MM/KM - Have You Seen Them EP

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  • Kassem Mosse and Mix Mup's music is distinctly austere. Single elements, like a string of bleeps or a misshapen sample, are often tossed and beaten around by MM/KM's drum programming. The results can feel hard-nosed, but never dissolve into melancholy. Even at their most oblique, the skeletal collaborations on Have You Seen Them are fun. "Tane" is a drum machine jam whose snares, kicks and hi-hats trigger seemingly at random, never quite curling into a loop. The track's warped one-shots and off-kilter rhythm echo musique concrète, but the slapstick quality of its sliding cowbells and pitched-up toms is equally strong. The rest of the EP eases up on that playfulness, even as "Chorus Beach" shares the spontaneity of "Tane." A gummy bassline and hi-hats that sound like ripping paper coil into the EP's tightest beat. Tambourines jangle against "Chorus Beach" like a set of keys, colliding with the hi-hats to knock each other side to side. As concussive drums keep it in order, a tip-toeing chime melody sways between optimism and wistfulness. "Watching Gischt" teams calloused percussion with more intimate sounds. The bassline is a deep purr that evokes a microphone being dragged across ribbed fabric. As slumped, out-of-tune horns sigh alongside outstretched accordion notes and a meandering keyboard, "Watching Gischt" starts to feel like a comedic dirge. When MM/KM explore this tension, as they also do on "Tane," you can imagine them smirking with the thought of blurring the line between gloom and absurdity.
  • Tracklist
      A1 Tane B1 Chorus Beach B2 Watching Gischt
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