Credit: Fizz Inc.
Fizz Vol. 1
[By: phonon, Israel Strom]
Genre: Miscellaneous bass, Nu jazz
Rating: 70
Cohesiveness: 76
Track quality: 67
Beginner-friendly? mostly
Written 2025/01/31
Turns out, sounding like the collision point between the cultural wormholes of dubstep and Mario might not be such a bad idea after all.
There isn't a much better encapsulation of this record than what phonon and Israel Strom themselves seem to gravitate towards. The centerpoint of Fizz Vol. 1 is the three remixes that essentially summarize the whole album in three distinct tracks: The "Mr Krabs Remix", for its nonsensical, cartoonish twinge; the "Pat Metheny Remix", for its prominent jazzy stylistics; and the "Mario Kart Remix", for its clear dependence on video game aesthetics. Between them, these three tracks define the album's key traits surprisingly well. Fizz Vol. 1, then, knows exactly what it's doing. Its groovy, evocative atmosphere work draws beads of inspiration from contemporary jazz, always underwritten by a chiptune-esque finish not unlike that of a pixelated indie game. Its definitively bill-wurtz-esque sound design flashes with sharp colour and vivid flavour, enchanted with the early Internet and all the maximalist vibrance of its cover art. Its enthusiasm is only outweighed by its bizarre artistic decisions.
But - speaking of bizarre artistic decisions - perhaps the weirdest aspect of Fizz Vol. 1 is its insistence to drag along bass music. And not just surface-level bass music, either.
With his breakout hit "polyriddim", a groundbreaking riddim cut that leapfrogged between a typical 4/4 and a spontaneous 7/4 time signature, phonon is used to pulling all the unpulled strings of dubstep. And he does so again on this record, shoehorning in the occasional voracious drop - like that of "orange festival" - intertwining it with the OST-like aesthetics in such a way that it seems to reside in them perfectly, yet always shocks when it appears. Dubstep spreads through Fizz Vol. 1 like a plague of locusts settling on a few specific cuts, and not just dubstep, but DnB too - probably even more so, with neuro-leaning sound design and fast-paced breaks joining the fray more often than not.
From a critical standpoint, however, phonon & co. have struck at an aesthetic that lies in an area of the sonic Venn Diagram that's perhaps too niche. It's unfortunate, because, on paper, the Internet-inspired songwriting and unquestionably intricate production are each certainly high quality, but the video-game-OST nature of Fizz Vol. 1 takes away from its engagement. Whilst it manages to tie together its tracklist quite nicely, the atmospheres spawned from this style just don't quite fit with the bass music snippets that propagate it. It leaves Fizz Vol. 1 as a gimmick album that would satisfy a very specific group of people greatly, but it leaves little impact outside this group.
That's not to say Fizz Vol. 1 is disjointed, simply misdirected. I'll be the first to admit that video game OSTs were never really quite my jam to begin with, anyway, but this is a record that feels like an attempt to emulate an OST with a few sprinkles of dubstep here and there, rather than a polished balancing act. Perhaps that's for the best - and, indeed, the group of producers on this album have created something wondrously weird - but sacrifices must be made before they can nail this aesthetic. If this is indeed the first volume, as the title claims, I suspect it will prove to be an apt foundation for honing it.
Listen on Spotify here.
you can skip this one [Structural] | (/100)
w/ Noah Denton
Relatively chill intro track with a couple of sweet, liquidy synths, almost feeling like the album is booting itself up, bringing in a fantasy-adjacent aesthetic with grand, cinematic, yet somewhat empty progression. To be honest, though, ironically, you could probably skip this one.
challenge32 [Fun] | (/100)
Very fun video game aesthetic, borrowing a lot from old-school video game soundtracks with its chiptune-dominant sound design and strong kicks, with a funky groove in the back. It's pretty 8-bit and an intriguing track to be so early in this album, though not quite up my alley.
