Livity Sound - Livity Sound

Label: Livity Sound

It’s not easy for a label to gain prominence in today’s saturated market, particularly when a new imprint seems to spring up every fortnight. Bristol’s Livity Sound stands as a masterful example in how to run things: a small group of artists (the ouput seems restricted to the three label-heads) who offer different slants on a brave, singular sound – if the music’s good enough, that’s all you need. Yet the Livity crew go one further: the trio are the brightest bastion of a ‘local scene’ in the UK, and over the last few years they’ve been bringing their town’s soundsystem tradition blazing into the future over a series of disarmingly consistent, club-tooled singles.

The three brains behind the operation are Bristol veteran Pev, rising star Kowton and relative newcomer Asusu, and together these players have worked to re-set the bass-wise meditations of early DMZ in taut techno moulds, resulting in what is unanimously some of the most vital dance music currently being produced. For the label’s first collaborative album the Livity Crew’s limited editions are compiled over nearly two hours of breathtaking sound, making for one of the year’s most essential releases.

As Kowton once stated in interview, there’s nothing superfluous about the Livity sound. The tracks are largely exercises in rhythm, purpose-built for the dancefloor, yet the most surprising aspect of the Livity Sound LP is just how well it works as an album. Thoughtfully sequenced (the release’s two discs are bookended by the label’s first release, alternate takes on the same track by Kowton and Pev), these percussive workouts turn hypnotic in the home, toying with the idea of function and allowing their intricacies and subtleties space to unfurl and breathe. While for many compilations the sudden availability of high-quality mp3s is the reason for purchase, here it’s just the icing on the cake: this is a work that deserves to be heard as a whole as well as being pulled apart for mixes.

Album Clips

The Livity Sound LP appears like a distant transmission; the group’s sound so fully formed, the individual practitioners so united in their approach. This breeds a sense of otherness which is only strengthened by the glyphs on the cover (which in fact landed Pev in some hot water recently), while evocative track titles such as Remnants, Erosions or End Point call to mind the deterioration of powerful civilisations. This decline is translated musically to the shards of grime, jungle and dubstep which course across the release, gifted new life by rugged techno exoskeletons, transposed to powerful alien territory. In keeping with both the label’s ominous mystique and the fall of British soundsystem tradition, a deep dread occupies some of the release’s most impressive cuts, from the swampy menace of Vapours to the systems breakdown of new cut Surge.

The package, and by extension the label, stand out for the unity of these artists’ visions, yet within the Livity sound each of the trio has a markedly distinct approach. Pev, reliable frontrunner of the UK scene for many a year, trades in tricky percussive mutations, whether going for the jugular on anthemic Kowton collab Raw Code or mesmerising the listener with the ever-mutating strains of Saltwater and Aztec Chant. Later his tracks hit a sustained high note on the second disc’s latter half, End Point’s dystopic scifi terrain proving one standout moment amongst many. Kowton wears grime influences boldly on his sleeve, adorning More Games’ rough drum workout with venomous strings, and taking a muscular approach on the utilitarian Jam 01. His approach may be the most confrontational, but Kowton’s versatility is evident from the off: on his surprisingly spacious mix of Beneath Radar a decayed string sample is stretched out with palpable yearning before an anxious drum pattern batters its way into the mix. Well-represented is the relatively unknown Asusu, whose distinctive application of the Livity sound to 4/4 techno provides many of the release’s standout moments. The force of Velez relies on its stark nature, while the insectoid ambience of penultimate track Too Much Time Has Passed makes for a darkly pensive final sequence.

The Livity Sound crew are masters of percussion, and as a result when they let a melody loose it really counts. Those grime strings of More Games prove an early highlight but there are more surprise moments of colour: the soft insistence of the synthwork on Asusu’s Rendering makes for a tasteful moment of polish poised against Livity’s otherwise raw sounds, while the jangling chords which interrupt Livity’s maniacally sinuous bassline make for – if forced to pick one – the LP’s most memorable moment.

Livity Sound’s output to date has been incredibly impressive, but when packaged together it’s enchanting and utterly consuming. The unerring consistency of the tracks – there’s barely a single dud to be found in 18 songs of six-plus minutes – stands as testament to the coherent vision and staggering talent of these three producers. With the inclusion of some forthcoming releases which are just as promising, this is more than a victory lap for the collective, it’s a mission statement. In the dance realm, there’s very little that’s more exciting than hearing a group of artists at the top of their game, thinking as one, and Livity Sound is most likely the best example of this that you’ll hear all year.

9/10

Pev & Kowton - End Point / Vapours

Label: Livity Sound

Livity Sound are on a mission. The Bristol-based imprint, comprised of Pev, Kowton and Asusu are a label, a live show, and a dangerously talented set of DJs. The team’s streetwise techno mutations are critically aware of dance’s history, particularly the axis of jungle and grime, yet with each release they push indefatigably forward, their sounds unique and enthralling at each turn. Ahead of the release of a Livity Sound compilation in October (where many of these tunes will be available digitally for the first time), Pev & Kowton issue the final statement of Livity Sound’s first movement, a worthy follow-up to their superb Raw Code single which opened the year.

