Kitchens inc. is a collaboration between brothers Chris and Marcus Kitchen, and Missouri Signals, their debut EP, delivers some lovely, stripped back and jazz-infused house and breaks.
The tunes here are smooth and understated, but also very much groove led, with just the right amount of off-kilter, and subtle switches throughout.
If, like me, you like electronic music with the kind of vocals that are definitely not a song, and that add an element of odd or unsettling, then I would recommend checking this out, as these guys have mastered the art of layering distorted spoken soundbites into their tunes.
The tracks are nice and long, as well – they are all over eight minutes – and the finely arranged variations keep them interesting throughout. Each tune is a journey; they are never endlessly repetitive, but as important – for me, anyway – is that they are never jarring in their twists and turns; this is classy, slick house, and rich, melodic breaks; full of intricacies and character.
A side note perhaps, but worth noting, nonetheless; the sleeve artwork has been illustrated and designed by one of the duo – Chris is responsible for this. Obviously, it’s the tunes that are the focus here, but I always appreciate a combination of an artist’s different creative outputs as part of one thing.
This is a great first release. It’s completely sold out now on Juno, but is in stock or available on pre-order from various other places – Carpets & Snares, Red Eye Records, Deejay.de – and if you’re in Leeds, you can buy the record at Plant & Deck.
Words: Roya Brehl