I walked up the narrow passage to the 2nd floor, the massive sound system slapped the walls like pizza dough. Slightly intimidating, it sounded promising, but I had been to a few of these ,underground-Downtown LA music-art-scenes, and that grouping of words was starting to build a lack-luster reputation. As I entered the DJ transitioned using an amusing blend of blips, ticks, and claps, creeping to a build just as I found the center of the room – the bass dropped. All twelve 18, sub-woofers hit me like a canon ball to the chest, the crowd erupts, and I am hooked.
At Low End each resident is like a curator of an individual room in an art gallery. They each have a unique voice to add to the show, but they all to have the bigger sound in mind. Music writers are calling this the LA Beat Scene, and although many of the individual tracks are born out of the eclectic neighborhoods of LA, this culmination of new sound is quickly out-growing that geographically confined label. I like the term, High-Concept Music.
Image: Outtake of resident artists of Low End Theory before their weekly Wednesday night show. From left to right D-styles, Daddy Kev, DJ Nobody, Nocando, and the Gaslamp Killer. (Additional Photos can be seen HERE)