LHF are a shadowy organisation and to be honest that’s just the way we like it. They comprise of a production crew of about seven. They keep it tight and have built a world of their own that seems both far-reaching and contained all at once. You never know which way they’re going to turn next when you listen to their sets but it always fits and sounds unmistakeably LHF. The Line Path EP is split between producers Amen Ra and Double Helix two of the group’s core members.
Double Helix keeps the bumping rhythmic dubtep patterns going like on the previous EP. The horn samples give ‘Chamber of Light’ a Wu Tang kind of feel when they hit, well Wu Tang if they also featured Mala on the buttons. The drums and space are as infectious as ever; Double Helix has got a way with programming that really gets things bumping. Tablas, woodblocks and all manner of percussive nuggets just keep rolling on the next track ‘Bass 2 Dark’ too. Bursts of jabbering bass synths hit out of the rhythmic shuffle and pulsing sub bass.
Amen Ra’s track ‘Candy Rain’ sounds like it could be taken from the Brainfeeder stable, its got a similar de-tuned, melted vibe that a lot of Samiyam’s work has. The unlikely coupling of what sounds like an accordion or a synth version of it, steppy rhythms and warm lazy bass tones give the track a bright lilting funk. It’s undoubtedly a highlight. He rounds of the 12” with a techy dystopian vision on ‘Trifle’, its all dusty driving synths and gritty textures played like the soundtrack to a sci-fi race scene set in the ruins of Detroit.
The Line Path wets the appetite, which is a good thing considering the amount of quality material they’ve got. It’s just the tip of the iceberg. Two EPs in and I’m already hoping an album is on the horizon.
The LHF collective are made up of many but this four track EP, the first in a series or two for Keysound before they drop a full length comes from Double Helix, Amen Ra and Low Density Matter. Filling in the blanks somewhere between Digital Mystikz, Dusk & Blackdown and Flying Lotus: LFH are a wide-ranging project that takes in not only London’s diverse culture but a global sonic pallet and offsets it with pirate radio sensibilities. It’s hard to pin LHF down. If you’ve been following their Sub FM show United Vibes where they often take up the airwaves with dub after dub or the showcases on Dusk & Blackdown’s Rinse show you’ll know what to expect here, if not you’re in for a surprise.
The first two come from Amen Ra and Double Helix, they head the group co-ordinating it all as far as I can tell. ‘Steelz’ is a heavily rhythmic number with chimes, bongos and god knows what else playing off field recordings, voice samples and a grimy synth lead to create a real roller. On a similar tip comes ‘Broken Glass’, with its choppy drums that lilt and roll in hypnotic ways around Indian chants and tension filled synth loops before descending into a wormhole of bass.
Double Helix ventures out on his own on ‘Deep Life’, which chills things out a little with widescreen pads and diva samples echoing through the night with a bitter sweat call ‘deeeeeeper’ that ushers in a big snare and punchy kick over a buzzy bassline. The only track on the EP not to come from the above is ‘Blue Steel’ a Low Density Matter production that is pure vibes. Trickling water, sci-fi accents, late night jazz stylings and a killer sample or two that you may well recognise from early rave hits that have echoed through the ages one pretty obvious another not so much... ahem. They’re two little dance floor ascents that have been used so much by dance heads and they still sound fresh today and really make this track. It kind of sums up LHF’s skill at taking the vaguely familiar and filtering it through a prism so it refracts and comes out twisted into new shapes and colours slightly removed from the reality you expected.
Enter In Silence… is a quality EP that only shows the tip of the iceberg of what LHF has to offer. They thrive in a parallel universe of their own that runs alongside dubstep culture, a niche they’ve been working for some time and the fruits of those late night pirate radio session and studio freak-outs have been worth the wait. Bring on the full crew and more releases.
LV have a sound all their own, the three man production team make a subtle digital dub music that has its roots firmly in the dub tradition all while pushing forward into territories unknown. Having released slow burning gems on Hyperdub, Hemlock and 2nd Drops to name but a few they hook up with Dusk & Blackdown’s Keysound recordings for a concept record inspired by the #38 bus route out of Clapton. Vocalist Josh Idehen takes on the persona of five separate passengers, spitting street poetry from their points of view. Sitting somewhere between the urban dread and decay of Kode9 and Spaceape’s beat-less ‘Sine Of The Dub’ or a less post apocalyptic version of ‘London Zoo’ by The Bug, LV carve a more human, free flowing niche that echoes Gil Scott-Heron as much as it does London’s bass continuum.
Keysound often explore the culture of London via its bass led excursions, Dusk & Blackdown’s own Margins Music took us on a ride through the fringes of the city and this EP feels like it follows on from that. LV and Josh Idehen bring the #38 bus route to life echoing the city’s atmosphere and people. Painting a sonic picture with words and sound even if you’re not familiar with the places it’s like a street bass novella. LV’s productions are creepers, getting under your skin with their subtle vibes, but this EP might be their most realised, instant and engaging yet all while keeping that depth and musical vision.
Keysound have stepped up a gear this year dropping more 12”s than ever before and doing it fine style too, with unique takes on the bass sounds of the underground. Starkey and Durrty Goodz dropped a killer 12” of hyperactive street bass anthems, Zomby did his aquatic gloop & bass rendition of label bosses Dusk & Blackdown, DVA showed off the dark side of grime and Grievous Angle re-fixing a jungle anthem into a rolling garage number all to great effect. But with Kowton they come with something all together different that manages to sit so well with Keysound and expand it’s sonic pallet.
‘Stasis (g mix)’ gets things rolling: here Kowton takes garage and deep dubbed out minimal techno and fuses it to a Youngtsa-esq half stepping dubstep sound. But lowers the tempo and ups the groove to create a really unique zoned out groove led number, which just rolls out like a long lost garage joint that Basic Channel and Youngsta forgot to make back in 2001. The deepness is hypnotising.
Things get minimal with ‘Countryman’, a four to the floor pump and a relentless bass pulse replaces the garage vibes with something altogether darker and sinister. The track builds and rolls with dub samples and a subtle groove, it feels so simple but ends up greater than the sum of its parts. The minimal half step house rhythms really feel like a fresh slant on the dubstep techno sound.
Kowton takes it deep with this 12” and showcases his unique vision in full effect, plus it’s yet another example of bass heads lowering the tempo and upping the groove, an experiment that’s working wonders at expanding the whole scene into different territories by bringing DJ’s and producers from all sides into the mix in a multi-sided tempo shifting genre skewing bass monolith. Kowton and Keysound bring the goods on this hypnotic platter, it’s a 12” not to be missed.
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'Jimi - whose enthusiasam for this remarkable genre is humbling - he say's "Now that's a single!" And let's face it, I know who I should be more inclined to take my dubstep recommendations from' Wendy Roby of DiS
LHF are a shadowy organisation and to be honest that’s just the way we like it. They comprise of a production crew of about seven. They keep it tight and have built a world of their own that seems both far-reaching and contained all at once. You never know which way they’re going to turn next when you listen to their sets but it always fits and sounds unmistakeably LHF. The Line Path EP is split between producers Amen Ra and Double Helix two of the group’s core members.
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