Rezzett - Rezzett LP

Album

13 Jan

When I received the news via Bandcamp that Tresor would be hosting The Trilogy Tapes (20/01/23) and saw Rezzett was amongst the line-up, I got rather excited, so I’ve decided to look back at one of the last TTT releases by Rezzett.

Through the dust, speaker cabinets strain their old disused muscles, cones clad in grime and wires seemingly fused by time, comes the sultry sounds of Rezzett. The somewhat reclusive duo had long been a regular on The Trilogy Tapes label, and the Rezzett LP landmark the group’s first full-length release on TTT (2018), and what a release it was. Rezzett is without question lo-fi, the crackle and claustrophobia of the productions could show you tell you that, but they don’t make “lo-fi beats to study/relax to” the lowering of fidelity within their records may have been purely aesthetic, to begin with. Still, it points to a love of melancholy and childlike wistfulness. The duo strain and … their beats, through the heavy application of coarse distortion, create angular edges along the metallics of the hats and the punch on the drums that play together with velvety saturation that roll off the sharp edges. Due to the distortion and saturation interplay, Rezzett's production sounds like it is played off an old record, maybe mistreated, its groves clogged with grime and debris, or it was played to death. Still, an old record, nonetheless being pushed beyond its limits.

The LP starts extremely strong with ‘Hala’, which chugs along. The first track on the LP is positively industrial due to the heavy audio distorting and saturation making the stabs and percussion sound mechanical. The chords are a particular highlight on the LP, with ‘Hala’ demonstrating why the chords sound like the excess of the steam engine chugging away at high torque. ‘Longboat’ increases the intensity using tight loops laden with vocal samples and dense percussive elements to create a powerful wall of sound with adequate bass weight. ‘Longboat’ emphasises the duo's structural style, where each track has a live quality. Elements are added and subtracted on the fly allowing Rezzett to keep surprising the audience.

The highs of the melodic pads play like kaleidoscopic patterns, full of colour drifting rootless over each track coming, seemingly out of the crunchy expanse, and nowhere is this more prevalent than ‘Yunus in Ekstasi’ a beatless trip down the river. The track meanders along lazily, allowing a choir to flank the boat, ringing out a harmonising melody. There is an apparent nostalgia in the production methods, whether using audio effects to augment the sound into a lo-fi reimagining of the original synth or made to resemble vintage hardware like Juno and Casio gear recorded to tape. Each track wows and flutters wildly at points as the crunch of the drums and hiss of the synths are out of control, bursting out of the way.

The record's beauty comes from its many influences and how they are incorporated into each production. Half sounds like an updated Miami vice soundtrack in the best way. The tempo shifting from track to track allows huge scope nods and references to other genres. The record oozes cool. Its characteristics seem to sound like it’s been ripped off an old 80’s cyberpunk VHS soundtrack with all the colourful neon gloom that comes with it. The neon theme is fleshed out on ‘Sexzzy Creep’. The track is washed with these lamenting pads that creep over every instant smothering any breathing room in the track and mimicking the oppressiveness of films like Blade Runner, whereas ‘Wet Bilge’ takes a more grounded approach trusting on shimmering motif and warm saturated bass to create a mood.

A change of pass comes thematically and literally with the increase of BMP on ‘Tarang’ and its directness, dropping the sombre tones from more upbeat and optimistic melodies. Samples of Indian hand drums, looping them into a sort of hypnotic raga, introduce a revitalised energy to ‘Tarang’ along with a steady rhythm and pounding kick making it one of the more dance-focused entries. ‘Gremlinz’ shows the duo have more in their locker musically demonstrating significant early grim influence using skippy snares, 808 bass and a Mario coin sample to bring the whole track together. It even includes an adlib.

The standout on the release may be ‘Worst Ever Contender’ as the track flies at a breakneck speed, starting with a masterclass on how to build tension in the music. The track opens with a rhythmic mid-bass, making way for a stabbed melody. The track takes its time to open to a cacophony of breakbeat wildness. The production style sounds almost over-compressed in how it ducks the break under the imposing kicks evoking oldskool jungle and hardcore records.

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