First Floor #169 – Maybe DJs Should Be Paying for That
a.k.a. Reconsidering promo lists, plus a round-up of the week's electronic music news and a fresh batch of new track recommendations.
On Monday I handed in the manuscript for my book, which I must admit felt very good. There’s still some editing and correcting to be done, but in the meantime, I have some good news for readers outside the UK. If you’re in North America, the book is now available for preorder via Amazon and Bookshop, and if you’re in the EU, the book should also be on Amazon, but you’ll need to search their site in whatever country you’re in. A quick warning: none of these new links will get you a copy ahead of the official release date—you have to order direct from Velocity Press for that—but they do enable people to order without having to pay for shipping from the UK.
In other news, I’m in Ibiza today. It’s only the second time I’ve ever been on the island, and its club scene admittedly isn’t my vibe, but the International Music Summit has invited me to come and talk about the current state of electronic music journalism. (Spoiler alert: it’s not looking good!) As regular First Floor readers already know, I have a lot to say on the topic, so we’ll see how it goes.
As for today’s newsletter, I’m happy to say that Minor Science makes a special guest appearance. I’ve also put together a batch of new track recommendations, along with the usual digest summarizing all of the latest happenings in the world of electronic music. And for those looking for something a bit meatier, I’ve tossed in an article I wrote earlier this week about DJ promos, examining whether or not they should continue to be free.
A QUICK SCHEDULING NOTE
I’m heading off on a little vacation next week, and will be taking a short break from the newsletter. The next edition of First Floor will be sent out on Thursday, May 11, and the normal publishing schedule will resume after that.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
Every Tuesday, First Floor publishes a long-form piece that’s exclusively made available to paid newsletter subscribers only. The latest one considers a recent announcement by Soma Records that it will soon be shifting away from the practice of sending free promos to a massive mailing list, and implementing a subscription-based model in its place. I talk to the label to find out what prompted the switch, and also consider the bigger question of whether it still makes sense for DJs to be receiving free music.
FIRST FLOOR ON DUBLAB BCN
Yesterday I was on the air at dublab bcn, doing the latest episode of my monthly First Floor radio show. I played tracks from Tim Hecker, Doctor Jeep, Pépe, Chantal Michelle, Rachika Nayar and more, and if you missed the live broadcast, the episode has been archived here.
Speaking of dublab bcn, the station is currently holding a fundraiser, and as the campaign nears its end, donations are still well short of what’s needed to keep the station up and running, so please give a little something if you can.
REAL QUICK
A round-up of the last week’s most interesting electronic music news, plus links to interviews, mixes, articles and other things I think are worth sharing.
Making fun of Coachella is easy—some might even say it’s hacky—but music writer Jeff Weiss somehow elevates it to a fine art. Although his piece for The Ringer has little to do with electronic music, mostly focusing on Frank Ocean’s live performance, his sharp prose cuts to the bone.
With conversations about artificial intelligence seemingly everywhere at the moment, patten and his new Mirage FM album (which was built using samples created by a text-to-audio AI tool) are getting quite a bit of attention. One of the better pieces is this feature by journalist Chal Ravens, who interviewed the UK artist about the project for Bandcamp Daily.
Tim Hecker was profiled in the New York Times. It’s not where I expected to see the Canadian experimental artist discussing his latest album, but the article (written by Grayson Haver Currin) goes deep into Hecker’s history, along with his not particularly positive thoughts on the current state of ambient music.
With the debut album from her new Avalon Emerson & the Charm project dropping tomorrow, Avalon Emerson is in the middle of a full press blitz right now. Yesterday a new interview with Philip Sherburne was published at Pitchfork, and she also appeared on the latest episode of the How Long Gone podcast, breaking away from the usual DJ chat to talk about the pleasures of raw milk, road rage and her teenage volleyball experiences. (Disclosure: Emerson is a friend of mine, we work together on Buy Music Club, and I was hired to help write the promo text for the aforementioned new album.)
Ron Morelli was interviewed by Alasdair King for The Ransom Note, and while the piece doesn’t include as many acerbic bangers as the L.I.E.S. founder’s recent conversation with me for First Floor, it does shed some light on his forthcoming Heart Stopper album and what inspired it.
