LV

Originating from South London in England, the garage and dubstep collective L.V. crafts swinging rhythms that fuse dancehall reggae with South African kwaito. The project first took shape as a trio of producers—Gervase Gordon, Will Horrocks, and Si Williams—who started creating tracks around 2000 during their university years. Between 2007 and 2010 they put out nearly a dozen 12" singles on respected imprints including Hyperdub, Keysound, 2nd Drop, and Hemlock. Their debut outing, the dub reggae cut “Globetrotting,” spotlighted vocalist Errol Bellot, after which the group kept working with additional singers while drawing fresh material from Jamaican and African traditions.

Keysound issued the debut album Routes in 2011, a set that featured vocalist and poet Josh Idehen on every track. The following year Hyperdub released Sebenza, which brought together South African vocalists Okmalumkoolkat (previously heard on the 2010 single “Boomslang”) and Spoek Mathambo plus the production and MC duo Ruffest. Gordon departed after that record, reducing L.V. to the duo of Horrocks and Williams; the pair also launched an experimental hip-hop side venture called SwamiMillion. Another full-length collaboration with Idehen, Islands, surfaced on Keysound in 2014.

In 2015 L.V. joined the roster of Gilles Peterson’s Brownswood Recordings and delivered their fourth album, Ancient Mechanisms, which included contributions from Armenian pianist Tigran Hamasyan, an artist the duo had first worked with in 2012.