- Kassem Mosse and Mix Mup's music is distinctly austere. Single elements, like a string of bleeps or a misshapen sample, are often tossed and beaten around by MM/KM's drum programming. The results can feel hard-nosed, but never dissolve into melancholy. Even at their most oblique, the skeletal collaborations on Have You Seen Them are fun. "Tane" is a drum machine jam whose snares, kicks and hi-hats trigger seemingly at random, never quite curling into a loop. The track's warped one-shots and off-kilter rhythm echo musique concrète, but the slapstick quality of its sliding cowbells and pitched-up toms is equally strong.
The rest of the EP eases up on that playfulness, even as "Chorus Beach" shares the spontaneity of "Tane." A gummy bassline and hi-hats that sound like ripping paper coil into the EP's tightest beat. Tambourines jangle against "Chorus Beach" like a set of keys, colliding with the hi-hats to knock each other side to side. As concussive drums keep it in order, a tip-toeing chime melody sways between optimism and wistfulness.
"Watching Gischt" teams calloused percussion with more intimate sounds. The bassline is a deep purr that evokes a microphone being dragged across ribbed fabric. As slumped, out-of-tune horns sigh alongside outstretched accordion notes and a meandering keyboard, "Watching Gischt" starts to feel like a comedic dirge. When MM/KM explore this tension, as they also do on "Tane," you can imagine them smirking with the thought of blurring the line between gloom and absurdity.
TracklistA1 Tane
B1 Chorus Beach
B2 Watching Gischt