In 1984, two major events occurred that shaped Parisian electro producer Vincent Belorgey’s (Kavinsky’s) life: in America, Miami Vice made its television premiere, and in France, nine-year-old Belorgey (aka Kavinsky) quit taking piano lessons for good. These two historical incidents intersect in the Frenchman’s songs, which sound like a musical stab at remaking Jan Hammer’s synthetic score for the fabled Florida-based cop show.
Filled with moody atmospheres, fluttering rhythms, and saccharine arpeggios, Kavinsky tracks like “Wayfarer” and “Testarossa Autodrive” soundtrack a stylish drug bust in his mind’s eye, vividly evoking an era when moustaches and aviators made a man.
While he’s long-time friends Quentin Dupieux (aka Mr. Oizo) and Jackson Fourgeaud (of Jackson and his Computer Band), the 32-year-old Belorgey took up music just three years ago, when Dupieux offered him an old Apple computer he no longer needed.
Since then, Kavinsky has become one of the hottest artists in the French scene, linking the electroclash era’s ’80s obsessions with the buzzing sonics and scruffy fashion sense of rock-influenced acts like Justice. Like those Parisian artists, Kavinsky seems more interested in having a good time than in being taken seriously, hence the kitschy tunes, farcical back story, and cheesy album covers.
