- Levi Bruce is another young and promising producer incubated in Vancouver's house scene. Like his peers, he makes mellow house music. His Chime, Flower & Fountain Cures, from last year, showed an embryonic sound in the making, an album of little beat sketches with the occasional stroke of brilliance. Now he joins Project Pablo's ASL Singles Club for his first vinyl release, and reclines even further into laid-back bliss.
The No Motion EP opens with "Mantra," where a chord progression unfurls slowly. He dots the backdrop with bubbly synths and pitched-down vocals, but the brisk beat underneath is all business. With only the mere shadow of a beat, "Rhododendron" isn't so direct. The wobbly mirage of vocal samples and vapour trails risks formlessness, but Levi's tenacious snares cut a straight line, holding it all together. Both tracks are easy to imagine on a label like Mood Hut, and they're solid contributions to a local sound that's crystallizing around ambient and new age influences.
On the EP's standout title track, hand percussion bobs up and down like it's riding a gentle current, while a bassline hesitantly feels its way around as birdsong chirps around you. "No Motion" is a bit like lying down on the forest floor and taking in the ambience. It's an immersive piece of sound design that's both captivating and tranquilizing, which makes Bruce's work unique in the Vancouver scene. His music feels motionless yet is somehow still completely danceable.
TracklistA1 No Motion
A2 Rhododendron
B1 Mantra