Reso
Ricochet

A total blast. I can't find other words to describe the debut of Reso, aka Alex Melia, at Hospital Records. Although he had already released an EP, Ricochet is indeed the first album with the famous drum and bass label, a record created according to the label's parameters, with all the tracks ready to make hats drop. So expect high-speed beats, a not-so-obvious change for an artist historically linked to dubstep, a genre increasingly destined to disappear—or transform—due to the natural rejection of the record industry: basically, too much of it was being produced, and the genre is perhaps not without an expiration date. Drum and bass, however, doesn't seem to suffer from the ailments of age, and as long as there are elements like Melia, I add that we can sleep easy. A fun and entertaining album, positive and noisy, but never stupid or superficial, maniacal in production as the English producer has accustomed us to, and if you've listened to Tangram, you know what I'm talking about.

Ricochet doesn't start with a bang, but with a roar called Taiga, already a classic of Hospital in record time and a track that made its boss Tony "London Elektricity" Colman fall in love. Epic dreamy start, almost progressive rock, but by the second minute, we're already in the relentless vortex of the drum machines. Or almost, since the percussion in the first part sounds like samples of authentic drums, just cut to the extreme and brought to inhuman speeds. Halfway through the track, it takes off into the stratosphere with the drum sample that made Squarepusher famous. Reso knows how to use it best, creating an intricate mosaic, but the synths also grow in full harmony, creating enveloping melodies that rise above a bass mare-magnum. A simply stunning track. Move It further heats the atmosphere with its cheeky spirit; it's a hard drum and bass track, dominated by a screeching bassline, yet structured as a "floor-filler," you have to listen to it to understand. The effect is like being on the Tagadà, the legendary amusement ride, especially in the hilarious second part, which winks at dubstep. The same can be said for the single The Blob.

Coming Back To You is a melodic track with a vocal sample that sets up a free-form, almost jazz line. This part literally stuns the listener and showcases Melia's inventive production, you never know what to expect the next minute. The other big shot of Ricochet is not the titular track, robust but not memorable, but the wonderful Callisto, the highest point along with Taiga and its natural "twin." You can feel Reso's passion for video games and Japanese anime; even though there aren't vocal samples from robotic sagas here, it's not hard to imagine yourself on some arcade machine while listening to the evocative introduction. Of course, here too, you descend from the clear sky into a forest of highly elaborate rhythmic patterns, into which a schizoid bassline wades with ease. In the second part, the snares become relentless, as if the track were played by a frenzied bionic drummer. The closing is mind-blowing. A track that demonstrates this musician's skill, both in composition and mastering; the sounds are crystal clear and the rendering a joy for the ears. In the final part of the album, the rhythms slow down to try something different and more relaxing (Happy Travels) and a recycle from the previous EP Pulse Code (Unexist), a very forgivable lightness given the stratospheric quality. A great album that I recommend if you want to hear some excellent drum and bass, but with a character all its own. If you're interested in this artist and want to find out what he's capable of, I recommend listening to the previous Tangram, Temjin, and the old independent works, you won't regret it.