Mr Krabs Remix [Intense] | (/100)
w/ benjamin francis, Noah Denton
Powerful neurofunk opening that gives way to a track that's housed in the much safer world of video game music, and although some of the atmospheres are clearly well-done, I do doubt the composition of the track. "Mr Krabs Remix" does dive back into the meaty drum n bass, but it feels uncertain about it.
fever sleep [Upbeat] | (/100)
w/ benjamin franics, Noah Denton
A more laid-back, funky intro that moves into a powerful dubstep drop, and promptly switches back again. I do wish we got a little more of that dubstep, because it was very well made, and at this point the album feels a little more like a video game soundtrack with the occasional bass music cameo. Which is still cool, but not quite the experimental masterpiece it could be.
weevil lore [Intense] | (/100)
"weevil lore" is considerably more aggressive than the previous tracks on this record, even with its long intro. The constant, slamming motion is flattening, and satisfyingly, sustained for a long enough time, whilst the pulsating outro is equally polished.
raygun blaster fink [Atmospheric] | (/100)
w/ benjamin francis
Jazzy tune with a lot of quirky sound design. The video game aesthetic causes me to zone out a little, but the sound design is amazingly intricate and evocative of bright, springy atmospheres, with a lot of groove to it.
orange festival [Heavy] | (/100)
w/ Noah Denton
"orange festival" builds tension subtley but well throughout its runtime. The bass music sections are insanely strong, whether that be the more DnB-leaning first one or the stomping riddim final drop, and the surrounding video-game-jazz aesthetics complement them well as a holistic product.
Pat Metheny Remix [Standout] | (/100)
The "Path Metheny Remix" stands as the second remix on this LP, and it sure is a fun one, with more groovy instrumentation and a clean DnB second movement. It suffers from its exceedingly long length, though, at nearly 7 minutes in length - the longest on this record - and though it's dynamic and has a lot of different movements, these qualities are not quite enough to overcome the runtime.
spirits only come at night [Laid-back] | (/100)
w/ Noah Denton
This track starts with a lot of substance, but quickly loses it in favour of an emptier, somewhat directionless atmosphere. Though there are some quasi-grand moments, "spirits only come at night" doesn't quite fulfil its mission the intro laid out for it.
blowfish snorkelling [Upbeat] | (/100)
This is another tune infused with joy, and it quickly warps into a bouncy house track. The production standard is very high, but not overzealous, opting instead to be entertaining rather than superproduced - something I can appreciate.
Mario Kart Remix [Standout] | (/100)
w/ benjamin franics, Noah Denton
The third and final remix on this record is Mario Kart, something which feels fitting given the video game aesthetic all throughout, summarising this album's themes quite well. It's fast-paced and textured, but not overwhelming, with rapid synth runs and a strong DnB section.
carousel horse [Switchup] | (/100)
w/ benjamin francis
Sparkling future bass drops punctuate the short runtime of "carousel horse", making it a whirlwind of bright noises and a uniquely written track (relative to the others on this record) for its much more melodic, fast-paced track.
pink city [Upbeat] | (/100)
Bringing it back to a more simplistic outlook on "pink city", with jazz piano runs and a shifting beat, was perhaps a good choice as we approach the end of this album. Though it doesn't stand out in its own right, this is a solid track for the album's greater purpose.
feral4 [Standout] | (/100)
w/ benjamn francis, Noah Denton
To finish off this album, both of the main collaborators (benjamin franics and Noah Denton) come back to create a deceptively dynamic finisher, which slips between styles smoothly - from bassy DnB to chiptuney atmospheres and cheery beats.
- orange festival w/ Noah Denton (/100)
- weevil lore (/100)
- carousel horse w/ benjamin francis (/100)
- Mario Kart Remix w/ benjamin franics, Noah Denton (/100)
- blowfish snorkelling (/100)
- raygun blaster fink w/ benjamin francis (/100)
- fever sleep w/ benjamin franics, Noah Denton (/100)
- Mr Krabs Remix w/ benjamin francis, Noah Denton (/100)
- feral4 w/ benjamn francis, Noah Denton (/100)
- Pat Metheny Remix (/100)
- challenge32 (/100)
- pink city (/100)
- you can skip this one w/ Noah Denton (/100)
- spirits only come at night w/ Noah Denton (/100)