STM 065 - Rrose

“Secret Thirteen Mix 065” is a graphic and systematic music selection that seamlessly connects 19 specific records released between 1965 and 2013. This compilation features the works of esteemed American composers such as Terry Riley, Charlemagne Palestine, and Alvin Lucier, carefully combined with recordings from contemporary electronic music luminaries like Pan Sonic, Farben, The Haxan Cloak, and Lee Gamble, creating a scenic and continuous listening experience.

The author of the mix is Rrose, a contemporary techno producer, performer, and DJ who operates under a pseudonym inspired by Marcel Duchamp's fictional persona Rrose Sélavy (Eros, c'est la vie). The Rrose project emerged in 2011, but the individual behind it is far from a newcomer to the music scene. Having delved into the depths of electronic music and various art mediums since the early 1990s, Rrose has developed a solid foundation in both musical and managerial knowledge. Rrose is known for maintaining a certain level of anonymity, stating, "I'm not trying to remain anonymous per se, just trying to occupy a tidy, humble place on the internet and keep the project as self-contained as possible." Rrose has released numerous records on the legendary Sandwell District label and on the imprint Eaux. Rrose has also collaborated with notable artists such as Bob Ostertag, Dadub, Matmos, and Minilogue. Rrose’s work is characterized by strict rhythms, repetitive hypnotic patterns, and the meticulous use of hardware effects. By following Rrose’s mixes on Resident Advisor and Electronique.it, Secret Thirteen Journal reveals another side of Rrose and invites all high-quality music lovers to explore this influential mix.

“Secret Thirteen Mix 065” is a measured compilation that ideologically, technologically, and emotionally emerges, evolves, and expands. The structural and conceptual development of this mix is deliberate, precise, and tactful. The impression that this mix is a long, sustained composition never fades throughout the listening experience. Rrose deeply explores shapeless and experimental sounds that transcend the club music frames typically associated with their personal creations. The mix’s foundation is built on prolonged sweeping atmospheres, formless rhythmic convulsions, and a three-dimensional sonorous space. The background is rich with diverse percussion, tribal motifs, and digitized field recordings that appear intermittently. The skilled and expressive use of various hardware in each included piece enriches the overall composition with particularity, vividness, and innovation. Imaginative and hypnotic rhythmic sequences arise at just the right moments, ensuring that attention and sensation are maintained until the very end.

“Secret Thirteen Mix 065” is akin to Marcel Duchamp's complex cubist painting “Sad Young Man in a Train,” with its murky surroundings and the subordination of representational fidelity to abstract composition. The blurred, theatrically colored “moving” landscape in the painting reflects an alternative narrative perspective. Rrose’s mix seems to carry an idea related to early Italian Futurists, who emphasized and glorified themes associated with contemporary concepts of the future, including speed, technology, novelty, and even violence.