Albums

Mount Kimbie - Crooks and Lovers

Antonio Rowe 05/08/2010

Rating: 4.5/5

Vocals are often considered essential to many music fans and not without reason: it's the way most people connect with the music they listen to, and more importantly it's one of the main triggers that instigates emotion in the listener - or it used to be. It's now 2010 and we're now feeling more at home with the sounds of electronic bleeps and gloops than ever before, and why shouldn't we when Mount Kimbie do it so well.

For those of you who prefer your violins to your beat breaks, Mount Kimbie are an experimental post-dubstep duo made up of Dominic Maker and Kai Campos, who caused a media commotion last year due to the release of their first two EPs and their fantastic remixes of Foals and The xx becoming blogosphere hits. In relation to my original point, Mount Kimbie's debut Crooks & Lovers has hardly any use for vocals at all - and those that are used are unintelligible, seen more as part of the backing track, cut copied, meshed together and melodically overlapped with the backing beats.

So, I hear you cry 'Where does the feeling come from then?' - well you see, it comes from those futuristic electronic bleeps and gloops I was telling you about. There's no mistaking the rush of euphoria that's felt as 'Before I Move Off' churns along at a gentle but engaging pace with its Passion Pit vocal stylings. Then there's the most dub-step influenced track 'Blind Night Errand' where aggression is literally throbbing out at the listener via the track's snarly bassline.

Although surprisingly there isn't a complete disregard for the more common preconception of instruments, with the repetitive guitar chords that are used in 'Adriatic' and 'Before I Move Off' being not only integral parts of the melody but experimental notions amidst the artificially white noises that dominate Mount Kimbie's sound.

The overwhelming sense of calm ambience that peppers the majority of the album creates a pleasant sense of escapism, thus resulting in a universal sonic that is both appropriate to soundtrack a commuter's journey home after a long busy day at work, and one that would be equally perfect as background music for someone who just wants to beaver away with everyday household chores. Basically, it's idyllic beat music for the masses; a debut that is as effortlessly sleek as it is utterly captivating from start to finish and one that's also destined to fill countless spots on numerous album of the year polls come this December and leave you craving for more.

Release date: Out now