Mount Kimbie - "Shipwreck"

Languid, guitar-centric track off Mount Kimbie's excellent new record The Sunset Violent features hazy vocals and subtle electronic flourishes.

Mount Kimbie - "Dumb Guitar"

Mount Kimbie is back with the dreamy new single called "Dumb Guitar," about a doomed relationship. The duo is now officially a quartet and will be touring in spring 2024. 

slowthai ft. James Blake & Mount Kimbie - "Feel Away"

 slowthai gives a surprisingly moving rap on this collaboration with James Blake (whose vocal is equally as beautiful) and Mount Kimbie.

2017 Favorite Albums (Numbers 40-31)

Continuing my countdown of my 2017 Favorite Albums:

40.  Little Cub - Still Life

Meticulously produced, erudite art-pop in the vein of bands like Wild Beasts and Metronomy, with their own indelible stamp. Few albums sounded this good, and this intelligent.







39.  Zara Larssen - So Good

Zara Larssen can be added to the lengthy roster of phenomenal Swedish pop stars. Her album So Good blurs the lines between pop, R&B, and EDM, and she fits comfortably in all of them. And those pipes! An amazing voice that I look forward to hearing more from.







38.  Charli XCX - Number 1 Angel

On her mixtape Number 1 Angel, Charli XCX once again turns all the pop conventions on their heads and blazes forth on her own personal path of world domination.







37.  Baths - Romaplasm

Baths album Romaplasm was a year end treasure. Losing the bleak, dark textures of Obsidian, Will Wiesenfeld took a turn towards the light. There is joy in these whimsical synthpop creations, that are truly infectious.






36.  Hercules and Love Affair - Omnion

On this sparkling set of dance tracks, Andy Butler stops trying to be the great savior of house music and just has fun. He and his cohorts haven't been this relaxed in ages.







35.  Protomartyr - Relatives in Descent

Dense, complicated, intelligent, and most tellingly, compellingly listenable, Relatives in Descent is the post-punk epic that is needed in these dark times.







34.  The Drums - "Abysmal Thoughts"

Now solely the project of frontman and songwriter Jonny Pierce, The Drums keep plugging away with their take on 80s alternative rock. Unlike a lot of bands, The Drums avoid merely aping their influences and transcend them. "Abysmal Thoughts" is packed full of delicious hooks, and is so catchy you need a flu shot to listen to it.





33.  Mount Kimbie - Love What Survives

On their latest record Love What Survives, Mount Kimbie toss their post-dubstep past out the window, hit the pedal to the floor and never look back. A reinvention and rejuvenation, this record is a post-punk masterpiece of haunted soundscapes filled with angular guitars, ominous keyboards, and locomotive drums.






32.  Blue Hawaii - Tenderness

Less obtuse and experimental than their last record Untogether, Tenderness shows the brighter side Blue Hawaii's work. They gravitate more towards deep house, Balearic, and even disco on these tracks, and this more playful side suits them.







31.  Charlotte Gainsbourg - Rest

Beautifully melancholic, and decided French, Rest is a quirky set of electronic pop that gets inside your head and lingers long in the afterglow.

Jam of the Day: Mount Kimbie ft. King Krule - "Blue Train Lines"

I never would have imagined Mount Kimbie moving into a post-punk direction, however, it amazingly works well. Very well. This blistering track off their upcoming record Love What Survives jettisons their post-dubstep past, and opens the door wide to new sounds and experiments. Should be a fascinating record.

Jam of the Day: Shelter Point - "Fossil"

Dreamy electronic track from the UK duo Shelter Point. Fans of James Blake, Mount Kimbie, and SOHN should really enjoy this.

Videos of the Week

Another weekend is looming ahead, and these are the videos that twerked their way into my heart:



Gorgeously lonely track from Mount Kimbie gets an intimate video treatment.



Trippy video from Soft Lenses.



Night on the town video clip from Pity Sex.



Intense clip from metal band Pelican.

