The shape-shifting sound of Low End Activist continues to pivot around an axis of bassweight pressure with the launch of their self-titled label – the appropriate vessel to take them deeper into sci-fi scented sonics with an ‘ardcore swagger. Previous drops on Sneaker Social Club and Seagrave have seen the shadowy technician mangling grime, jungle and dubstep tropes with all the grit and flair of the most visionary sample sorcerers. At times, they’ve built their beatscapes up around fierce MC spots from such legends as Flowdan and Trim, but while there’s more to come on the vocal tip for the LEA series, this first installment works in a strictly instrumental fashion.
Hi-tech breakbeat de/re-construction is the focus across all three tracks on LEA001, with atmospheres so densely rendered you can feel them sticking to your skin like the sweat of a well-slicked basement session. ‘Engineers Origins’ emits pure darkcore energy and icy stabs of future-shock industrialism, while ‘Look Up’ shivers with off-key orchestrations. ‘Probability 1’ gets deep in the break edit and throws in an iconic low end rumble that should spark intense reveries amongst anyone with even a passing appreciation for bass. Like the most potent foundational jungle, all three tracks swerve regimented structure in favour of moody exploration around a suite of themes and sounds, slipping time in style and setting up the LEA series for further intense sonic treatments to come.
Low End Activist on an industrial dancehall tip featuring Vybz Kartel approved vocalist Sikka Rymes including alternate updates from Low Jack and Loraine James.
a1. Low End Activist - Invite Chaos (Kill Dem) ft Sikka Rymes
a2. Low End Activist - Invite Chaos (Instrumental)
b1. Low End Activist - Invite Chaos (Low Jack remix)
b2. Low End Activist - Invite Chaos (Loraine James remix)
After vocal-led 12”s featuring the likes of Razor and Sikka Rymes, Low End Activist pivots back towards purely instrumental territory for further explorations in the hybridised hardcore sphere. There’s an over-arching air of introspection to the five tracks assembled here, as LEA’s signature bass ructions and jagged, roughly-hewn drums offset with a widescreen line in melancholia.
From tweaked out hi-vis synth wobbles to dust-encrusted soundtrack loops, crushing percussive textures to the finest slithers of rhythm, this is densely packed, sample heavy tackle pulling in multiple directions in any one bar. The craft behind each piece is tangible, yet for all the studio flex it’s the ambiguous nature of the melodic and atmospheric material which deepens the impact of the music. Continuing an approach displayed on the earlier Engineers Origins 12”, LEA ignores formalised structure to instead explore the lie of each track in a non-linear fashion as though they were a planetoid pockmarked with bass craters and lit by irregular solar flares. Consider LEA004 an astral package holiday to five distinct destinations without an itinerary stifling the experience.
The latest drop from Low End Activist finds him teaming up with East London’s Razor for a blistering, mutant grime throwdown. Razor has been coming up for some time now, and the clue is in his name. Staggering, swaggering, diamond-sharp lines bending and flexing over LEA’s 10-tonne beat. Stepping on from past work with the likes of Filthy Gears and Trooh Hippi, this is as clear a statement of Razor’s skills as you need to hear. His versatility reaches beyond purist grime to become something more malleable – the perfect fit for the grey area of bassbin pressure LEA occupies.
On the B side, the first remix comes from John T. Gast, who dubs ‘Get Dark’ out in superlative fashion. The downcast lead lick interplays with a warm, rounded sub and Razor pings through the echo chamber for a dreamy flip of the original. Oxford-rooted producer Silas brings something more slippery to his version, teasing a weightless lead-in which drops anchor in devastating fashion around a bass that curves time and space. Low End Activism continues to yield rule breaking sonic matter ruder than the rest.
a1. Low End Activist ft Razor - Get Dark
a2. Low End Activist - Get Dark (Instrumental)
b1. Low End Activist - Get Dark (John T. Gast Cowbell Mix)
