RBTS WIN

Chill-hop, Soul-gaze, whatever you want to call it - there’s something funky brewing in the hills of Asheville, North Carolina, and it goes by the name RBTS Win.

Using analog gear and samplers, as well as guitars, Miami transplant Javier Bolea and Asheville native Cliff B. Worsham concoct indie-pop flavored boom bap full of fuzzy feedback and sunny harmonies that is as earthy and mystical as the converted cathedral in which they recorded part of their debut LP, Palm Sunday (Deluxe Edition), self-released on May 20.

Like The Avalanches, Beck, and Starfucker, Bolea and Worsham approach their beats with a whimsical toy box wonder, and pour their hearts into their nerdy, slightly awkward but sweet vocals. The enduring effect reminds us of wandering into a random tent at summer camp and realizing, “So this is where the cool weirdos have been hanging out”. Toro y Moi, Black Moth Super Rainbow, Prefuse 73 and Moogfest have already taken notice, offering them gigs, and there are shows scheduled for this summer, so watch for them in your town. Until then, stream the “Live From The End Of The World” (featuring vocalist/MC Schyler Chaise) below. - VIBE

We're pretty big fans of Blue Sky Black Death. I can confidently say that the Seattle production crew is responsible for many late nights of the Noisey staff being stoned out of our gourds, listening to some trippy shit that sounds like a waterfall pouring over one of those computers from the Matrix. Today, we're happy to premiere their newest remix, this time of of Asheville's RBTS WIN track "Death Magic." In typical fashion, BSBD takes the dreamy psych-pop track and flushes it out. The song is available on an upcoming RBTS WIN EP Palm Sunday - The Remixes, which drops August 12. Stream it below. - Noisey

The full-length debut album from North Carolina's RBTS Win, 2014's Palm Sunday is a hazy, often psychedelic landslide of hypnotic, melodic pop and groove-oriented atmospherics. Showcasing the talent of producer/songwriters Javier Bolea and Cliff B. Worsham, RBTS Win mix keyboards with samples and beats to create layered sonic palettes with which they construct songs. Imagine the enigmatic, sample-driven, experimental hip-hop sound of the Avalanches combined with the indie rock sound of MGMT and Phoenix, and you will be pretty close to the sound RBTS Win achieve here. Tracks like "Beach Child," "Tidal Prism," and "Purple Smoke," mix RBTS Win's yearning vocals over dreamlike, cinematic, orchestral samples and circular synth lines. Other cuts, like the languid "Death Magic," "Mountain Child," and "When I Think of You," strike a balance between lo-fi '60s pop of the Nuggets collections and modern, alternative R&B. That said, RBTS Win are a fairly eclectic duo and never push their music too strongly in any one stylistic direction. The result is that even the very hip-hop-friendly "Live from the Center of the World," featuring rapper Schyler Chaise, ends up sounding just as influenced by '90s British trip-hop bands like Sneaker Pimps as it does by the culture of the 2000s mixtape rap. There's even an undercurrent of vintage '60s and '70s analog electronic music running through many of the tracks on Palm Sunday, as evidenced by the flowing instrumental "Take Me Up." Ultimately, with Palm Sunday, RBTS Win have crafted a textured, finely woven album that pulls you deeper into its threads the more you listen. - All Music