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WATCH: LV - 'Sebenza'
The Quietus , July 20th, 2012 05:42

London trio team up with a trio of South African MCs for new album on Hyperdub; watch the video for first single below

LV feat Okmalumkoolkat: Sebenza (Hyperdub 2012) from Hyperdub on Vimeo.

Remember 'Boomslang', LV's catchy as swine 'flu collaboration with Johannesburg MC Okmalumkoolkat which cut a bounding swathe through UK dancefloors last year? Well, following on from that first foray into South African house flavours the London-based trio have recorded a full-length for Hyperdub with a quartet of South African MCs - Okmalumkoolkat, Spoek Mathambo (who we interviewed earlier this year) and duo Ruffest.

Entitled Sebenza, it picks up where 'Boomslang' and its B-side 'Okzharp' left off, blending the sliced voices of garage and UK funky with kwaito-esque syncopated rhythms, toxic synth lines and chatty, off-kilter vocals. You can listen to the title track/watch the video above.

LV have long been among the London dance community's more idiosyncratic and exploratory operators, seemingly comfortable in whatever idiom they choose to work within. So their early 12"s for Hyperdub were sparse digital dub and dubstep, featuring rooted vocals from the likes of Errol Bellott and Dandelion. Later they traveled through aquatic dubstep in collaboration with Untold, stuttering electronica with Quarta330, and a pair of great records through Keysound featuring Hackney MC/poet Josh Idehen - the 38 EP and full-length Routes, which came out last year.

One of the group's members, Gerv, was born in South Africa, and after a trip back a couple of years ago - when he first met Okmalumkoolkat - LV began making forays into dance music with a more African feel, with 'Boomslang', some excellent mixes as Okzharp (here and here), and now Sebenza, which feels like a culmination of that development. The album is released through Hyperdub on 27th August. In advance, the Get A Grip EP, featuring 'Sebenza' and two more tracks, comes out next week (23rd July).