L-Vis 1990 – Forever You

Absolutely untouchable at the moment, L-Vis 1990 just can’t put a foot wrong it seems. His Night Slugs night run with house titan Bok Bok is a world-renowned haven for the current bassy fusion of garage, electro and UK funky. “United Groove” received the accolade of being the ‘it’ tune that everyone wanted to remix last year, and having had releases on Mad Decent, Dre$$ to Sweat and Sound Pellegrino, this essential new EP comes via his own Night Slugs label.

“Forever You” featuring Shadz on vocals is possibly the most poppy thing yet from L-Vis, but that’s not a criticism in any way – it’s an absolutley vital slice of dance floor heaven with Shadz locking his chorus into the groove perfectly by staying locked in one note, matching the stabbing chords beautifully. It’s a real treat, and hopefully could tip L-Vis into the mainstream over the coming months. On a slightly more laidback tip, “Into The Stars” keeps an arpegiated lead running constantly while a melange of beats are chopped up underneath in an outrageously funky way, and a loop from the acapella of the Pharcyde’s “Passing Me By” bubbles away over the top of it all. “Do You Remember” comes over as a more militant sister of “United Groove”, featuring the same style of anthemic, spoken word vocals but this time anchored to a vicious acid-line that gurgles and rises over a sparse soca beat. “Reprise” however keeps things simple and focuses on a clap-filled beat along with some added sparkles of technicolor synthwork that are subtle yet incredibly impressive at the same time. This goes for the EP itself – L-Vis doesn’t overreach in any way, keeps the beats and arrangements razor sharp and the results are frankly awesome.

Oliver Keens