Mount Kimbie DJ-Kicks

Mount Kimbie take the reigns of the DJ-kicks series with a 23 track mix that
includes one of their own new exclusives. Due for release on 28th September,
it’s a snapshot of exactly what the UK duo sound like in the club right
now and is accompanied by a DJ-kicks tour that takes the pair to DJ and
live dates all round the world.
2018 marks a decade since Kai Campos and Dominic Maker first hooked
up and started making music. In the early years they refashioned dubstep
into innovative new forms that drew on ambient, garage and electronica.
After a critically acclaimed debut album on Hotflush, they signed to Warp
Records and have consolidated their position at the forefront of the international
electronic scene with two critically acclaimed albums and countless
world live tours.
This is a mix inspired by a mini-run of DJ gigs that Mount Kimbie played with
Actress. “It was an interesting and challenging experience, and I learnt a lot
on the six dates we did,” says Kai, who explains that plenty of the tracks he
was playing during those gigs make it into the mix. They make it a forward
looking affair that calls on music the band have discovered recently; music
they have found inspiring. Their own ‘DJ-kicks’ track was made specially for
the mix and was initially influenced by Stanislav Tolkachev and Alexis
Perala, who are both also included. Rather than a painstaking plan or
meticulous studio approach, this session captures the improvised energy of
a real DJ mix, but one where each track is given time to breath and make an
impact rather than one where DJ trickery is at the fore.
The result is a succinct 50 minutes that often goes deep, with roughhewn
drums and grainy atmospheres from the likes of Terrence Dixon, Severed
Heads, Marco Bernardi and Object Blue. It perfectly knits together stripped
back rhythms, percussive tracks and more harmonic techno while
seamlessly joining the dots between the old and the new. It’s a well
balanced mix that stays low and heady, and that sense of focussed tension
is what makes it so utterly compelling throughout.