets. Fast and slow tracks alternate and the moods shift to form a varied and interesting mix in order to keep the clubbers/listeners interested through the whole set. These are things that good DJ:s constantly have to consider. How can I find fresh combinations and smooth transitions between very different elements? The DJ however, has a world of music at her disposal. The musician must, although the use of samples does make musical composition somewhat similar to DJ:ing, create this music from scratch before she can go about making this harmonious whole.
This is where Caroline Herve fails. For all it's eclecticism, ”I Com” is just a collection of lost little stray songs with weak melodies and run-of-the-mill beats that do not stand on their own in any way. The punkish attitude of the album places the new Miss Kittin alongside her Berlin friends Peaches and Chicks on Speed, but the music is much more bland and many of the lyrics are downright silly. The whispered tech speak on ”I Come.com” make me embarrassed the same way I get embarrassed from watching people on TV rom-coms make fools of themselves. Herve also sings a lot here besides doing the deadpan chanting we know from ”The First Album”, and while there is nothing wrong with her voice, neither is there anything special about it.
The first single ”Professional Distortion” has Herve listing all the dreary chores she has to handle as an international superstar (hard stuff like getting up every day) and stands out among the otherwise anemic tracks as being a bit groovy. In ”3eme Sexe” she tries on the Serge Gainsbourg lolita dress, which she has already worn in an unfortunate rendition of ”Je T’aime…” with Sven Väth, but this time it works a little better.
In short, ”I Com” is the playhouse of Caroline Herve where she gets to do anything that catches her fancy, and to focus totally on the ”me me me” approach. It reminds me of her official web site, full of spontaneous hand written diary notes and funny pictures. The album is even released on her own label to ensure total creative freedom. I can’t help thinking that freedom isn’t worth much until you understand the rules you want to break.

MATTIAS HUSS