LV ft. Josh Idehen – ‘38 EP’ [Keysound]

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.

With its infectious dub bounce and flow ‘Lost’ is a highlight right from the off. The opening lines “It’s obvious you don’t get on with this metropolis” roll of Josh’s tongue with ease, taking cues from grime but with an altogether looser flow. You’re soon hooked and ready to explore the city’s characters on the #38. The track plays off the tension between people trying to get on with the city and how it sometimes seems to be working against you. The dark brooding nature of ‘Early Mob’ with its nocturnal beats, sounds like something taken from Thomas Bangalter’s soundtrack to French revenge flick Irréversible, only more dub-wise. With lyrics about rolling with your crew and feeling like you own the place, a nonchalant swagger and pent up aggression. It’s a raw, menacing ride. The beat on ‘Your Coat’ comes off like a hybrid of digital dub and deep house, with flowing melodies and rolling four to the floor kicks. Josh lets loose here, unleashing an unhinged flow. Its infectious, those beats shimmy against the bass tones to create a bumpin’ number. The flip is more laid back, ‘Walk It’ rolls with a subtle head nodding dub vibe and free flowing rhyming over the lounge lizard Rhodes chords and conga rhythms. ‘Face Of God’, with its live sounding dub bass plucks and R&B finger clicks punctuating the bittersweet soul of the airy pads and heartbeat percussion ends the EP with a blissful vibe, musically at least. The vocals deal with religious beliefs and free associations to do with life, death and judgement.

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.

LV ft. Josh Idehen ‘38’ EP Promomix


http://www.myspace.com/keysoundrecordings
http://www.myspace.com/lvbass

Originally written for Sonic Router.

12"

More picks from my bulbous record bag… this sporadic feature seems to have slowed down a bit since I got a new pair of 1210s and I’ve started using ustream for even more sporadic shows. But here is another selection of music I didn’t get around to writing about elsewhere but just couldn’t help mentioning…

Non Person - Presenser / Mi Empress [Channel Zero]
After turning in one of my favourite recent mixes for Sonic Router the Finnish producer drops two twisted hip-hop infused dubstep gems for Clouds Channel Zero label. Mesmerising and dense but with an experimental playfulness these tracks shift and bubble in strange ways, seriously addictive.

Mark Pritchard – Elephant Dub/Heavy As Stone [Deep Medi]
Elephant Dub does exactly as it says on the tin, sounds like an elephant creating it’s own dubplate. Its such a heavy, plodding beast it makes you wonder if the complaints about half-step seem like a distant memory, until you hear a boring half-stepper… The flip channels FlyLo’s ‘Tea Leaf Dancers’ and an epic sense of soul into a deep heads down number.

Shortstuff/Taylor – Regression/Squeege [Wigflex]
Sublime 12” from Wigflex upping the game once more with Shorstuff bringing a flexible slinky ‘what you call it?’ number that echoes uk funky, broken house, grime, Detroit techno and dubstep all in one cohesive dance floor bomb. Taylor rolls out a slice of seriously blissfully melodic techno that feels like early AFX but built for the dance floor, playful, hypnotic with a pinch of melancholy.

SCB – 20_4/3_5 [SCB]
Scuba takes a brake from making techno infused dubstep and makes dubstep infused techno instead, and its way more different to how that statement sounds. He drops one of my favourite albums of the year so far and still has the pace to drop a couple of slow burning deep nuggets of techno bliss.

Desto – Disappearing Reappearing Ink/Broken Memory [Ramp]
Finally you can get hold of these tracks: bleepy computer game soundtrack eski-beat grime meets broken dubstep, again in Finland. Equal parts uplifting and playful as well as intense and heavy. Arpeggios squiggle and bass tones shake your chest plate. Both tracks nail it, more Desto please!

Rossi B & Luca – E10 Riddim/Police Are Come Run ft. Killa P [Planet Mu]
Massive riddim that fuses a funky carnival vibe with a hard hitting grime intensity to great effect, just like Lil Silva takes grimy bass into funky Rossi B & Luca switch it the other way around and absolutely nail it. Killa P turns in a hard as hell vocal version too completing a tough 12” that will be in my bag for some time.

Africa Hitech – Blen/Rmx/The Sound Of Tomorow [Warp]
Mark Pritchard joins forces with Steve Spacek for a brand new project that is looking very promising. Blen is a fuzzy digital dance floor beast that fuses an African house style party vibe with a Harmonic 313-like electronica, while the remix plays up the funky vibe more and turns down the digital aspects, both kill it. The flip flows on a meditative tip with an epic dreamy song.

