ROSE QUARTZ

FADE AWAY JUMPSHOT

2012-01-27T17:20:00.000+11:00

MP3: Mondo Lava - Life is Great

Really enjoying the simplistic, mantra-like exotica across this Slam Dunk Bodhisattva EP from Davis, California's Mondo Lava at the moment. Touching on an eclectic mixture of styles from organ-driven funk, primitive dub, and a loose, Make Mine Macaw-style percussive track, the EP somehow unifies a disparate range of the best recent lo-fi meanderings by the likes of Sun Araw, Taterbug, Ducktails and Dirty Beaches.

soundcloud

STRANGE NEW WORLD

2012-01-26T07:51:00.000+11:00

New video from an Auckland duo on the new-House tip, with a faded Italo vibe and luxury interests that recall the aesthetics of both 100% Silk and Future Times. Hear the whole EP at their Bandcamp.

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WASSUP

2012-01-24T09:21:00.001+11:00

New video for my/everybody's jam at the moment.

(via Gorilla vs Bear / VICE)

VIGO

2012-01-22T19:49:00.000+11:00

MP3: Bad Slorp - 555-9333

A little throwback to those early 90s golden days from San Jose producer Bad Slorp as he flips and chops the beat to SWV's "It's About Time" for a breezy update. Half expecting to hear some purple-tinged gulliness from his River of Slime EP, I was surprised to be hit instead with sounds borrowing heavily on 80s crossover funk blended with sensitive r&b moments and slick drums.

soundcloud

TRANSATLANTIC MELTS

2012-01-19T22:33:00.000+11:00

Branches "Canção para o Luís" from SOLID MELTS on Vimeo.

Total trans-national melter from Branches, the alias of Portuguese musician Pedro Rios. This video, from his new tape Ninguém É Como Tu on Solid Melts, evokes a blissfully disassociated American culture with its pizza bodybuilder imagery.

HOW CAN I RESIST U

2012-01-19T11:09:00.001+11:00

(via P4K)

RQ GUEST MIX 002: TOP GIRLS

2012-01-18T18:12:00.000+11:00

MIX: RQ Mix 002: Top Girls

Top Girls is the solo project of North Carolina's Evan Adams, who in the last year or so has been putting out some of the most quietly interesting jams this side of the post-internet underground. His music evokes a decayed and muffled r&b, inflected with the legacy of singer-songwriter traditions but nonetheless steeped in the ethos of the post-noise bedroom producer.

His mix for us today juxtaposes the familiar and unfamiliar, maintaining the narcotic yet wistful vibe that characterises his own productions. The mix also features a new Top Girls jam, his latest single “It's Over”, in which over near-ecstatic syncopated rhythms and synth mumbles, Adams' vocals explore the line between fragility and confidence.

Tracklist
1. Fleetwood Mac - Everywhere
2. Party Trash - Transform
3. Nite Jewel - Universal Mind
4. The Radio Dept. - I Wanted You To Feel The Same
5. Active Child - Ivy
6. Beat Connection - Motorway
7. Sigur Rós - Fljótavík
8. Top Girls - It's Over
9. Squarepusher - Tommib Help Buss
10. Björk - Unravel
11. Robyn - Stars-4-Ever
12. Gem Club - Breakers
13. Janet Jackson - Escapade

ღ ♋ ღ

2012-01-17T19:10:00.003+11:00

Sentimental feat. Indigo Bunting by Teams

ღ ♋ ღ by Teams

Woah! Two new ones from Teams . One iced out / blue eyed R&B zoner and the other a crazily funky loop-based glam track.

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KINGDOMS

2012-01-17T14:39:00.001+11:00

MP3: Fort Romeau - Jack Rollin'

100% Silk seems to be continuing the crazy run of better-than-the-real-thing club adventures with the new Kingdoms EP from Fort Romeau. Eternally indebted to Fact Magazine for posting this dreamy, synth house coaster that they aptly describe as having "YouTube-ripped and cassette-crunched feel".

