CityLife

Kissy Sell Out comes to Sankeys

Sankeys

HE came from Colchester; he had a thirst for low-slung dreamer electro-pop with ideas above its station. He studied Graphic Design at Saint Martins College.

While the formative years of Thomas Bisdee may have been a bit too wordy for Jarvis Cocker to wrap a wry lyric around, they nevertheless made for one of our time’s most effervescently entertaining electronic popstars.

We’re talking, in case you haven’t already guessed, about Bisdee’s twilight alter ego: DJ, producer and simultaneous conqueror of east London and Radio 1, Kissy Sell Out.

Since arriving in late 2006 with productions such as the entirely ridiculous Get Ready For The K Hole (a tale of one young man’s grapple with famous falling asleep drug Ketamine set to a backing of 2 Unlimited’s famous falling asleep rave-up Get Ready For This), Kissy has developed his portfolio faster than a hyperactive photographer.

Remixing for the likes of Frankmusik, The Human League, Sugababes, Gwen Stefani and Remi Nicole (you remember her, she was the one who did those songs about those things), Sell Out has carved a niche in taking records and turning them into giddy, giggling electro riots.

His passion for music and keen ear for a populist hook soon led to him being snapped up by Radio 1, who signed him to their In New DJs We Trust strand in the summer of 2007. He’s now got his own show/fan club on Friday nights called the Kissy Club, which acts as a further outlet for his enthusiasm.

But it’s not just the radio studio where Kissy feels at home. Last summer saw the release of his debut long player, Youth, a fizzing, whirring blaze through Nineties and Noughties electro pop whose joie de vivre is typified by the random outbursts of laughter on second track Garden Friends. As you would expect from someone who seems to ooze energy more freely than a leaky nuclear reactor, Sell Out is not content to just sit in his London lair remixing records and making his own all day.

Successful

The past 12 months have seen him become renowned as one of the best value for money eclecto-electro DJs on the circuit, with a string of appearances in our own fair city helping to back up that reputation.

When he plays live, he puts the fun in Funktion 1 (thanks, we’re here all week), hitting the decks like a particularly excitable child might hit a bouncy castle after a sugar binge.

Sell Out’s policy of including sounds regardless of genre as long as they can incite dancing, which has served him so well in his recording and radio career, translates even better to the club setting, where foot-shuffling is the number one priority. And one venue that can vouch for his ability to fill a floor is Sankeys, which welcomes him for yet another appearance tonight.

Over the past 12 months, Sell Out has added his name to the growing list of DJs, at the same time as the likes of The Martinez Brothers and Laidback Luke, who seem to love the Radium Street club as much as it loves them. Rough calculations suggest he played there 40 times in December alone.

In all seriousness, the increasing frequency of Kissy’s sets at Sankeys point only to how successful he has been in the setting, with tonight’s event looking likely to further cover his name in glory. Revellers can expect the usual uptempo electro eclecticism from the headliner, along with the addition of some very special support guests.

First up is bass-obsessed maniac Scot Hostage, whose recent remix work has been shaking fixtures off walls from Edinburgh to Budapest. He smashed it at Murkage back in November, deftly showing that, unlike some of his contemporaries at the lower end of the register, he’s no stranger to melody and tempo.

He’s followed by Dutch house head Sidney Samson.

Kissy + Ko appear at Sankeys on January 29, 2010. Radium Street. 10.30pm-6am. £12.