Azu Tiwaline chatted with writer Gemma Ross for the latest edition of Mixmag’s In Session series, talking about her dual life in Tunisia and Southern France and also sharing a few tidbits about her forthcoming album. Accompanying the feature is an exclusive mix she put together.
Nondi_ is one of the most exciting new additions to the Planet Mu label. Her Flood City Trax LP was recently featured here in the newsletter, and now the Pennsylvania producer has now popped up in a new feature on Bandcamp Daily, which enlisted Jude Noel to speak with both her and fellow Planet Mu signee DJ Girl.
JUST ANNOUNCED
A round-up of noteworthy new and upcoming releases announced during the past week.
Batu, who already heads up the Timedance label, has launched another imprint called A Long Strange Dream. The new outpost is said to be “dedicated to his spontaneous musical explorations, conceived with the aim to follow curiosities and share his own music in a back-to-basics and spontaneous fashion.” The inaugural release, For Spirits, is a new EP from Batu itself, and will arrive on May 26, but lead track “Traverse” is available now.
The Local Action label family is growing. Clasico is a new sibling imprint curated and operated by ELEANOR, and it’s poised to kick off with Touch, a new EP from Miami club producer Coffintexts. Before the release drops on May 3, opening track “Ur Body So Smooth” has already been shared.
A new Four Tet single found its way into the world yesterday. The chilled-out number is called “Three Drums,” and it’s been released on his Text label.
Night Slugs co-founder Bok Bok dropped a new EP yesterday. Entitled Duetto, the London artist’s four-track effort is available now (via Night Slugs of course).
Galcher Lustwerk is best known for his blurry-eyed, late-night dancefloor sounds, but last week the NYC producer shared Adaptation: Original Soundtrack, a collection of 11 ambient cuts that he made to score a film by artist Josh Kline. It’s out now through his own Lustwerk Music imprint.
Kareem Ali is nothing if not prolific, and two months after the Arizona-based artist released his debut album GODSON OF HOUSE, he has the sequel ready to go. GODSON OF HOUSE: RISE OF A BLACK PLANET is slated to drop tomorrow, April 28.
The music of JQ has been featured a few times here in the newsletter, and now the London artist has unveiled a new collaborative project with Jon Dix. The two are calling themselves Candyfloss Mountain, and say the project is inspired by their “shared love of high-energy video game music, vaporwave audio manipulation, academic sound design and anthemic sugary melodies.” A debut album, Escape From Candyfloss Mountain, is scheduled to arrive on May 24 via the Métron label, but LP cut “…On Candyfloss Mountain” is already available.
MINOR SCIENCE HAS BETTER TASTE THAN I DO
First Floor is effectively a one-person operation, but every edition of the newsletter cedes a small portion of the spotlight to an artist, writer or other figure from the music world, inviting them to recommend a piece of music. This week’s installment comes from Minor Science, a British producer (and occasional music journalist!) who’s always had both a talent for subverting genre tropes and an affinity for bass music’s most eccentric corners. His upcoming 064 EP is bursting with giddy energy, but before it arrives on May 5 via AD 93, he’s dropped by First Floor to highlight a vintage slice of jazz.
Miles Davis “Lonely Fire” (Columbia)
Not many records have stayed with me right through from my late teens. Two that have are In A Silent Way by Miles Davis and Photek’s Modus Operandi. I only recently noticed the connection. In A Silent Way was my gateway to Miles’ electric period, which has been a source of inspiration ever since. Then I was watching this old Photek interview where he pulls out Big Fun—maybe the most underrated electric Miles record—and puts on “Lonely Fire.” He says: “This is the kind of sounds that we're looking to make with drum & bass at the moment… I see what we’re doing now as an extension of what they were doing then.” “Extension” is an interesting word. It seems unlikely that ’70s Miles would've regarded loop- and sample-based music like drum & bass as a natural progression from his work. (’80s Miles might've felt differently.) Culture moves in corkscrews—that's part of what makes it interesting. If we're lucky, in 25 years people will be “extending” our generation’s music in the way that Photek did with “Lonely Fire.”