(via Fact Magazine)

soundcloud / buy

MIXED EMOTIONS

2012-01-17T11:25:00.000+11:00

MP3: Tanlines - Brothers

Just caught wind of this lead track from Tanlines' forthcoming LP and it's a total hit. Love how the strong vocal-lead grows increasingly anthemic, perfectly backed by Tanlines' signature pared-back club lushness. The LP Mixed Emotions drops March 20 on True Panther.

(via p4k)

UNDERWATER MIRAGE

2012-01-17T09:36:00.000+11:00

Been really digging these first-person 3D voyage videos coming out of the Dior Nights internet collective at the moment. Like many of those guys, ~~it's hard to find much info about Internet Club~~, but that anonymity fits pretty well with the general inclination to borrow from past greats, pouring heaps of canyon-y shimmers over a loosely played Cars loop that ends up having a more 90s office music or even Boys II Men (on hold music) vibe.

RQ GUEST MIX 001: OCTO OCTA

2012-01-11T08:31:00.000+11:00

MP3: RQ Mix 001 - Octo Octa

We at Rose Quartz are very pleased to introduce our new guest mix series, where we ask musicians we admire and have been posting about to produce a mix of songs for us. For the first instalment we are honoured to have a mix of largely all new original material (!) from one of our favourite new artists of 2011, Octo Octa.

Octo Octa is the alias of Brooklyn-based Michael Morrison, who came to blog-prominence last year when he released the excellent Let Me See You 12” on 100% Silk back in September. Like much of 100% Silk's catalogue to date, Let Me See You and especially the sweaty, shimmering “I'm Trying”, skirts the line between a roughshod DIY approach to House & Disco, and ecstatic dance-floor energies that evoke NY House's early 90s glory days.

His mix for us, which he says is a sort of follow up to his previous Megamixes, is comprised of some released tracks and some unreleased and draft tracks. It works as a good follow-up to last year's 12”, employing the same lush, slightly hazy synths, and exhilarating/ecstatic vocal samples in true House style.

THEY CALL IT

2012-01-10T09:53:00.001+11:00

MP3: Albatross - Murder (Guerre's Suede Mix)

This super chill remix (from RQ favourite Guerre) of Sydney duo Albatross's "Murder" takes that track's brilliantly low-key vibe and organic, folky textures and drugs them the fuck out; the hints of piano and woodwind are gone here, replaced by Guerre's signature narcotic r&b production. The tone is contemplative and the sound borders on ambient, the violence of the song's subject matter abstracted in a totally fascinating way. The Murder 7" will be out soon through Life Aquatic Records (run by our pal, Jarred Beeler) - preorder it here.

facebook / soundcloud

RUN YOU

2012-01-09T14:46:00.000+11:00

Sounds like some sort of "chill-juke" coming from The-Drum this time; big time bass persistence under all the floatational, hazed-out melodies. It's from a collab with Sich Mang which you can grab at their bandcamp.

soundcloud

WITH YOU, WITH ME

2012-01-09T13:48:00.001+11:00

That last blown-out, digi-psych jam Lay Bac track we heard was only a demo so this new slickness is sounding pretty great. The Shortcuts EP is up for free download via Zoom Lens on January 21. There's a new one over at his Soundcloud from a few days ago, too:

TIME DEBT

2012-01-09T02:30:00.000+11:00

Another rainy Auckland morning is fitting for this new delicate CVLTS song. This one's from a split with Virgin Spirit; real filmic and dozing on the usual ambient lilt. There are a bunch of remixes up at the bandcamp, and a very limited supply of shirts and 7" records is available at their website or from Mishka NYC.

soundcloud

RUBIO

2012-01-08T17:01:00.003+11:00

New Oneohtrix Point Never demo that seems to run on pretty closely from the soft, oddly paced but ultra beautiful tracks of Replica, which seems, in a certain way, to be one of the genuinely weirdest albums of 2011.

