When the alien sound-waves of Mount Kimbie first reached my unexpected ears one night last year whilst listening to the Mary Anne Hobbs show, It was something of a shock to the system. This was electronic music like I had not heard in a long time. The first track I heard by them was their now cult hit track 'Maybe's' which was released out of the blue on Scuba's Hotflush label in early 2009. The track had an almost pop like feel to it on first listen, but with a unique, intricate and complex heart. After hearing the track I immediately fell in love with their sound and straight away hunted for more info on the release, which was forthcoming on 'Hotflush' at the time. One thing that has to be said, is that their first Ep was and still is a magical creation and it's an Ep that I still have on heavy rotation now. It's just very delicately crafted, subtle and emotive electronic expressions. Some people may label this as Dubstep, but for me this is not Dubstep at all, it's just Mount Kimbie music, which is what BamBam love.
Incase your not aware of them, Mount Kimbie are a London/Brighton based duo who bounced onto the Dubstep scene last year with their first magical Ep. According to Scuba, they had actually been sending him all sorts of weird stuff for quite some time, but it was with their Maybe's Ep where the sound had really matured to the level it is now. The interesting thing also is that their sound, as with all good acts, seems to be evolving all the time, as displayed in their latest Ep on Hotflush called 'Sketch on Glass'.
As music is more powerful than words, I think the easiest way for me to introduce you to their sound if your not familiar already is to guide you through my favorite tracks so far. So put some decent headphones on, or make sure your listening on some nice warm speakers, and enjoy the sounds of Mount Kimbie.....
The main track which got me into them, and still sounds as fresh now
I'm in love with this track, and love the slow-mo crunchy hip hop style beats which swing in half way through. The only downside to this track is that it's too short!
This is perhaps my favorite of their tracks, the intro synth on this is so warm and pure and when the first, almost downtempo percussive elements arrive they are just so crisp it's baffling. What I love the most though is the deceiving nature of the track, at first it appears to be downtempo, but the elements are cleverly placed within the 140bpm timeframe which leaves for a subtle transition mid way into a cheeky swinging, somewhat dubstep style track which is highly danceable and playful at the same time.
This is the title track from their latest Ep on Hotflush. Slightly more dancefloor focused with snappy crisp beats and a cheeky sub which will bust your gut on a big system. Again pure quality!
They are playing quite a few gigs at the moment in the UK and across Europe but sadly none lined up in the near future in Barcelona (fingers crossed though). To find out more info on releases and gig dates, check out their Myspace HERE
mount kimbie are so good, they have been quiet on the release front though recently. want to hear more stuff that i've heard in their live sets!
ReplyDelete