In my grand tradition of hyping artists shortly after they’ve departed our fine shores (see Metric, Alex), Koma & Bones were busy tearing Australia up through the month of February with nary a peep to be heard from this fine blog. My deepest apologies K&B. Thing is, they’d kinda dropped off my radar for a bit there - possibly unfair given how long they’ve been setting the standards of the tech-funk sound.

K&B have been kicking around around the breaks scene since 2001, which makes them positively Methuselah-esque in blog terms. 2001. Jesus. I think I was still into anthem trance at that point. Pushing a relentless, distorted, dark and dirty style, K&B quickly became one of the main players in the fledgling breaks scene, releasing two artist albums, two genre-defining DJ mixes (including one for the seminal Y4K series) and scores of remixes for breaks and non-breaks dons alike (they managed to cover both New Order and Mousse T - eclectic). In recent years they seem to have mellowed slightly and, like seemingly everyone else, have distanced themselves a bit from the nu-skool breaks sound. Which could be a bit unfair - their music, and especially their percussion was never really strictly breaksy. K&B were always far more into the stomping kick-snare-kick-snare loops that have become such an electro mainstay in recent years. Which just makes them look that much more like trendsetters really. Their recent output has flitted stylistically between the Adam Freeland/Evil 9 school of grinding stompers and the more chopped up, bouncy electro of Alex Metric, and I’ve attached a sampling of their work from the last year or so to give you an idea of what I mean.

I started thinking about K&B again after hearing this track on Hyper’s recent Rewired mix CD. I have no idea who Brancaccio and Aisher are, but K&B have created a deliberate monster out of their track ‘Freak Around’, filling it with hard-edged party synths, massive snares and a big build-up. Still, probably the fluffiest thing I’ve heard them do…

Brancaccio and Aisher - Freak Around (Koma & Bones Remix)

Starting to stray into darker territory is this remix of ‘Comin’ Back’, their contribution to the remix CD which came attached to last year’s re-release of The Crystal Method’s ‘Vegas’ album (side note: the CD also featured remixes by MSTRKRFT, Sta, Mr Miyagi, Hyper, Deadmau5 and Tom Real and The Rogue Element. It is, in short, fucking awesome). K&B really open the throttle here, filling the track with filtered synth stabs and menacing bass pulses that offset that iconic vocal line perfectly. There’s also a killer breakdown, and when it unleashes it really gets its grind on.

The Crystal Method - Comin\’ Back (Koma & Bones Remix)

Last, but not least, we have the 10 Rapid remix of K&B’s very own ‘Letters’, released last year on their burgeoning Burrito imprint. Although writing that really makes me think they should have called it Burgeoning Burrito instead. Sigh. The original Letters is an unsettling, staccato glitch-fest with haunting vocals, but 10 Rapid takes the edge off (albeit only slightly) to morph the track into a more straight-up tech-funk stormer that could take pride of place next to some of Freeland or Blende’s output. Superb stuff.

Koma & Bones - Letters (10 Rapid Remix)

All of these tracks and many, many more (2001?!) are available through Beatport, so have yourself a happy little browse around and treat yourself to a purchase. Also worth checking out is their 2008 spring mix (zShare), which provides a succinct little run down of the glories of electro-tech-breaks fusion with tracks and remixes by Alex Gopher, Soulwax, Blende, Freeland and more. And then, of course, make sure to catch them next time they’re in town. I promise I’ll give you a heads up.