Kelpe is back with a new album and it’s another studied exercise in lovingly stitched together beats with more references than Wikipedia
If you didn’t know Kelpe is the previously water obsessed Kel Mckeown who hails, rather surprisingly, from land locked Loughborough. Having been discovered by DC Recordings in 2003, he is a relative old boy in the brave new world of beat production already with a couple of albums under his belt as well as a string of remix work and some tasty mix cds.
Cambio Wechsel sees another wonderful exercise in restrained beat making where less is definitely more. A short introduction eases us gently into the album proper before we are greeted by ‘The Blackout Agreement’ a stripped back drum loop that ambles over a simple bassline wrapped in repeated and sustained edgy keys and gently building percussion before morphing into a more electronic beast that finally disintegrates into the ether. In fact the whole album has been pleasingly feng shuied with most tracks relying on just a few well chosen sound sources that are then carefully placed and then manipulated rather than dense audio collages.
Personally I am favouring the more melodic moments on the album such as ‘Eye Candy Bath’ with it’s soft voices and basic drums underpinned by a big fat electro bassline, ethereal vocal snippets and occasional pitched down samples that sound like they were lifted from a 91 rave anthem. Another standout is the Eastern sounding strings that ride minimal drums and low-key effects on the sprawling, Doors like, ‘After Gold’ but don’t be deceived this is an album with something for everyone.
Stuttering hip hop beats, flute, bad arse bass and plenty of echo collide in ‘Closed Cup Headroom’ as similarly pissed drums crop up on the slightly worrying ‘Low Frequency Fumble’ and the minimal instrumental hip hop of ‘Clearance’. Minimal acid house with nice percussion and 8 bit sounds are the order of the day on ‘Microscope Contents and cut up jazz drums meet the electronic future on the short but sweet ‘Moving Picture Three’.
Another assured release from the man they call Kelpe.
DC Recordings
Kelpe Myspace
