I popped along to The Academy 2 last night, that most dreaded of venues, for Mount Kimbie’s superb set. What the venue lacked in atmosphere (no dry ice, no dynamic lighting, no acknowledgement that this was electronic music made for dark basements) was made up for by the duo’s masterful command of the material from debut album Crooks and Lovers. It is always good to see electronic artists eschew the laptop in favour of a Kaoss pad, samplers and synths. What I wasn’t expecting was the confidence they had and the extra instruments: guitar, drum pads, snare, hi-hat and both members sang during their set.
Far from dubstep or “post-dubstep”, Mount Kimbie’s music is clearly the product of two people who have devoured dance music in all its forms: from garage to dubstep to ambient electronica to drum & bass to techno to electro. Mount Kimbie’s secret weapon is their understanding of percussion and they learnt it all from a lot of listening to the above.
FACT mag are streaming the band’s new EP Blind Night Errand and you can download the live version of ‘Ruby’ for an email address after you stream it below.
Mount Kimbie – Ruby (Recorded Live at Berghain, Berlin)
Niall Byrne is the founder of the most-influential Irish music site Nialler9, where he has been writing about music since 2005 . He is the co-host of the Nialler9 Podcast and has written for the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Cara Magazine, Sunday Times, Totally Dublin, Red Bull and more. Niall is a DJ, founder of Lumo Club, club promoter, event curator and producer of gigs, listening parties & events in Dublin.
Wish these mofos would come up north! Great version, totally agree about the lack of a laptop – makes it so much more engaging to watch.
Great performance last night!
That live guitar performance of ‘before i move off’ was the highlight for me
wow. i had no idea they’d pull this off live by Actually Performing it! I so want to see them live…