Kel McKeown (+ Currently for most live gigs Chris Walmsley)
Influences
Some influences, some favourites:
Stars of the Lid, Porn Sword Tobacco,
Boards of Canada, Luke Vibert, Aphex Twin, Dr Dre, Portishead, Snoop Dogg, Prefuse 73, Flying Lotus, Tortoise, Riow Arai,
Dabrye, Max Tundra, Aerial and Papa M, Murcof, Slint, Chris Clark, Manitoba / Caribou, To Rococo Rot, Fourtet, Cornelius, Do Make Say Think, Shuggie Otis, Max Richter,
Nick Drake, old Sebadoh, Pavement, Smyglissna, Two Lone
Swordsmen, Pentangle, Battles, Will Oldham, John
Renbourn, Bert Jansch, Beck, Beastie Boys, Fennesz, Plaid, L'Usine, DJ Shadow (Endtroducing), Greg Davis, Plaid, New Order, Velvet Underground, Populous, Steve
Reich, Terry Riley, Judee Sill,
Ultramagetics / Dr Octagon / Kool Keith, Bullet's Hanged
Man Soundtrack, Akufen, Isotope 217, Brian Eno, Casino vs Japan, Sigur Ros, DJ Krush, Autechre, Squarepusher, Push Button Objects, Crunch, Jim O Rourke, Stereolab, The Meters, Sly and the Family Stone, Kettel, Octagon Man, Mountains, Daniel Johnston.
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CD
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KELPE
"MICROSCOPE CONTENTS" (DCR108)
12" and Download Out Now
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12"
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V/A
"DEATH BEFORE DISTEMPER 4" (DCR103)
CD and Download Out Now
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CD
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Kelpe is Kel Mckeown, from Loughborough, England. After tentative pre-teenage forays into cassette recorders and joke rap bands with friends, Kel devoted most of his teenage years to bone splintering skateboarding mishaps before deciding that loops and samples might provide him with a safer past time than trucks and wheels. Despite adolescent attempts at computer music resulting in "crap rave efforts" made on a commodore Amiga, the process of sampling and sequencing provided him with a discipline and focus that is of fundamental importance to the creative process that he currently employs in the execution of his acidic but organic beat monsters.
Coming to the attention of DC Recordings in early 2003, his first release for label was the 12" EP "The People are Trying to Sleep", a wide eyed carnival of fractured beats and warped electronics. This was followed by the critically acclaimed album 'Sea Inside Body' (September 2004), an album described by The Wire as "One of the most engrossing listens in recent electronic music". In 2005 this was followed by bedroom discotheque 12" "Sunburnt Eyelids", and most recently double lp "Ex-Aquarium" (2008) and remix companion "Extraquarium" (featuring Zombie Zombie, Fulgeance, The Boats et al). In early 2008 Kelpe teamed up with ubiquitous drummer Chris Walmsley (Voice of The Seven Woods, Psapp etc) for a series of explosive live shows alongside Holy Fuck, To Rococo Rot and others. Kelpe has also began to show his skills as a remixer, re-working Red Snapper, THe Oscillation (DC), Eliot Lipp (Mush), Fulgeance (Musique Large) + Architeq (Tirk) among others.
With influences ranging from the bleeps & bass of classic Warp artists to the spectral folk of John Renbourn, and the minimalism of Steve Reich + Harmonia to the percussive space-scapes of
Tortoise + Do Make Say Think, the diversity of the music that inspires Kelpe finds reflection in his own sonic adventures, informing his ever evolving sound, combining as map and compass to
guide his lunar-bound b-boy throwdowns.
Now we are booked till end of December So january could be cool if u have some time !!! WOuld love to guest u on this.
And yeah everything is pretty cool here* Movin, creatin in free times, pushin up the BEATS & FACES as we can, and more & more good music around ! SO all is gOOd!
Anyone on DC is going to be up my street and a quick look at your influences shows why. Fantastic work you have here. I really enjoyed the way the chops gave way to the phat bass line on 'Blankout Agreement' and the whole carnival on acid vibe that that track exudes. I loved the faux simplicity of 'Closed Up Headroom' as well. There's lots going on, but there still sounds like there is plenty of space in the track and the dub effects are great. Overall though, 'Stickly Situation' was my favourite as it really showed that Prefuse/Plaid inspiration with the chopped sounds and uber-polished melody. I really wanted to hear all of it, but I guess I'll have to buy the album, huh?
Will be checking back. Keep up the great work and good luck with your shows! Phase IV
Hi from California! Thanks for the add! Really cool tunes! We wish you and your music all the best, and we hope that you enjoy our music as well! Please let us know what you think! Have a great week, and take care! (*^_^*)
