August 20, 2002

Miss Kittin And The Hacker/Felix Da Housecat : Benicassim Festival, Spain

...thousands of people sit up like E-spiked meercats and hightail it into the tent...

Kitted out for this rare appearance in black basque, skirt and boots, Miss Kittin is a knife-edge cross between slinky sex queen and coquettish naïf - which is just about as sexy as you can get without resort to specific genetic engineering. The Hacker, predictably, is a moody bloke with decks.

At first, anyway. "Look at The Hacker, he smiling," squeals Miss Kittin, full of untainted love for all. "He never smiles. This is going to be a great show."

Thousands turn to electroclash goo as she kicks off her boots before a booming 'Life On MTV', while the laser-enhanced genre classic 'Frank Sinatra' is a frosty drop of distilled electropleasure.

Miss Kittin appears again - although sadly only on vinyl - with 'Silver Screen (Shower Scene)' from techno veteran Felix Da Housecat's Monday morning 4am techno/electroclash set. The highlight is Depeche Mode's 'Personal Jesus' getting pitched headlong into Fischerspooner's 'Emerge' - thousands of people sit up like E-spiked meercats and hightail it into the tent for what is clearly the weekend's premier dance tune.

But it is Miss Kittin And The Hacker who achieve the nigh-on impossible at their set's climax with a glorious sexed-up version of the Eurhythmics' 'Sweet Dreams' from their debut 'Champagne' EP. And if they can make Dave Stewart sexy - imagine what they could do for you.

Anthony Thornton

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