NEW THIS WEEK
The following is a selection of my favorite tunes from releases that came out during the past week or so. ‘The Big Three’ are the songs I especially want to highlight (and therefore have longer write-ups), but the tracks in the ‘Best of the Rest’ section are also very much worth your time. Click the track titles to hear each song individually, or you can also just head over to this convenient Buy Music Club list if you prefer to listen to them all in one place.
THE BIG THREE
Ital Tek “Phantom Pain” (Planet Mu)
Ital Tek “One Eye Open” (Planet Mu)
Ital Tek “Timeproof” (Planet Mu)
It’s not easy to get excited about an artist’s seventh album, especially when said artist is a relatively unassuming guy like Ital Tek, but the UK producer’s new Timeproof LP is a phenomenal piece of work. Seriously, somebody put him in touch with Denis Villeneuve or Christopher Nolan, because this record is fully cinematic, its towering drones and darting, razor-sharp melodies sitting somewhere between the late Jóhann Jóhannsson and Hudson Mohawke. (Listening to the record, the scoring work Oneohtrix Point Never has done in recent years also comes to mind.)
This is powerful stuff, and opening cut “Phantom Pain” pulses like the biceps of an Olympic power lifter. Brimming with tension, the song’s serrated crunch is eventually joined by gleaming fluorescent synths, an addition which adds a touch of color, but make no mistake—the track is a real bruiser. “One Eyed Open” dials up the aggression even further, but does so while simultaneously introducing delicate pianos and disembodied vocal fragments, a juxtaposition that not only enhances the song’s inherent drama, but also makes it sound a bit haunted. Closing out the record is the album’s title track, a borderline power ballad which builds into a burst of gnarled fury, its soaring waves of distortion and melodic melodrama offering listeners a well-earned sense of catharsis.
Dania “Adult Third Culture Kid” (Ecstatic)
Dania “Last Song” (Ecstatic)
If I was contributing to another outlet, I most likely wouldn’t be able to write about my wife’s music, but in the context of my own newsletter, I figure it’s okay. Foreign Body is Dania’s latest release, and while it’s a thematic exploration of her work as an emergency doctor, the treatment of migrants and her own lifelong feelings of cultural loss, it’s also a spellbinding collection of songs. And if you think I’m biased (fair enough), don’t take my word for it: Philip Sherburne wrote some lovely words about Foreign Body in the latest edition of his Futurism Restated newsletter, stating that “the reverberant vocal loops of ‘Adult Third Culture Kid’ suggest an ambient This Mortal Coil,” and that “Last Song” makes “for a stunningly beautiful close to gorgeous and heartfelt album.” I’m not going to disagree with him.
Richie Culver “Love Like an Abscess (Aho Ssan Remix)” (Participant)
Richie Culver “Dream About Yourself” (Participant)
With contributions from Space Afrika, MOBBS, Rainy Miller, Teresa Winter and others, there’s a lot to like about Richie Culver’s new I was born by the sea (The remixes) collection. The English artist’s cloudy ambient textures and distinctive spoken word makes for excellent source material, and Aho Ssan deftly elevates it. Weaving in jittery synths and scratchy patches of static, he gradually builds “Love Like an Abscess” into a noisy tumult, then dramatically reverses course, guiding the song through an eerily serene comedown. Slate-grey bonus track “Dream About Yourself”—the only Richie Culver original on the release—is more of a properly subdued affair, but there’s a palpable sense of sorrow in its in soft whistles and drowsy piano chords. Factor in its talk of “bottles of urine” and Culver’s repeated refrain that warns, “don’t trust anyone,” and the tune becomes a real downer—albeit a bewitching one.
BEST OF THE REST
Martyn X Om Unit “Illroy” (3024)
The only downside to Martyn writing the foreword to my book is that I now have to include one of these “full disclosure” sentences every time I write about his music—which is quite often, because the guy has an obvious knack for making quality tunes. His latest release, a collaboration with UK veteran Om Unit called AJ^6, slithers through various strains of bass music, and EP standout “Illroy” is especially potent, its window-rattling bassline and percussive whipcracks leading the way as the song’s twinkling melodies leisurely gaze off into the distance.