(via No Fear Of Pop)

website

BLONDE AZTEC

2012-01-08T14:52:00.000+11:00

MP3: Coyote Clean-Up - Blonde Aztec

We've been posting about Detroit's Coyote Clean-Up fairly regularly for a while now, but even though he is so prolific everything he does is just so good. This one just showed up on soundcloud and clocking in at over 13-minutes is a chilly slice of weirdo deep house. Perfect rainy-day music, "Blonde Aztec" is also on a seriously deeep trip, evincing CCU's familiar repetitive-strains channeled through his Detroit-future-murk vision.

Coyote Clean-Up's Frozen Solid 12" is out soon on 100% Silk.

soundcloud

ITAL AUS/NZ TOUR MIX

2012-01-05T14:10:00.000+11:00

MP3: Ital & Bookworms - Smoke Central AU/NZ Tour Mix (90mb)

Next week we're officially launching our 2012 guest mix series (starting with one from Octo Octa) but to kick the year off in true luxury style, here's an Australian/New Zealand tour promotion mix from one of our favs from last year, Ital. We're stoked to be putting on his only New Zealand show (plus a Top Secret house party that he'll be DJing at), and thanks to our friends Palmer and Pocock for hosting the Melbourne dates. As usual, Daniel Martin-McCormick has taken a pretty oblique stance to song selection, hooking up with Bookworms for a blur of early pop, classic ambient and of course house gold. Tracklist below

Auckland:
January 20 at Whammy Bar (Tickets)
January 21 at Mystery Party Venue [DJ Set]

Melbourne:
January 25 at Buffalo Club [DJ Set]
January 27 at Phoenix Public House (Tickets)

TRACKLIST:
Jon Hassell/Brian Eno - Ba-Benzele
Jeff Mills - Human Tracking Device
Theo Parrish - Shadow Dancing
Tony Allen - Ole (A Remix by Moritz von Oswald)
M. Pittman - Cherry Lee
Anthony "Shake" Shakir - Marching Into Darkness
Motor City Drum Ensemble - Raw Cuts #6
Steve Moore - Zero-Point Field
Drexciya - Under Sea Disturbances
Mark E - Call Me

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YR LYF

2012-01-04T10:54:00.000+11:00

MP3: Time Wharp - yrLyf

New cosmic-r&b track from Atlanta/Boston producer Time Wharp. This one starts off with chiming komische arpeggios, before revealing itself as an expert r&b crooner with an R Kelly sample. Off the forthcoming BLK EP on Astro Nautico.

bandcamp / label

CAN I GET A

2012-01-01T18:52:00.000+11:00

Happy New Year! New 18+ track and video.

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SHINES FOR U

2011-12-30T11:37:00.000+11:00

From 100% Silk's remix EP of Peaking Lights' phenom 936 album, this Innergaze remix transforms "All The Sun That Shines" into a variation on their own trademark spectral hedonism. Retaining some of the dubby resonances of the original, the track is reimagined here as a shimmering, disco-ball burner.

Shines For U (Peaking Lights Remix) by Innergaze

POST-DIGITAL

2011-12-29T21:47:00.000+11:00

MP3: Oneohtrix Point Never - Up (Napolian Remix)

Just stumbled across this killer (unofficial?) video for the recent Napolian remix of Oneohtrix Point Never. Napolian reworks the original's desecrated post-nostalgia, turning it inside out to reveal the hidden-mystic party zones located within its decayed digital sheen.

Napolian also has an EP out end of Jan called Rejoice which you can preview here.

soundcloud

TRIMENSIONAL

2011-12-28T19:35:00.000+11:00

Ssaliva's Thought Has Wings tape on Leaving Records was another fav from 2011 and those distinct warbly advancements in a Boards Of Canada meets Rangers x seem to be continued on this new Vlek Records release. Hear more of it over at Soundcloud. facebook

Richard's TOP 10 SONGS OF 2011

2011-12-23T07:14:00.000+11:00

1. Clams Casino - All I Need / I'm God

from Instrumental Mixtape (Type)

Even if both these beats technically came out last year beneath Soulja Boy and Lil' B raps respectively, it wasn't until about half way through this year that the full mountainous weight of these instrumentals really hit me. And just out of Imogen Heap samples, I mean shit!

