Levon Vincent / Marcel Dettmann - NS-10 T. Rex Edition

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  • Levon Vincent's first EP since his self-titled debut album from early this year is pressed on hot pink vinyl and features a collaboration with Marcel Dettmann. Those facts alone make NS-10 T. Rex Edition an eye-catching addition to the Novel Sound catalogue, but the buoyant chords on "Vengeance" represent something equally remarkable. The track doesn't sound typical of either artist. Aspects of "Vengeance" have Vincent's touches—his stomping drums and echo-bathed synths are there—but it's unusually playful and light-footed, qualities Dettmann himself rarely exhibits. The B-side is great by most standards, but the superior "Fear" demonstrates just how high Vincent's are. It first appeared on his excellent fabric 63 mix, and its swaying ambient tones sum up the CD's disorienting character. So much of "Fear" feels weightless in spite of an ever-present pneumatic thump: snares thin out into vapour, metallic chords bend and turn to ash. About six minutes in, a gravel-throated synth line shoots through that vast alien space, giving it some kind of anchor even as it's about to break apart. The scale Vincent crafts "Fear" with is impressive—at its peak, it's an endless, panoramic vista—but strangely enough, the track's fragility is its greatest strength.
  • Tracklist
      A Fear (Vincent) B Vengeance (Dettmann/Vincent)
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