Get More:
Diarrhea Planet, MTV Hive,
MTV Hive Videos

Surreal party clip from tragically named band Diarrhea Planet.



Fun, 80s inspired clip from former Sugababes Mutya Keisha Siobhan.

Video: Mount Kimbie ft. King Krule - "You Took Your Time"

Gorgeous black and while clip for the Mount Kimbie track "You Took Your Time" featuring the raspy vocals of King Krule.

Mount Kimbie: You Took Your Time on Nowness.com.

Non-Sequiturs

Damn that smile.

Love the chest and the goofy look.

Woof.

Wake up baby.

Eyes have it.

Belly.

Damn.

Rawr.

Cut and ripped and shredded.

Buff tatts.

Sexy bitch.

Cough cough cough.

Papa muscle bear.

Lick.

Love this pic.

Sexy daddies.

Sup?

Damn that's a sexy gut.

Thinking about bear stuffs.

Wow.

Gorgeous body.

Just gorgeous.

Lovely.

Beefy hairy bear.

Such lovely fur.

Yum.

Holy shit, Boards of Canada are back!

People don't expect you to call them out on their shit, neither do they expect you to tell them the truth. Funny how they run from both.

Some men are right cunts.

I am the designer of my own catastrophe.

Music porn.  Drool.

If you have faith, you don't need to tell everyone about it. You only look circumspect when you do.

"The day I took off my mask I realized my face was missing." Jaap Scheeren

It is always so difficult to get back to work after a long weekend. I have absolutely no motivation.

Tolstoy once wrote that "The only absolute knowledge attainable by man is that life is meaningless." For me, I don't see this statement as a end point. It is a stepping off point. Life is all about choice and free will; you can make it what you will. Though I believe this is your one go around in life and that there is nothing at the end of it, I don't feel sadness or futility because of it, instead, I want to make the most of my time here, taking risks when I can and enjoying being with my friends.

Whoever named their child this is brilliant.

All this fuss over Amanda Bynes is hysterical and sad at the same time. Besides, who really cares what some B-level actress has to say about anything?

And all these fights between celebrities through social media outlets are so tacky anyway.

I hate, loathe, and despise public bathrooms.

Uhhhhhh.......wuuuuuuut?

Bear Week and Folsom can't get here soon enough.

I'm a bit of a contradiction; I'm an attorney who dislikes conflict.

Allegedly, one should be looking at which spout on the red pepper flakes one has opened before dispensing a metric ton of them into your chicken marinade.

Leftover bolognese sauce is like crack.

Sometimes you just have to let go.

I was shocked yesterday, there were actual people I knew in my Facebook "people you may know" suggestions.

This summer is getting very booked with fun guests and fun events.

Scotch never disappoints.

I switched my ring from one hand to the other and for some reason it feels like the ring is still on the other hand.

A friend of mine had no idea that prostatitis is called the priest's disease.

Your cute for the day.

Lyrics Rattling Around My Brain

"I guess I'm bad
Would like to go
Back to Rome where blonde is still fair
Let go of the anchor
Planning a birthday on the sun
Lord I must be dreaming

God's speech remains
My personal hell to pay
If this ever ends well
Teeth will grind this cage

Explode against the wall
Like a can of paint or wrecking ball
No one to break the fall
When all is full of love"

When Saints Go Machine
"System of Unlimited Love"

"My men can not get out of being pulled in to the earth
I've been done here, only time keeps me from the demi edge
My self can not get out of being pulled in to the earth
Well we do next to next to nothing, we have always been in this cage

Come kill me, I seem so alone."

Baths
"Earth Death"

"Its cold outside its winter time
You always smile but now you cry, when hearts die
Its raging on this foul disease
I'm on my knees i cant believe
It's all I know did something wrong its human kind we never mind
Until its there and then we're scared it never ends

Someday you'll understand the reason why you just cant be my man
No matter what you try be extra mile
Someday you'll smile
Someday you'll understand the reason why you just cant be my man
No matter what you try the extra mile
Someday you'll smile."

