BatBox

"Frank Sinatra" appropriated the sentiment of Bauhaus' "Bella Lugosi's Dead" and I Com contained spatterings of Siouxie's essence, but Miss Kittin's infatuation with goth is more prevalent than ever on Batbox. On this sinister but whimsical collection of 13 tracks — accentuated by fitting CD art of cartoonish bats and a 22-story haunted house by Emily the Strange artist Rob Reger — Kittin playfully references witches, ghosts, and bats aplenty: bats in boxes, bats biting necks, and even bat pedals powering her microphone. Her dark sense of humor is still intact, and she maintains that aloof charm and sweet savoir faire that enabled her to easily pair up with a wide scope of electro artists in her past (Felix da Housecat, Chicks on Speed, Detroit Grand Pubahs, and Golden Boy, among others), but now, with her sophomore solo attempt, she seems to be completely comfortable in her role as a soloist and ready to experiment and expand on prior ideas. Staying true to her electroclash roots, there's less of a driving minimalist force than in her days with the Hacker and more of a mainstream polish, likely due to co-producer Pascal Gabriel, who worked on Kylie Minogue's albums. You can hear remnants of Kylie as house influences creep in, providing a chance for Kittin to embark on more inspired and daring vocals, sometimes drifting from her trademark disenchanted monotone to breathy harmonies. Most important to the success of Miss Kittin, though, is that she's at the top of her game as a DJ and sexy as ever, scorching club dancefloors while flirting effortlessly between the blips and scabby percussion of "Pollution of the Mind," rocking out the dirty Joy Division bass and handclaps on "Grace," and bringing it down to a soothing synth ballad of unadulterated melancholy on "Lightmaker." As she emerges from the broken cocoon of Detroit and German techno influences into a unique artist of her own — one who is slightly experimental but never lacking a head-bobbing hook — it's hard to argue when she quips, "Frenchies do it better."