Bleep

When they released Crooks & Lovers back in 2010 on Scuba's Hotflush label, Mount Kimbie changed the face of the soon to be going overground dubstep scene of which many critics aligned them as major players of. Looking back now it's clear how much of a game changer Crooks & Lovers truly was, mixing the after-hours angles of Burial with a thirst for the sort of pop savvy sound that would come to characterized them and fellow future Warp signings Darkstar, Mount Kimbie created an album that became the go-to disc for both zonked out/just got home clubbers while also becoming a haven for indie kids looking to dip their toes into the burgeoning electronic underground.

Loaded to the brim with more classics than we can care to mention, the instant standouts are the crackly R&B of 'Carbonated' the floaty dubstep wobble of 'Blind Night Errand' and of course the bleary-eyed siren cry of 'Ruby' through each track is a crown jewel in its own right. Reflecting back now it's easy to trace the dubstep/house/electronic sensibility and influence of Mount Kimbie's Crooks & Lovers within the work of fellow scene outsiders from both the albums time, we're talking James Blake and Jamie xx while its presence can arguably be felt right up within the present day material of Yves Tumor. A proper modern classic album that defines a pivotal moment in a host of new genres beginning to come into their own in the early 2010s.

Featured in this anniversary edition’s third disc is the bewitching Maybes EP which has been long out of print since it’s initial release in 2009. The group's debut release setting out the direction of what was later labelled ‘post-dubstep’ by some but encompassing a wide array of influences from further afield. Yearning with the mood of a whole new steppa direction, a world of skewed samples and elegiac chord sequences. The opening track is grand stuff; a warped vocal twist through a delayed, multi-tracked piano phrase while stuttering breaks flit way in the background. The remainder plays with conventions of post-rock, drone and avant-garde whilst keeping a distant echo of the likes of Boxcutter.

Mount Kimbie's Crooks & Lovers is a testament to the groups uniquely introspective production, an album that both inspired a wealth of new talent and paved the way for the groups own bright future in the scene.

Crooks & Lovers digital release available here

Maybes EP digital release available here