Float Fall
"Someday"

Appealing Things

The way Andrew walks
Mount Kimbie
Disclosure
Camp Merton
Staying in Atlanta for the holiday weekend
Baths' Obsidian
Labor Day plans secured with good buddies

Annoying Things

Clueless people
Miscommunication
Lack of motivation
People who don't understand "what happens here stays here"
Out of focus profile pics

Album Review: Mount Kimbie - Cold Spring Fault Less Youth

Mount Kimbie
Cold Spring Fault Less Youth
Rating: Grrrr

London duo Mount Kimbie, Kai Campos and Dom Maker, emerged in the crowded UK bass music scene and were immediately lumped into the "post-dubstep" genre which actually isn't really a genre but more of a catch-all for artists that can't neatly be filed under categories like dubstep, funky, garage, or two-step. As the UK bass scene continued to morph, fracture, and evolve, the term post-dubstep lost any true meaning, if it had any to begin with in the first place. Mount Kimbie's first record Crooks and Lovers was an interesting, eclectic mix of two-step, IDM, and pastoral electronica that merged and shifted multiple genres into something distinctly their own. With their second record, they have moved on from mostly instrumentals to more vocal driven tracks, a la James Blake. This is not to say they have foregone any instrumentals or their eclectic music experimentation, but merely they have added a new, fascinating sense of direction and purpose with their music.

Relying on Campos' wistful vocals and two key collaborations with King Krule, Mount Kimbie move closer to more traditional pop structures, without truly giving up what makes them Mount Kimbie. There are still washes of woozy organs and gauzy keyboards and samples throughout the record. And the record itself, while produced completely via computer has a more organic and open sound. The feeling is instantaneous on opener "Home Recording" with droning organs and horn samples feeding off a shuffling beat and sense of loneliness conjured by Campos' voice.



This leads into the first amazing collaboration with King Krule, "You Took Your Time," which adds a needed air of pathos and dark poetry to their sound. His deep growl of a voice is forceful and haunting, urging the track on to darker and heavier levels.



"Meter, Pale, Tone," the second collaboration with King Krule, while not as immediately transfixing, has a subtler charm to it. Burbling electronics playfully work around slippery basslines and almost tribal percussion. King Krule's voice floats more in the mix this go around than the earlier track, which is an interesting experience considering how notable his voice usually stands out.



Campos' voice is a far less distinctive instrument, however, it is not without its charms. "Made To Stray" features an almost mantra-like vocal turn from Campos as a blocky beat and weird strains of different electronic sounds bump and rub up against one another,



while the sinister, droning "Blood and Form" has Campos speak-singing his words while the track takes odd turns here and there into noir territory.



Despite these more vocal-centric tracks, Mount Kimbie still allow several tracks to show off their production brilliance. "So Many Times, So Many Ways" grows from organ drones and lush percussion into a dense mix of electronics and sweeping synth strings,



"Slow" begins with an almost industrial feel before a mid-song change of direction into a lighter, funkier territory,



while closing track "Fall Out" blends tropical percussion, dub-influenced bass lines, and echoing, ambient synths.



There are only a couple of tracks on the record that don't work so well in the flow of the record. "Break Well" leans almost towards ambient wallpaper in the first half, before shifting into an incongruous back half section that feels very divorced from the track itself. "Sullen Ground" also plods and meanders over airy percussion and simple keyboard lines, Campos' vocals lightly dropped in and out of the mix. And "Lie Near" also leans too heavily on atmosphere without truly going anywhere. But in the grand scheme of things, these tracks are mere blips within the context of the rest of the tracks.

Cold Spring Fault Less Youth is a big leap forward for Mount Kimbie, echoing their initial sound while boldly striking out in new directions. Their experiments with more traditional songwriting and singing on the record appears to have given them a more focused purpose and has given us one of the standout electronic records of the year.

Rating Scale:

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and piques one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.