Pev & Asusu - Remnants / Surge

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  • The release this month of Livity Sound's debut LP, a compilation gathering all singles released on the label to date, plus a few new productions, is a landmark for the project. At this point the aesthetic common ground between Peverelist, Kowton and Asusu has been thoroughly triangulated; some recent singles—Pev & Kowton's End Point / Vapours, for example—while excellent, felt like a consolidation, rather than exploration, of the technoid hybrid the trio has made their own. Fortunately, "Surge" is evidence that the group has no intention of allowing things to stagnate. Its rhythm is fairly sedate, but the synth wig-out that accompanies it—a succession of tortured squeals, bleeps and moans that fosters a state of fight-or-flight agitation—propels it into fascinating new territory. "Remnants," with its pitch-black sub pattern cutting across a dubby halftime pulse, is a little more conventional. It's unusually spartan, though, even by Livity standards—frequency-wise it's mostly just cutting highs and tectonic lows with only frosty synth work filling out the midrange.
  • Tracklist
      A Surge B Remnants
RA