Prozak “Ras” (Time Is Now)
There’s something special about UK garage. Maybe it’s the shuffling rhythms, but the genre’s uniquely fun-loving energy is enough to get even the biggest grumps bouncing. “Ras” is the title track of Prozak’s latest EP, and it’s a skippy 4x4 garage number with a rambunctious, fuzzed-out bassline and bit of a ragga feel, as the Dublin-based artist has littered the tune with vocal snippets that were likely snatched from an old dub record.
Hedo Hydr8 “Analyze, Reproduce” (Self-released)
Don’t be fooled by the cozy opening moments of “Analyze, Reproduce.” The track’s tinkling tones might sound like a lullaby (or maybe a passing ice cream truck), but it’s not long before Cophenhagen producer Hedo Hydr8 introduces chaos to the mix, their synths divebombing across the horizon as the song’s furious breakbeats twirl like rotor blades. Purely from a sound design perspective, this is impressive work, but this manic buzzsaw of a tune—a highlight of the new IDENTITY SAMPLER II EP—is fully capable of ripping through a dancefloor.
Calibre “Heat” (Signature)
The latest installment in a series that dates back to 2007, Shelflife 8 is a collection of tunes from Irish veteran Calibre’s personal archives, and “Heat” is easily the best of the bunch. A heads-down drum & bass groover, its jazzy nods and pensive piano strikes bring to mind the work of artists like Photek and J Majik, along with the moodier ends of the Metalheadz catalog. Lots of jungle tunes are designed to smack listeners in the face—and that can be great—but “Heat” sounds like it’s more interested in digging around the subconscious mind.
Philipp Gorbachev “Hector” (PG Tune)
What if Matthew Dear did an Audion record for Ditybird? It might sound like “Hector,” a swaggering (and playfully goofy) techno belter from Philipp Gorbachev’s new Move EP. Don’t mistake “goofy” for ineffective though; “Hector” clocks in at 155 bpm, but rather than smashing up the dance, it confidently prances around the room, it aristocratic pomp and crunchy, laser-like synths coalescing into something that’s undeniably over the top, but also one hell of a good time.
Sterac “Alastria” (Delsin)
Shining a light on one of techno’s underappreciated heroes, Delsin continues its Steve Rachmad reissue series with the Teknitron EP, a three-track collection highlighted by “Alastria.” First released on the Dutch artist’s 1998 album Thera (and strikingly similar to the Detroit sounds of that era), the newly remastered tune is a shimmering slice of sci-fi techno, its rippling melodies threatening to streak across the cosmos as the song’s soulful undercurrent keeps the groove going on planet Earth.
Maara “Awaken, Pum Pum” (Step Ball Chain)
Too dreamy to be rave music, but too restless to be ambient, “Awaken, Pum Pum” is a soft-focus gem from The Ancient Truth, the debut album from Montreal artist Maara. Bathed in a persistent pastel haze and imbued with a sense of childlike fantasy, the lush track drifts between sultry whispers and colorful glee, borrowing from new age, trip-hop and techno but ultimately sounding like none of them, settling into ethereal Y2Kisms that prioritize blissful escape over easy categorization.
E-Unity “BBB<3 (2011 Mix)” (TEMƎT)
Less than three years have passed since TEMƎT was launched in late 2020, yet the French label already feels like one of the most essential outposts in all of bass music. It’s certainly one of the most inventive, as evidenced by BBB<3, a genre-melding effort from Parisian producer E-Unity that shows a recurring affinity for the post-dubstep era. It’s been a while since I’ve heard something that reminds me of Brenmar, but let’s just say that the record’s whimsical (not to mention hook-filled) title track, with its chopped R&B clips and house-meets-hip-hop bounce, absolutely lives up to its billing as a “2011 mix.”
And with that, we’ve reached the end of today’s newsletter. Thank you so much for reading First Floor, and as always, I do hope that you enjoyed the tunes. (Don’t forget, you can find them all on this handy Buy Music Club list, and if you like them, please buy them.)
Have a good one,
Shawn
Shawn Reynaldo is a freelance writer, editor, presenter and project manager. Find him on LinkedIn and Twitter, or you can just drop him an email to get in touch about projects, collaborations or potential work opportunities.