With Green Week around the corner, and its associated onslaught of night after night auditory stimulus concert goers have to be choosy in order to pick which, if not all the shows, are to be attended. With such acts as Shpongle, Ott, Phutureprimitive, Heavy Weight Dub Champion, Vibesquad, Ana Sia, Lynx, Daedalus, Aesop Rock and many more coming to town in a span of two weeks the chances for immersion in our “scene” is offered night after night, and I look at the Mount Kimbie show to kick off April in a major way. *(Unfortunately this week of awesomeness fell the same time as midterms, and prevented my attendance to almost all of these performances. Scholarly procrastination, Pampadelphic music production and good ole’ fashioned rage has prevented a more timely posting of this article and others, but fortunately for my slackin ass “better late than never” is something that people feel ok saying.)
The highly anticipated arrival of Mount Kimbie and Shigeto to the Humboldt scene debuted in front of a modest sunday night crowd. World Famous Productions used the night to debut their awesome new 1 watt mini-me-humpable lasers that will continue to mystify the pie eyed masses for all future WFP shows. The awesome new lights paired up with the full VOID system to combine into a auditory and visual assault on the senses that pushed the limits of stimuli that could be absorbed by one person. So intense was the system infect that the subs used as monitors, the size of which are used as mains in most other operations, created such an environment on stage to vibrate Zachary “Shigeto” Saginaw’s computer off the stage….. twice. Despite this brief pause in music Zachary managed to keep the show going, twisting the effects knobs on his usb controller as his computer was righted by good samaritans in the crowd. This is a prime example of his aptitude, and despite using Serato sans vinyl control to spin his tracks he made it a truly live experience with accompanying drums and on point, yet not over the top effects use. He was adamant to make a disclaimer that his style is not exactly dance music, but the audience was prepared, knowledgeable of what was in store and enjoyed every bit of his multi tempo’d, cross genre’d take on electronic music. This guy has been from Brooklyn to the UK and back again and his varied repertoire and unique styles reflects his well traveled experiences.
VOIDS were too much for the laptop, but the show must go on
With his last track complete and a humble “thank you” there was a spell of filler music as the main act set up. With an array of hardware appearing on stage, the new Native Instruments Maschine’s computer commander being hidden off front left, gave me instant jitters as Dominic Maker and Kai Campos hustled to set up their gear after a very Impressive set by Brooklyn’s own Shigeto. (I like that they had the laptop off the center of attention because that all too well known apple that gleams on the table tends to be the center piece to most artists arsenal, and these guys wanted to make a point that there was more than the computer going on.)
Receiving world wide praise the quiet mannered duo from the UK are making major waves in the electronic glitch hop scene, and beyond (having just being featured on NPR’s “All things Considered”). As they launched into their quasi-psychedelic sounding set of chill 
glitch hop and IDM I was immediately impressed with their use of live samples from Machine, electric guitar riffs and digital percussion mediums. They had an uber chill demeanor on stage which accents their auditory style nicely as they hammered out one shots in time and applied airy, surreal effects. In recital form the duo went from track to track with almost no transition, which was the only hint of negative feedback I heard from an audience member all night, but which honestly didn’t bother me… they were doing plenty to keep me happy and entertained. In between songs they would announce the next track, but I don’t think one person in the building could understand the garbled queens English accent, which I think it was totally appropriate. All we needed to hear were the bit crunched sampled played live awkwardly, yet expertly over a MASSIVE system. Just short of shake your ass, just a bit more than nod your head, Mount Kimbie’s set was a perfect end to a sunday chiller, and perfect start to a marathon of shows.
Digital Percussions add that feeling of “LIVE”
As the duo played their last song which pounded the floor with a 4/4 beat in the UK Funky style the place got moving at it’s most intense level of the evening. I personally like the dance aspect of live shows the most, and sometimes have trouble enjoying all of shows of this genre type, however was not disappointed for a second because they gave a little of it all. With there last track finished and the place erupting for an encore we were disappointed, yet highly appreciative, to hear that they had played everything they had for us, and hoped we liked it. Like it we did, and the Doctor of Rage highly encourages the masses of Lostinsound to peep these aforementioned acts ASAP because I know y’all will like it too….
Biggup to Jesse Rather for the amazing photos. Check out his impressive work here
[cincopa AIGAHkqthOq2]
