(August 2009) Mount Kimbie. What does that name mean to you? If you’re acquainted with the world of dubstep, it probably carries a lot of weight. Back in February, they unleashed the Maybes EP on Hotflush, a four-track slab of vinyl so full of originality and creativity it astounded most of the world of dubstep – a scene that is already brimming with inventiveness and constantly mutating. Slicker than most Flying Lotus productions and mired deep in thick ambience, it still kept its songs anchored with spinning, unquantized halfstep beats.
With the exception of a few improvements, Sketch On Glass keeps things largely the same. All four new tracks here show the same dedication to perfection and astounding amount of effort that went into Maybes. Here, though, Mount Kimbie have decided to make some of the songs more oriented towards the dancefloor, and in some places have added more synth flourishes and 8-bit frills.
“Sketch On Glass” starts the 12″ EP off in a surprising manner – percussion first. The beat sounds like someone put some of Untold’s latest productions in a blender and arranged them into a mid-tempo, halfstep punch-drunk funk. Little synth bubbles and a slightly granular bassline dot the landscape, and the beat switches effortlessly between regular tempo and half-tempo. There’s also a cut-up squirrely vocal thrown in near the end for good measure.
“Serged” starts off ponderous and brooding with a reverberating synth wash as wet and deep as the Marianas Trench, which lasts for half a minute before gorgeously unquantized toms, 8-bit chirps, and bass stabs show up. As the song unfolds, a hi-hat enters to help clarify the mysterious beat, and after a few beautiful minutes, it fades away, leaving nothing but the same dark synth that started the song. “50 Mile View” is more moody, and bears the closest resemblance to anything on Maybes. At the same time cavernous and soulful, it is filled with subtle percussion touches, horn swells, and evocative vocoder. “At Least” neatly rounds out the EP, sounding like a wonked-out version of Ilkae. It starts out with a deceptively simple syncopated beat then evolving slowly into a slow shuffle backed with a ghostly choir pad and ubiquitous Nintendo bleeps.
Sketch On Glass is a triumph for Mount Kimbie and considerably raises the bar for producers. This is the second time they have proven to be the most forward thinking and restless musicians in the dubstep scene, and I expect more genius to come from them. Using Maybes and Sketch On Glass as stepping stones, Mount Kimbie could be poised to release one of the most novel and ingenious debut albums in dubstep’s short history. I can only hope.
Sketch On Glass is out now on Hotflush. [Listen / Purchase]
