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Reviewing Quartzo Records Miami Sampler 2019

April 5, 20199 min read

All in all, this was a very diverse and solid compilation. There was a fair selection of quite a few genres and some fresh tracks in each of them. Quartzo stayed away from generic tracks for the most part in this truly massive 10-track compilation.

Overall Score: 82/100

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Rag – The Rags
81/100

After two years, Rag is back to start off the Miami Sampler with a fresh electro meets bass house tune. Unfortunately, the vocal is from an overused sample back but at least it’s chopped up and edited from the original. The arrangement is solid since it has at least sixteen bars before the first drop and some interesting atmospheric elements in the second breakdown. The drop has a fantastic direction and really shows how much Quartzo is willing to branch out with this sampler – a solid first track.

Trictonez & KRMB – Conquest
73/100

I’ve been personally keeping up with Trictonez since coming across “Blackout” and “Galactica” which are both stunning. “Victory” was a new direction while maintaining some of the elements from those other two, but the melody just didn’t vibe with me. Here with “Conquest,” they’ve done a great job pairing their sound with KRMB, a highly underrated progressive producer. However, the drop bears more resemblance to past KRMB tracks with just a light Trictonez touch and the staggered melody wears a bit thin after the first few bars. The break also contains some more KRMB ethnic elements and has a fantastic, epic progression to it. Overall, it just seems that they took just a few too many elements from KSHMR’s “Divination” and “Dharma.” To new listeners, this may seems like a fresh new take, but it just doesn’t work for me, unfortunately.

Seanyy – Turtle Racer
84/100

Seanyy has always had a knack for bright melodies and sharp rhythms in his future house track but seems to have struggled with proper mastering to soften the highs and bring out the lows. Here with his Quartzo debut, those issues have been somewhat mitigated and we’re presented with a simpler melody than his other tracks, but more emotionally effective in my opinion. It doesn’t just emulate brightness like some other future house tracks, but it makes you feel like you’re in a sunny field without a care in the world. A truly stunning feat and incredible to see Quartzo including such diversity in this sampler.

Georvity & Diann – Ramesses
82/100

Right after that fresh future house track, now we get a dose of groove from Georvity & Diann. A Fonk-worthy track, “Ramesses” feels too similar to Georvity’s Exposed Records release, “Tandava” which came out a day after. It’s also interesting to see Diann return to groove after a few hard trap releases. I really appreciate the two genuine breaks and the added big room melody in the second. Overall, a powerful DJ tool albeit a bit too similar to Georvity’s other release.

NoiZ Van Grane & PL4YFIELDS – Ouija
66/100

Here we have NoiZ Van Grane continuing to push his breakbeat big room style which I’ve truly just never been a fan of. I feel like it’s just too chaotic and simply not danceable. PL4YFIELDS added their slowed down moombah-esque breakdown which is another tactic I’m just not a fan of. It just feels like they’re trying to throw as many tricks as they can to increase the energy in the track and it feels too forced. However, I do commend them for pushing the envelop and perhaps this is just too niche for me or something that needs to grow on me over time, but at least it’s not the generic releases we’ve been subject to for the past few years.

PRCHT & Piaria – What Do I Do
~/100

Ah, here we go – the token progressive house track. I will say that I’m glad it’s not too close to Third Party or Manse generic style. I’ll refrain from giving this one a score based on my strong personal biases. I’ve been working to try and appreciate the genre more and there are certain progressive artists I enjoy, however this one doesn’t stand out to me. It does seem slightly more energetic than most.

Ragunde & EMKR – Spacebound
87/100

Now this one is just my style. I was fortunate enough to have received an early copy of this track and had a lot of fun playing it in live mixes. This stripped first drop is so controlled and powerful and the breakdown melody – holy cow! Goosebump! Then having it all come together in the second drop was just cathartic. I lose my mind to song every time. Nearly flawless!

Ausso & Axel Jones & Jaybox – Signals
78/100

I was not expecting to hear a bounce track on this sampler but damn, this is another solid track. The flute-work paired with the chopped trap vocals in the breakdown is hypnotic and the drop is serviceable enough. Bounce music was actually my first true love with house music and so while I applaud the producers for only taking inspiration from the pioneers in the genre rather than ripping them off, I didn’t feel as drawn to it as I do with other bounce tracks. It also starts straight with a build into the first drop which I truly feel like is such a cop-out unless it’s trance music.

Subliminals & BreakdeX – Night Out
63/100

Now I know that shorter songs perform better on Spotify, however I feel like 2:22 is extremely barebones. At least they didn’t start with the build, I suppose. Compared to the other groove track on the sampler, this one falls flat and isn’t particularly memorable in any way.

98.20.11 – Arch
69/100

To close out the sampler, we have the producer trio, 98.20.11 with another solid big room progressive track. This one almost has a bit of future house swing to it as well. It sort of reminds me of when Reggio went and tried out future bounce with his sound. Back to the track at hand, there are two major issues: Going straight into the drop and then having the only breakdown not come to any sort of climax. It just idles for 24 bars and doesn’t go anywhere. I feel like I got blue-balled by this song. I wish that Quartzo had taken one of 98.20.11’s unique future bass tracks to switch things up as they closed out the sampler, alas we leave here on one of the weaker notes from the compilation.

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