If you're still trying to figure out what dubstep is, keep in mind that people are already using the term "post-dubstep" (and "halfstep" and, god, "brostep"). I'd rather not get neurotic about genre-- especially in the obsessively territorial underbrush of dance music-- so I'll say that Mount Kimbie is a London duo that makes pretty, mostly mid-tempo tracks between three and four minutes long with sped-up vocal samples, little tunnels of ambience, unimposing synth patches, and syncopated percussion that sounds like someone putting away the silverware (or that water-droplet effect people make by flicking their cheek with their finger). Small music, scarf music.
Maybes and Sketch on Glass aren't always sunny, but they're playful, dreamy, and melancholic-- refreshing qualities to hear in dubstep, a genre slightly less emotionally versatile than hair metal. Even Burial-- its most expressive, articulate producer-- works in a kind of greyscale compared to Mount Kimbie (though, to be fair, Burial's music reaches a depth that Mount Kimbie's doesn't, and probably isn't aiming for).
It's true that their rhythms are still dubstep in DNA-- deftly syncopated, slightly off-center, ambiguously danceable-- but most of what they lay on top of the beat sounds like it's being dragged out from places dubstep usually doesn't go: R&B, post-rock, IDM. Of the two EPs, Sketch on Glass is markedly funkier but also feels more self-assured and detailed: The bass is deeper but the sound is lighter and more agile; the plinks and pops-- sorta cute-- really ricochet around in the mix instead of just accenting it; the vocal samples are warped and flattened in weirder ways.
Still, Maybes-- especially the title track-- is a good listen, and should be of interest to listeners who find dubstep's pervasive moodiness to be a turn-off (in his year-end column for this site, Martin Clark mentioned the group in a paragraph about records that went "beyond the dubstep sphere"). Between both EPs, there's character, humor, light chaos, nice sound design, and real melodic imperative. It's strong music, and I want to hear more. Big ups, as they say in England. Oh, and some people are just calling this stuff "step."
