Though it experienced a few delays, rap producer HANZ has freed his Reducer record on Bandcamp. Divided into 10 experimental compositions, which are just as prone to containing vignettes within the stated format, Reducer exists on a continuum of avant garde machinations. For example, overture “The History Of” stammers through a hacked drum & bass patterns and rhythmic white noise—seeming devoid of blending—and yet, it closes with a glitchy dub outro to introduce the lighters-up bravado of “Dues”. Simply put, HANZ hears contextual overlaps like no other producer before him.
In earlier singles like “War Fiction” and “Count”, HANZ seemed to be directing Reducer towards musique concrète and dystopian house, but those signifiers prove to only be the cusp in hearing the duration of the record. The unifying measure is an insatiable interest for the darkside of each genre he assimilates into his sound. Blips of familar 90s rap staples like a sample from Junior Mafia's “Get Money” are manipulated by the presence of a sinster bassline on “Capsule”. “Rust (Homage)” arcs dangerously close to the industrial metal of Rammstein, narrowly dodging the slur for territory that feels like a lost recording of the Beatminerz in the studio with Anthrax.
Reducer pushes the definition of rap production like many greats before him. He takes the principles of progressive producers like the Bomb Squad or El-P's dystopian obsessions and pushes them further into a wasteland fit for Snake Plissken.
Stream HANZ's Reducer on Bandcamp.
