A collaboration between
Tiga and
Hudson Mohawke could seemingly go any number of ways. On one hand, it could end end up being an exercise in irony-loaded postmodernism -- two of
Tiga's earliest club hits were electro covers of "Sunglasses at Night" and "Hot in Herre," while
HudMo's earlier 2023 release was
Set the Roof, a collaboration with
Nikki Nair featuring cover art derived from
Chipmunk Punk. On the contrary,
L'Ecstasy sounds like the work of two friends bonding over everything that made them fall in love with club culture in the first place, and making music that celebrates dancing, nightlife, and all of the associated feelings. It sounds far more like
Tiga than
HudMo on the surface -- the tracks are sleek and straightforward rather than bombastic, cartoonish, or wonky. "Exit Warehouse at Dawn" sounds like a second wave Detroit techno deep cut, with gliding synths and intricate rhythmic programming, while "TR Smooth" takes it back to early Chicago house with a whistling synth lead bringing to mind
Frankie Knuckles. The two songs featuring
Tiga's own vocals, the Italo-ish "Night Is Not" and the more
Felix da Housecat-like "IN ORDER 2," express the burning anxiety that won't disappear no matter how hard one is raving. An uncredited
Abra helps paint a vivid picture of nighttime desire on the wonderful "VSOD (Velvet Sky of Dreams)," while
Channel Tres advocates self-love on the breezy "Feel the Rush."
Jesse Boykins III sings of a perfect moment of dancefloor ecstasy on the soulful acid house cut "Silence of Love," and British diva
Elisabeth Troy accelerates the mood during the turbo-powered "Ascending into the Clouds." The trancey, breakbeat-driven "Polyvoxx" is another standout, but more stripped-down house tracks like "Duro" and "BUYBUYSELL" are no slouches, either. Slower experiments like the glitchy "Natural Spirit" and more industrial "LMZNIN" are closer to what one might expect if the duo recorded an album for
Mute.
L'Ecstasy ends up being a highly successful collaboration that exceeds all expectations. ~ Paul Simpson
![Nuthin' Fancy [Bonus Tracks]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0008811202422_p0_v1_s90x140.jpg "Nuthin' Fancy [Bonus Tracks]")