LV & Untold – Beacon/(Mount Kimbie Remix) [Hemlock]
Big collaboration that I first heard in the mix Untold did for us at Sonic Router way back… A deep and warm dub style workout that clicks and winds with an organic eyes down dance floor experience. Mount Kimbie up the good time vibes and add a smidgen of glitch addled garage along with their addictive melodic sensibilities.

Pinch – Get Up Ft. Yolanda [Tectonic]

It’s pretty safe to say that ‘Get Up’ is pretty much a dubstep classic the vocal version with sometime Massive Attack collaborator Yolanda first featured on Pinch’s debut album Underwater Dancehall but it never reached vinyl to much disappointment to many headz, but good things come to those who wait and two years later we get a vinyl release with the original vocal, dub and a splattering of quality remixes from: RSD, Guido, Jack Sparrow and LV. They all bring their own style to the table too.

The original vocal and dub by Pinch uses smooth rolling bumping drum patterns, pulsing bass and dancehall dub accents to play off the soulful vocals that makes it sound as fresh today as it ever was. The melancholic feel that the vocals about moving on and not giving up, that shift along with the emotive strings comes across like the age-old house diva template updated for the dubstep world and somehow sounds timeless.

The remixes are on point too the highlight of the bunch has to be from Bristol legendry RSD. He brings his own wonderfully deep and warm propulsive soundsystem shaking bass lines, a beat that makes you want to wiggle and piano flourishes. It all comes together perfectly into a good time party starter that should induce a grin on any soundboys face. Guido also brings the class, with a remix that somehow echoes houses hay-day and the new slinky soul infused purple funk of dubstep. The subtle boom-bap drums build a smooth groove before deep house chords take over and play off the vocals to make what sounds like a long lost 90s house hit that’s been left to mutate and maybe melt into something by Dr. Dre in a cupboard somewhere ever since.

Jack Sparrow takes his version deep into dubstep territory with huge bass pulses and a half-stepping beat that still has a bump to it, this is one made for the big dark rooms out there. LV comes from a very different angle with a dub heavy disco version with plenty of rootsy vibes and the slinkiest smooth bass around, as always with LV it grows on you in a subtle fashion.

The ‘Get Up’ package is so solid, full of quality from the outset. Its worth the cash alone for the full vocal and RSD remix, yet you get so much more. Tectonic and Pinch bring the goods yet again.

Originally written for Sonic Router.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UX-pSuE4l0Y



http://www.myspace.com/tectonicrecordings

12”

A rummage through my record back…

Cluekid & LD – I Don’t Wanna Cry/Jupiter 9 [Bullfrog Beats]
The jungle vibes are strong on this one, emotive diva samples and Detroit techno chords play off some serious 140 jungle experiments with some soul shaking bass. Not unlike Skream’s insane ‘Burnin’ Up’ and last years ‘Monkey Style’ on Subalicious.

Geiom/Hizatron – Bubbles/Von Glooperstine [Berkane Sol]
Bag on sight white 12” business from the Notts crew. Geiom comes with a skipping techy bubbler, which sounds not unlike a robot short-circuiting to a garage pulse that switches up into a 4x4 bump. Hizatron takes us on a low-slung bleep’n’gloop tip, minimal in a techno sense but with an ear for fun.

LV ft. Errol Bellot – Don’t Judge/(Fantasic Mr Fox Remix) [2nd Drop]
Deep and rootsy excursions into dub: A-side, has lush horns, instrumentation and vocals off-setting the sparse beats and bass. FMF kick up the rhythm section and get squelchy on the bass creating some kind of garage/digidub hybrid.

Quest – Last Dayz/The Unknown [Deep Medi]
Some of my favourite anti-social tracks right here, epic slices of deep soundsystem future funk. Those breakdowns take you to another place, while the synths add the energy.

Heny.G – Area 1/Retro Love [Gangsta Boogie]
This plate has been on the cards for ages and delayed for to long, but now its hear and takes some seriously funked up dance floor kicks that bring the boogie while the soulful bass and pads bring the bliss.

Brackles – Rawkus/Air Pie [Planet Mu]
He’s been unstoppable this year and this 12” is no exception. Mad energetic twisting synths and that broken beat meets garage shuffle he’s so good at along with Shortstuff. Pure dance floor energy from the grey area that brought you future/garage/funky/dubstep/grime/electro/techno/house-U-call-it?

FaltyDL – Party/Alpafun [Ramp]
Low down garage funk with plenty of soul and the party vibes to match. Like Ghost moved to New York and started a warehouse party with a house band made of funk legends and free cocktails.

Sully – Reminder/Jackmans Rec [Frijsfo Beats]
Bumpin’ garage beats and a rude rough and ready bass pressure that sounds so dark and swung. These tracks have been a long time coming and they still kill it.