L-Vis 1990 - Ballads

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  • Earlier this year, Night Slugs co-founder L-Vis 1990 distanced himself from the pop ambitions of Neon Dreams with an EP of down-and-dirty house on Clone Jack For Daze. Now he returns for his first full release on Nights Slugs since 2010, and it's out with the pop and in with the peculiar. It's not called Ballads because it's slow. The track bearing the title is actually the EP's fastest, at 128 BPM. But each tune is so jagged and wonky that they feel sluggish even at full speed. "Ballad 4D" stumbles over half-time hi-hats, as if its rather rude bassline is slipping past something that the percussion can only wade through. It's UK house infected with a grime virus. The same is true of the incredible "Signal," a plodding behemoth that sounds like it's sick and dying. On the surface it's a discordant collection of drums, but underneath its pained wobble are bundles of low-end dynamite. The EP finishes with the previously released "Not Mad." The jerky bassline feels like it's moving in the opposite direction to its peppy retro-funk blasts—if I had to guess, I'd say he was taking a cue from his pal Jam City.
  • Tracklist
      01. Ballad 4AD 02. Not Mad 03. Signal
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