LIVITY SOUND

LIVITY SOUND (Livity Sound)

14/20

There are some labels you can’t help but back, often owing to admiration for their ideals as much as their craft. Livity Sound is one of them, bearing a sonic tag as definable as the handstamped Aztec glyphs that adorn every record. It’s a tricky sound to describe: finely-threaded grooves and dull thuds form the bedrock, but where each member takes it from there can vary wildly. The Bristolian trio keep the focus largely percussive, drawing upon everything from grime’s whipcrack-heavy menace and jungle’s delayed snare rushes to the metronomic precision of 4/4 and the iciness of techno-flecked dubstep, a scene Pev(-erelist) ruled circa 2008/9. Livity Sound’s output has been bereft of bangers – save for perhaps Kowton’s strung-up standout More Games – so while many of these slot perfectly into mixes, serving as excellent bridges irrespective of what angle you come at them, they lose their shine slightly when exposed to the light of day. As is often the case with comprehensive label compilations, the sheer volume of material can begin to wash over you, but the stridently heterogenous approach means it never drags. All told, it’s a solid release, and you can’t ask for a better entry point to one of the most compellingly complex club labels coming out of the UK this decade.

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Words: Gabriel Szatan