Levon Vincent – Rainstorm II

Rolling, rolling, rolling, rolling, rolling, rolling, rolling, rolling, rolling, rolling, rolling, rolling, rolling, rolling, rolling, rolling, rolling, rolling, rolling, rolling, rolling techno music. Still glorious over 10 years later.

I agree, also my favorite. Just perfect and massive ! !

my fav Levon release!

??? is the most ridiculously diesel-fueled bass groove I have heard....earth shattering, room-splitting synth sounds

Another fantastic record by one of the most interesting producers - or shall one say "composers"? - of electronic dance music in the last 5 years. Time to say a bit more about it, maybe.

If one looks over Levon Vincent's oeuvre, one can recognize a distinct development: Funky old school Acid House in the beginning, then the change towards the subtle flowing, highly intelligent, melodic and partially Dub influenced Deep House that built his fame - peaking in tracks like "Six Figures", "Woman Is The Devil", "Late Night Jam" and "Double ted Sex Freak", all around 2008-2009. But there always was a harder, darker, more technoid, percussion oriented sideline of his work too, as it can be heard in his fantastic remix of DJ Qu's "Party People Clap" from 2009 or in the almost equally great "Together Forever" from his last EP, "Stereo Systems". It is this "technoid" line of machine music which is taken into new directions with this EP.

While "Rainstorm II" - in providing us with a most beautiful, harmonic, highly sophisticated composition and a wonderful melody - is staying merely in the framework of Deep House, with tracks like "People" and "???" there comes in something quite different and new: funky and raw dance tracks, at the same time stripped down to their rhythmical essentials - bass, bassline and percussion - and yet of intriguing elegance and musical spirit.

"People" is maybe one of my favorite Levon Vincent tracks overall, in which not only the great rhythmical work of tracks like "Together Forever" and "Party People Clap" is brought to further perfection, but also a very precise use of sparse avantgardistic sound effects becomes visible that somehow reminds of the Stockhausen tradition in electronic music. Listen to those rising dissonant tones in the last minute of "People" for example, or those very pointed out, sometimes even harsh hall effects over the whole track: wonderful! "Stereo Systems", with its most abstract "coda" at the end, but also "Together Forever" already pointed into this direction. All of this is highly innovative and serious electronic music. To me it looks like - once again - Levon Vincent has found his very unique style, pushing his own boundaries further and deeper into uncharted territory.

Fortunately, the man also heard his folks and repressed DJSF II in favor of those who missed the initial release - and in favor of the nostalgic times when records weren't objects of economic speculation as it became so sadly common on Discogs over the last years. We all hope there's gonna be more! Especially a reprint of "Party People Clap" would make a lot of people clap their hands.

great release! love the A1 track. Cant believe the prices are that high already!

Amazing music as usual, my copy is slightly warped though.

Easily favorite Novel Sound since NS04. The opening track on the b-side features Levon's trademark sinister keys and techno hi-hats. In track B1 there's an epic little crash right before the track kicks into gear. It gives me that oh-shit dance floor rush right as the music commences.
DJSF 2 is just...just tan-lined tits covered in baby oil.

DJSF II means Double ted Sex Freak Pt. 2