FOURTH : THE GOLDEN EAGLE

London based electronic marvel Kel McKeown  aka Kelpe  celebrates ten years of sonic boundary pushing with new maxi single, DRUT001/ 'Answered' - out April 15th  and new LP DRUT002/ 'Fourth: The Golden Eagle' - out June 3rd - both on his brand new label DRUT. Setting to work with a selection of analogue synths  Moog, Korg Polysix, Korg MS10 and Doepfer Dark Energy  the Ableton aficionado and purveyor of warped, cut 'n' spliced cliq-hop beats has delivered a handcrafted, 10-track masterpiece of an album which draws upon the strengths of his previous three. It's softer, warmer and more graceful than 2009's 'Cambio Wechsel', with a strong melodic element, and one which will secure his place in the canon of post-IDM greats. Kelpe says of the LP: šOn the whole, I was trying to make the warmest and most analogue sounding thing I've done, and I think it came out best on 'Answered'. The rest of the LP, in a way, is an extended build up to that favourite track on the record, which in itself was an opportunity to take leave of everything preceding it and go off on an epic trip.› Rollicking opener and curveball 'Astrolomy' brings to mind the mesmeric Anatolian guitar of 'After Gold'  a standout track on 'Cambio Wechsel'  swishing its tail to syncopated drum rolls as it dodges electro bolts-out-of-the-blue. It's followed by the lush, soulful, heavenly Baths-esque future pop of 'Beaks of Eagles'  with gloopy synths, hollowed beats and obfuscated crowd chatter - the kind of song that chillwave probably wanted to be, but never quite was. The shoegaze-ready 'Nice Eyes In My Size', with twinkles of xylophone and twisted, subtractive synths aping the guitar's wah-ing licks, is pursued and offset by the squelchy industrial clamour of ensuing track 'Single Stripe', which metamorphoses from techno to dream-pop in one fell swoop, glossed over with fade-out vocals and a denouement of synthetic steel drums. Other LP highlights include 'Glinterlude' - a heavily textured, urgent, percussive-led, 8-bit behemoth of a track - the sweet 'n' sour pop hook of 'Superzero Theme' and the minimal, glitchy cut 'Outwhere'. LP TRACKLISTING: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. The 7-minute white noise drenched 'Answered' is being released as a maxi single on April 15th. Kelpe says this of the lead track:šThe proggy twinkles make me think of Christmas but the guitar and four to the four feel are also a touch balearic. The vocal samples and textures are Norwegian and make me think of Scandinavia. There's a video being made by Jonathan Lieb that he is filming in Denmark about a girl becoming obsessed with looking for jigsaw puzzle pieces.› On the flipside of the maxi single sits 'Haunt' - which Kelpe credits with a similar mood to the 'Answered' but describes it as more pastoral, uptempo and heavier, with a slightly distorted 4 / 4 kick drum. There's also 'Barney's Dream' - šthe newest track and sort of an ode to a lovely looking old ginger dog called Barney.› EP TRACKLISTING: A1. 'Answered' B1. 'Haunt' B2. 'Barney's Dream' These are the first two releases on Kelpe's new label DRUT. He says: šI'd been thinking about starting a record label for a few years but my original motivation was to release other people's music - something to focus time and effort on other than making and pimping my own music....After a while it dawned on me that since I had my new own album that I was finishing and looking to release, the best way to launch the label would be to release that and hope it blossoms from there.› And his musical policy? šQuite open, mostly avoiding the latest sub-sub genre trends in favour of music that I truly love and hope will stand the test of time.› Kelpe began his musical foray in 2003, releasing his first 12? EP ˜The People are Trying to Sleep™, on the DC Recordings label. His debut LP 'Sea Inside Body' of 2004 was heralded by The Wire as šone of the most engrossing listens in recent electronic music›, and this was followed four years later by 2008's 'Ex-Aquarium', both released on DC Recordings. Third offering - the wobbly, warped and wonderful 'Cambio Wechsel', with its spiralling technicolour cover  came out in 2009, also on DC Recordings. Aside from his longstanding relationship with the aforementioned hip-hop electronica label, Kelpe has sown his oats further afield, putting out releases on some of the electronic sphere's biggest hitters including the 'Margins' EP on Black Acre in 2010 and 2 highly regarded EPs for Svetlana Industries in 2012 Trailing the live circuit from California to Lithuania alongside diverse acts such as Aphex Twin, Ghostpoet, Squarepusher and Daedelus Kelpe has made a name for himself both as an explosive solo act and as a duo with longtime collaborator Chris Walmsley (Gruff Rhys, Neon Neon, Psapp). Kelpe tour dates: Thursday 14th March - (DJ) Svvettboxx, Alibi, London Saturday 23rd March - Sebright Arms, London Friday 29th March - Grand Manege, Namur (Belgium) Friday 5th April - Holy Dubs, Madrid (Spain) Saturday 20th April - Koko, London (w/ Daedelus, Clark) Sunday 26th May - XOYO (Soundwave Launch), London Friday 14th June - LP RELEASE PARTY W/ SHIGETO, Electrowerkz, London Saturday 20th July - Soundwave Festival, Tisno (Croatia)