HK119: Fast, Cheap and Out of Control
HK119: Fast, Cheap and Out of Control
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Friday, 26, Sep 2008 04:55
One Little Indian Records, out September 29th.
In a nutshell...
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Kraftwerk meets Debbie Harry via Goldfrapp?
What's it all about?
Fast, Cheap and Out of Control is diatribe against themes including surveillance, cloning, mind control, "deviant technology" and global warming. Apparently.
The name HK119 is a product code and is "an attempt to awareness to the contradictions of our society". Heavy stuff.
However, when Heidi Kilpelainen - the woman behind HK119 - stops tackling the issues, you're left with a combinations of pop, electronica, experimentation, pretension and a little bit of humour, too.
Who's it by
Heidi Kilpelainen is a Finnish-born writer, singer and producer as well as a visual arts graduate from St Martin's College (the one from Pulp's Common People). Fast, Cheap and Out of Control is her second album and her first under the HK119 name. Oh, Bjork seems to like her, too.
As an example...
"Do you remember when it was possible to smoke in cinemas, buses, cafes and planes?/Woah, I mean it was just so liberatingly beautiful." - Liberty
Likelihood of a trip to the Grammys
It's a bit experimental and well, not really good enough, to beat any established artists in the genres HK119 flirts with in the award stakes. I think Alison Goldfrapp, Debbie Harry and Bjork can rest easy on this one.
What the others say
"Her blunt singing/speaking style resembles a disgruntled Finnish newsreader as opposed to a bona fide pop star." - Music OMH
"HK119 presents diverse music seekers with a profusion of multi-layered delights to tantalise and entertain." - Motorbar
So is it any good?
Okay, so this album is really pretentious - and that put me off from the start. From being told that Heidi Kilpelainen was dealing with issues such as cloning and civil liberties - and that the name of her band dealt with the alienation of modern man - I was a little bit sceptical. If she was going to be dealing with these issues well, then the music was probably going to suffer. And, if the tunes were going to be great, I wasn't not sure how in-depth or successfully she was going to deal with these heavy topics.
Sadly, she doesn't really seem to do either too well. "Liberty I want you back now baby" hardly provides a scathing political commentary, and it doesn't sound amazing. Okay, there are a couple of decent tracks. But nothing that other people haven't already done better.
Also, she sounds a bit like Magenta from the Rocky Horror Show.
3/10
John Brunskill
"What a stupid review. Clearly missing the whole point of HK119 - SHE'S A P**S-TAKE LOOK AT "SERIOUS" ISSUES. Jeez. It's a fab pop album, and if you've seen her live... you'll see how fun and "unpretentious" she is. Do some actual homework, not just read the press release!" - TheBoyLikeMe AtLeastGotTheJoke