| Fast, Cheap and Out of Control | |
| Type: | Album |
| Artist: | HK119 |
| Cover: | Fastcheapcover.jpg |
| Released: | 28 September 2008 |
| Recorded: | London |
| Genre: | Electro, pop, lo-fi, electronica |
| Label: | One Little Indian |
| Producer: | HK119, I Monster, Simon Duffy |
| Prev Title: | HK119 |
| Next Title: | Fast and Cheap Mixes |
Fast, Cheap and Out of Control is the 2008 follow-up album to HK119's 2006 eponymous debut. The album was released through One Little Indian Records on 28 September 2008 in the United Kingdom.[1]
The album was a significant upgrade from the harsher, lo-fi sounding debut. Having started to collaborate with other producers, musicians and writers (including cult folk singer Mara Carlyle who provides backing vocals to the track 'Divine'), 'Fast, Cheap and Out of Control' is considered a much glossier, finer and intricately executed collection of electro pop songs, that still continue HK119's analysis on issues such as humanity, cloning, celebrity culture, global warming and civil rights, all delivered in a thoroughly researched, but highly tongue-in-cheek and digestible manner.
The imagery of the album's artwork and HK119 herself had also changed considerably for this album. In bringing the album "Back down to earth" and "from a more personal place", HK119 used the imagery of sportswear and use of such related equipment as a dumbbell to highlight the competitive nature of humanity (while also seen smoking on the cover sleeve, to represent the conflict of "what does it mean to be human?"; a line featured in the album's lead single, "C'est La Vie".)[2]
As with her previous album, HK119 produced a short series of home-made music videos to coincide with the album. As the tracks on 'Fast, Cheap and Out of Control' were longer and more finely produced than before, there were only five coinciding videos with the album (unlike 11 videos that were made for the debut album.) These videos featured HK119's humorous experiments with chroma key (also known as green screen) video production. HK119 and One Little Indian Records made the album's tracks available in individual parts on HK119s official website as part of a remix challenge, for people to make alternative versions of the tracks to potentially be later releases as their own remix album.[3]
The resulting release, Fast And Cheap Mixes, is a collection of electronica themed remixes by a collective of artists on the Bit-Phalanx netlabel based in London. Fast And Cheap Mixes was released digitally through One Little Indian Records in April 2010. Additionally, Bit-Phalanx have released two free bonus EPs of additional remixes of "C'est La Vie" and "Space Pt.1" through their official website.[4]