End Point / Vapours

As with both Pev’s solo productions and his collaborations, these are not straightforward bangers. Livity’s sound is subtle and dense, trading in spare, delicate arrangement, re-orientating the bass-wise meditations of early DMZ within techno structures. End Point is almost calm – a minimalist marvel comprised of high-frequency melodics, agitated hi-hats and emotive, scifi synthwork. The elements come together alchemically, sweeping the listener away to alien territories while retaining that pulsing club core. B-side Vapours is just as impressive, where a humid bed of eerie ambience builds to a showstopping conga rhythm. Once these drum patterns take hold they don’t relent, adorned only be laser stabs and menacing junglist atmospherics. The release comes as a victory lap for Livity Sound: stimulating both the mind and the body, a further mesmerising taste of two of the UK's boldest, most vital producers.

8/10

Pev & Hodge – Bells

Label: Punch Drunk

Once a scene-defining imprint, Peverelist's Punch Drunk has taken a back seat recently to his new Livity Sound label, co-managed with Kowton and Asusu. A pair of superb singles have found the Bristolian producer in fine form, and after three years he now makes a return to Punch Drunk along with Outboxx’s Hodge, offering two dubbed-out, sophisticated variations on a chiming melody.

The aptly-titled System Mix begins with a whisper, chittering melodics giving way to an unhurried flex of bass swipes and spare, kinetic percussion. Pev’s recognisable drums and rattling sub-bass pressures are as heavy as ever but here they’re given more breathing room, the crisp lows and minimal high-end coming off as a spacious take on a peak-time cut. The progression relies more on subtle textural modulations than any build-and-release structure, hinting at a refinement of the low-end dynamics of early dubstep, culminating in a slippery beast that could slay a dancefloor in the right hands.

The richer Dream Sequence bears more traces of Hodge’s ambient leanings, surprising the listener right out of the gate with a straight-up 4/4. Both artists use this space to stretch out their flickering melodies, while the mournful bells strike out as if at the bottom of the sea, drenched in mystical atmospherics. While Dream Sequence is a more involved and introspective trip than its counterpart, the rewarding climax of the intermittent high-end percussion culminates in something rather special, which could even dwarf its ‘dancier’ A-side in the subterranean depths of certain dancefloors.

7.5/10

April Roundup 2013 & Hiatus

Another month of excellent music is over. White Noise collects our favourite April releases (and a couple that slipped through the nets last month) in a monthly roundup.

In other news, my university finals are coming up and as a result White Noise will be taking a hiatus until the end of May. Expect a return to usual reviews in June, including some new exciting features and our second round of big summer playlists. For now, the cream of April's crop, and you can keep up to date on the latest music through the White Noise Facebook page.

Enjoy!

Tracklist:

Omar S - The Shit Baby [LP Review]

Murat Tepeli - Forever (Prosumer's Hold Me Touch Me Mix)

Divvorce - E3 [EP Review]

Arkist - 23 Summers [EP Review]

Joy O - Donell

Citizen - So Submissive

Bicep - Rise [EP Review]

Adalberto - In Your Face

Lorca - Have I Told You [EP Review]

Koreless - Sun

L-Vis 1990 - Ballad 4D [EP Review]

Jon Hopkins - Open Eye Signal

Pev - Livity [EP Review]

Kode9 - Xingfu Lu

Demdike Stare - Primitive Equations

DjRum - Honey [LP Review]

Not satisfied? Check out our Roundup archives:

March 2013

February 2013

January 2013

November 2012

October 2012

September 2012

August 2012

June / July 2012

May 2012

April 2012

March 2012

February 2012

January 2012

Best of 2011 Playlist

Pev – Aztec Chant

Label: Livity Sound

Aztec Chant

Hot off the success of his superb Kowton collab Raw Code, Bristol scene veteran Peverelist comes up with another awe-inspiring pair of club tracks that defy categorisation. On the subtly crafted A-side Pev’s trademark mind-bending beat patterns play host to throbbing sub-bass and exotic rhythms. The Bristolian has always had a knack for atmosphere, but when a rough-n-ready breakbeat intrudes into the subdued soundfield you’ll know you’re in for a treat. The junglist loop is sliced and diced to impressive effect in the track’s final minutes, as Pev takes an undulating approach to structure which cannily eschews traditional build-drop-breakdown dynamics.

Livity

B-side Livity has been floating around on the internet for a couple of years but its enduring power only highlights the timelessness of Pev’s creations, which sit confidently outside the dance world’s sometimes-oppressive trend continuum. A more peak-time affair than its sibling, here a searing synthline conjures unease, distorted across a dense field of hissing percussion, lending the track a viscerality which is cleverly counterpointed by the jangling keys that kick three minutes into the piece. It’s business as usual for Pev, effortlessly conjuring a pair of raw tracks that will please both the ‘floor and the headphone crowd, paying loving homage to the UK scene’s sonic history while never walking anyone’s path but his own.

8/10