Even though they aren’t collaborating anymore, Miss Kittin and Felix Da Housecat will, in my mind, be forever linked. The fact that they released new CDs within a week of each other also speaks to their connection, not to mention the rock edge that both Miss Kittin and Felix Da Housecat appear to be exploring.

On Devin Dazzle & The Neon Fever (Emperor Norton/Ryko), Felix Da Housecat assumes a new persona (the Devin Dazzle of the title) and blasts off in different and dazzling directions, beginning with “Rocket Ride”, which has enough sexual innuendo to fuel a space shuttle. “What She Wants” offers a tip of the space helmet to the spaced out soulful and psychedelic sexual antics of George Clinton. Electroclash, more than any other style, is the dominant presence, propelling tracks such as “Romantique”, “Everyone Is Someone in LA”, “Let Your Mind Be Your Bed”, “Watching Cars Go By”, (which even features a sample from first wave trendsetters Art of Noise) and “Neon Human”, all of which goes to show that Felix Da Housecat has sniffed out even more ways to get people up and dancing, alone or together.

Miss Kittin made such a memorable impression with her song “Frank Sinatra”, that almost anything else she does runs the risk of paling in comparison. However, her new album, I Com (Astralwerks) does succeed in displaying the French feline’s versatility. Bumping and buzzing opening track “Professional Distortion” contains the early disclaimer from Miss K, “I’m undercover and my name won’t appear anywhere,” which sounds like she’s trying to distance herself, but when she later declares, “I’m in the loop/I am the loop,” you know that she’s just dancing with her ego. “Show me your tits/and let’s make a hit” pumps open the door on the hip-hop hump of “Requiem For A Hit”, and “Happy Violentine” sounds like Miss Kittin lolling around in Bjork’s lounge-wear. “Meet Sue Be She”: is a punky electroclash tune that plays on car names such as “Mitusbishi, Suzuki, BMW,” and throws in an “XYZ” and a “1-2-3” for added effect. “Kiss Factory” and “Allergic” also echo Bjork, but Miss Kittin wastes no time in sinking her claws into the listener again on the Kraftwerk-like “Soundtrack Of Now” and the hip-hop high of “Clone Me.”

While the electroclash scene has launched several new musical careers in recent years, it has also revived interest in some of new wave’s original music pioneers, and, not surprisingly, it has also sparked renewed attention in the industrial dance music genre that gave us Ministry and Nine Inch Nails.

Often credited with being the forebears of industrial dance music, Throbbing Gristle, who disbanded more than 20 years ago, could benefit from all of the buzz and reach a whole new generation of listeners. The Taste of TG (Mute/Industrial), subtitled “a beginner’s guide to the music of Throbbing Gristle,” covers the period from the band’s 1977 debut through a 1981 live disc. On the more percussive tracks, such as “Distant Dreams – Part Two” and “United,” the masturbatory “Something Came Over Me”, and “Hot On The Heels Of Love”, Throbbing Gristle sounds as if they’re setting the example for Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark, The Buzzcocks and My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult. On the flipside, Throbbing Gristle was also responsible for some of the most disturbing music in the genre, the evidence of which can be heard on “We Hate You (Little Girls) ”, “Cabaret Voltaire”, “Zyklon B Zombie” and “The Hamburger Lady”.