The clock ticks off another hour, and Slug Wife ticks off another superb featured release; Vellum’s Marvin EP typifies the furious sonic profile of half-time bass music, and couldn’t possibly be in better hands amongst Slug Wife’s pristine roster of artists. Over the last several years, Vellum productions have snuck their way into speakers across the North American touring circuit, making him a mainstay name in his slice of our musical hemisphere. His signature pressure-laden bass lines are amongst the forerunner textures that popularized contemporary, hyper-aggressive neuro music throughout the US, and the Marvin EP is just as brolic.

For Vellum, tempo is as malleable as texture, and his releases over his career have ranged from pure sonic experimentation, to high fidelity bass house, to brutal broken-beat music and beyond. The Marvin EP sits in the broken-beat pocket, pushing bass weight at terminal velocities for maximum impact. Tracks like “Style Wars” and “Marvin” feature his classic stuttered arrangement and snaggletoothed textures at the end of each bar, giving the underlying beats a swayed, jivey rhythm. “Zones” takes the Vellum style in lyrical direction, with the English MC Gravity laying down tightly-coordinated bars atop a neuro-hop sound platter, contrasting nicely with “Resurrector”, a gun-slinging deep dive into subterranean low-end. From top to bottom, the EP is a stellar take on razor-edged sound design and high energy electronic music, showcasing Vellum’s undeniable production flavor.

As the list of assumed pairings between the Slugs and their favorite artists grew slimmer and slimmer, it was only a matter of time before they snagged a proper Vellum release. With features across labels like Inspected, Gold Digger, and Maraki Records, Vellum’s tenure goes without question, and the value of his productions follow suite. As always, The Rust will be keeping our ears peeled on his future experiments, knowing full well that they’ll be just as righteous as always.

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