Mount Kimbie - Crooks & Lovers

Artist: Mount Kimbie

Title: Crooks & Lovers

Label: Hotflush Recordings

Catalog #: HFCD004

Genre: Dubstep

Release Date: July 19, 2010

Rating: 8.5 

Mount Kimbie have released already classic material, with the inimitable Sketch On Glass EP, as well as the surprisingly coveted single ‘Maybes.’ With their debut album, Crooks & Lovers, Mount Kimbie have succeeded again, though the results may taste differently than what was expected. The more and more I ponder, the more and more I find myself looking for clues as to how Mount Kimbie, former schoolmates Dominic Maker and Kai Campos, arrived at this conclusion. 

Maker and Campos are known to draw heavily from field recordings, often selecting the more overlooked sounds and refurbishing them into the theme of an entire composition. Almost like some kind of back alley butcher who finds a way to use the leftovers and regurgitate them back to the bourgeoisie to be consumed in the finest restaurant. In spite of this, Crooks & Lovers sounds as if it were indeed made from finer, if simply more accessible, ingredients. This album is arguably more pop-minded than Sketch On Glass, yet the post-rock atmospherics of ‘Maybes’ are present also. In contrast to the other big Hotflush release of the year, Scuba’s Triangulation, Crooks is less cerebral and more intent on instant gratification and fanciful innocence. 

Crooks opens up with the quasi-ambient ‘Tunnelvision’ that exhibits the delicate interplay between instrument and atmosphere, using andante guitar strums to counter the bellow of the hazy vocals. What emerges subsequently is a dichotomy on the fringe of agreement. Thoughtfully dubby numbers such as, ‘Would Know’ and ‘Ruby’ are offered side by side with the emotionally charged, childish funk of ‘Before I Move Off’ and ‘Mayor’. The former executing a heavy handed, yet essential drop that introduces multiple layers of vocals that express the sentiments of a love scorned woman; sassy, soulful, yet despondent. 

As for the methodical sequencing of the album, I cannot attest to that. There does not seem to be a rhyme or reason to how the tracks were situated amongst themselves, but it highlights the utter incorruptibility of this album. Though, it does leave ‘Blind Night Errand’ floating without a home. This album is crafted with listenability in mind. Nestled in between where you would expect Mount Kimbie to go are unadulterated moments of soft-spoken elation. ‘Adriatic’ seems to be superfluous acoustic noodling, but the little moments that develop are pristinely fleeting and beautiful. 

Despite the scattered nature of Crooks & Lovers, Maker and Campos have emerged with an extremely poignant piece of work. An album of this caliber creates powerful associations between sound and experience. I cannot recall a time in recent history when I have felt as though I feel exactly what so-and-so were trying to recreate in their music. With Mount Kimbie’s Crooks & Lovers, I feel connected to the sights and sounds of a dark London street, yet with time I will make my own connections to my personal environment and this will be my soundtrack. 

-Andrew Reilly

Tracks:

1. Tunnelvision
2. Would Know
3. Before I Move Off
4. Blind Night Errand
5. Adriatic
6. Carbonated
7. Ruby
8. Ode to Bear
9. Field
10. Mayor
11. Between Time