- Kevin McPhee is the latest foot soldier to march out of the increasingly interesting and promising bass scene in Toronto. Unlike the rolling acrobatics of Egyptrixx or the increasingly psychedelic output of XI, Kevin McPhee's tracks are highly intricate and intimate: late-hours whispers of hushed vocal samples, strung-together breakbeats and colour-drained synths. It's a vampiric aesthetic that would turn to dust in direct sunlight, and thus McPhee's nocturnal rumblings find a natural home in the Irish label [nakedlunch], following similarly dark offerings from Scuba and Instra:mental.
"Get In With You"'s muffled, thudding beats trace out a ramshackle foundation for the song's dual chorus of sensual chipmunk murmurs and delicate, careful-footed piano. Technically in dubstep time, the track's slurred movement feels too slow to either be dubstep or Burialesque neo-garage (with which it seems doomed to endless and oversimplified comparison). London duo LV bring the track out into harsh hospital lights for a hypnotic, bass-heavy groove punctuated by horn stabs and a thick, squelchy bassline.
More recently McPhee has been moving in a more house direction, on a forthcoming release for Bristol's Idle Hands and a steady stream of new material making its way onto dubplate. It's a move nicely predicted by the b-side "Bridges." The mournful track glides on the ghost of a 4/4 thump, and the lagging beat, detuned synth and heavily distorted vocals depict a numb, depressive world lifted up only by the insistent clatter of the homemade percussion. His debut figures him as a strong newcomer with a distinct voice: Tracks as accessible, emotional and memorable as these don't come around too often.
Tracklist A1 Get in With You
A2 Bridges
B1 Get in With You (LV Remix)