2. James Ferraro - Earth Minutes

from Far Side Virtual (Hippos In Tanks)

Ferraro's sounds have always been heavily responsive to mainstream of the now and what he does with it is always amazing in terms of quality of song. In fact, it seems a shame that he's buried it under all of the Xerox aesthetics for so long; the crystal clear midi-symphonies of Far Side Virtual are hugely beautiful with all those chiming naked synth tones, and about as triumphant as it gets. Whether there's an enourmous dark streak beneath it I'm not sure (ie. is it criticizing or just observing), but the ridiculously skilled take on everything-around-him is disorientingly bustling with signifiers. It seems more coincidental that this bright Microsoft dawn sounds about exactly like my computer-heavy childhood as I could imagine, but either way, "Earth Minutes" is wondrous.

3. John Maus - Believer

from We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves (Ribbon Music)

Hearing Maus' "Do Your Best" a few years back on my balcony in Brisbane seemed revelatory enough but "Believer" is just so perfect. Spine-tingles everytime.

4. Real Estate - Easy

from Days (Domino)

Days is definitely the record I listened to most this year and this opening track is so soothing to me. I'm not sure what the quality about Real Estate is that lifts it out of plain indie rock jangles and into near-Fleetwood Mac quality of pop, but it makes me sure I'll be listening to this over and over next Summer, too.

5. d'Eon - Transparency

from Dark Bloom (Hippos In Tanks)

This Montreal producer struck it so perfectly here with his Middle Eastern-tinged Brandy melody, real brittle and icy but those synth notes really glow. There's also something really expansive about it, full of some strange, grand landscape imagery as well as some digi-psych tenseness.

6. AyShay - Warn-U

from Warn-U (Tri Angle)

DIS Mag put it perfectly when they say Fatima Al Qadiri "does whatever with the Koran" with her vocal project, and along with the couple of seriously next level mixes (the mini-mix of Muslim Trance as well as the more general DIS one) has locked down one real unique warped vision that is eerie, pressurised and game-changey in a disquieting way. Nguzuguzu really doped their remix of this, too.

7. Main Attrakionz - Church / Perfect Skies

from 808s & Dark Grapes II (Mishka NYC)

Much like Clams and his blown out sincerity, Friendzone's distinct hyper-optimism seems to realize everything it strives for, which seems reasonably brave or at least highly cinematic. Poignant, sunsetty hip-hop that's weirdly Malick-y in some post-internet way. That grandness all over that Kuchibiru mix, too.

8. Nguzunguzu - Timesup / Jhene Aiko - Club Stranger Remix

from the Timesup EP (Fade to Mind) / download

It wasn't just AyShay utilizing mixes on sites like DIS to further cement their sonic presence and realized aesthetic; this Los Angeles duo swing their post-dubstep into all areas of shiny ass chart music and churn out crisp, heavy beats like "Timesup" way too often.

9. B£b£ Tune$ - R E P T I L E ONLINE / MADNE$$

from Inhale C-4 $$$$$ (download only)

This is more a vote for the entirety of James Ferraro's recent slew of early 2K computer voyages Under the BEBETUNES name, on some real console gaming and "funky" hip-hop future kick but back to the frenzied, dense processes from pre-Condo Pets material.

10. Games - No Disguise

(self released)

Just a real masterful edit in a year full of them; pretty much a perfect reworking, pushing it into as bouncy/glitzy territory as you could imagine.

Other favs:

Computer Dreams - Rain

Laserdisc Visions - Data Dream

Rimar - Higher Ground

Julianna Barwick - Envelop

Autre Ne Veut - What's This Life For

Inga Copeland - Trample

Oneohtrix Point Never - Sleep Dealer

Supreme Cuts - Jacy