-Greg’s Take-

Ah the mix tape. What a beautiful medium for expression compacted into a select few songs meant to convey a plethora of ideas. Want to impress that special someone? Want to have the perfect road trip soundtrack? What do you do?

You make a mix tape.

How about when you want to showcase a group of artists that need to be heard by the world?

Don’t make me repeat myself.

French label Kitsuné loves the world and music and they are showing it through, wait for it, a mix tape.

Through a collection of up-and-coming artists Kitsuné is hand delivering a phenomenal fourteen track compilation of artists you really need to hear.  Spanning the deeply seeded electronic genre and branching into rock, New Faces has a something for everyone’s taste and at least a handful of fresh artists you didn’t know you’d love so much.

In what becomes nothing short of a menu of All You Can Consume Musical Styles, New Faces dishes up a taste of decade spanning influences through a range of beat infused styles.  Take a heaping scoop of 70s dredged psychedelic beats and melodies with Antimatter People’s “Mossy Grounds” or if you prefer your 70s influenced sounds to have a bit more rock try Superfood’s “Bubbles.” If you’re craving some 80s synth there’s “Jam the Network” by Hyetal Jam. But for me, I’m loading up on the brilliantly crafted soundscapes and beautiful harmonies of Snakadaktal via “The Sun II” and the hugely addictive “Real” by London’s Years & Years.

Lots of record labels release samplers from time-to-time in an attempt to hook you in, but as far as I’m concerned, this is much, much more than just your average label mix. It is a statement of not only the label’s vision of fresh, new sounds but of a direction electronic music should be headed as a whole. I have more mix tapes than I can count, most with the labels worn off from over playing, but this album sits atop that pile and I guarantee that this will be used as a go-to mix for almost any occasion. Legend has it that the Kitsune has the ability to change its face and I have to admit the New Faces are the best.