First Floor #231 – A Different Sort of Clown Show
a.k.a. Thoughts on Ron Morelli's recent podcast appearance and Shackleton's collaborative endeavors, plus a round-up of the latest electronic music news and a fresh slate of new track recommendations.
Ron Morelli was on a podcast. Maybe you heard about it. (Based on the sheer volume of unsolicited “have you seen this?” messages I’ve been sent in the past two days, there’s a good chance you have.)
The podcast in question is called System of Systems, and I’m not going to link to it here, because, frankly, it’s a marginal right-wing undertaking that’s likely delighting in all of the outrage (and traffic) Morelli’s appearance has generated. (Earlier this week, the episode had fewer than 200 listens; it’s now over 3000.) Hosted by Adam Lehrer and Matthew Denicola—you may recognize the former as a writer who was axed from The Quietus back in 2021 after tweeting an article by controversial alt-right figure DC Miller—the show seems to primarily be a vehicle for grievance, with “libtards” and “globalists” as the primary targets. I listened to the entire episode, which was littered with praise for Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, contempt for migrants, sexist attacks on Kamala Harris (e.g. repeatedly calling her a “bitch” and insinuating that she slept her way into power) and vaguely defined nostalgia for the way things used to be. (Oddly enough, the time period they most frequently seemed to idealize was the 1980s, which seems like a rather unusual choice, although it not surprisingly coincides with when these guys were children.)
As the episode went on, and the conversation descended further and further into “drunk uncle who ‘does his own research’ ranting at Thanksgiving” territory, I was surprised—not by the content, which was honestly pretty run-of-the-mill MAGA nonsense, but by how incredibly boring it all was. It was just an endless stream of undercooked, underinformed opinions, overconfidently by three dudes who’ve grown severely disillusioned with the world and have sadly drawn all the wrong conclusions about what’s gone wrong.
I don’t want to get too far into the political weeds, but there’s plenty about the current political, economic, social and cultural landscape that’s ripe for critique. Corporations are running amok, politicians are corrupt, the media is in shambles, social media is a nightmare, wars are raging and climate change just might kill us all. As the old adage goes, “if you’re not mad, you’re not paying attention,” but this podcast felt like a prime example of what happens when that anger festers, turns malignant and gets redirected towards some of the most asinine political stances imaginable. It would be pathetic, if it wasn’t so potentially dangerous.
Obviously the stakes are far lower in the electronic music sphere, but it too is deserving of critical examination. Anyone who’s been following the genre in recent years has clearly seen that certain aspects of the culture / industry have gone off the rails, and that’s why I was happy to platform Morelli with an interview here in the newsletter last year.
Self-righteous Twitter and Reddit moralizers might be tripping over themselves right now to say that Morelli and L.I.E.S. are irrelevant or always sucked, but that’s just not true. L.I.E.S. was easily was of the most important electronic music labels of the 2010s, its influence right up there with Hessle Audio, Night Slugs, PAN or any other imprint you might list. (This might be a minority opinion, but I think L.I.E.S. has still been pretty excellent in the 2020s too.) Morelli was the driving force behind that, and I knew that he was one of the few notable figures who’d speak out about the commercialization and trivialization of dance music.
When that interview went live, it got a lot of attention, and while some of that stemmed from readers reveling in the cheap pleasure of reading a known grump refer to contemporary DJ culture as a “clown show,” Morelli’s words also resonated with a lot of dedicated electronic music artists, fans and professionals who felt the genre had gone awry in the aftermath of the pandemic. Were all of those people closet right-wingers? Of course not, but thanks to this podcast appearance, Morelli has undermined not only his own critiques, but the credibility of anyone who declares their dissatisfaction with where dance music and DJ culture are headed. He’s made it easier for people to assume that anyone complaining about Instagram DJs, pop edits or pretty much any aspect of the culture is not just bitter and out of touch, but probably racist, sexist, homophobic and small-minded too.
That’s a nonsensical leap to make, but every time some middle-aged guy with a platform transitions from (seemingly) reasonable critique to suddenly spouting off about George Soros and saying Trump is the only one who can save America, it gives credence to the idea that anyone who’s critical of contemporary culture or questions the status quo is in reality harboring some noxious beliefs.
“Why would you listen to some DJ’s political opinion?”
That was by far the smartest thing Morelli said on this podcast, although it doesn’t exactly jive with the fact that he chose to go on said podcast in the first place. It’s profoundly weird that he didn’t choose to follow his own advice, and given his repeated comments that he would surely be “cancelled” after appearing on the show, he clearly knew what he was doing. I don’t know Morelli all that well personally, but I’ve always respected him and his work; moving ahead, I don’t see how I could continue to support him.
Maybe that’s not fair. Artists are entitled to their own opinions, and most of the time, I’d argue that an individual DJ’s personal political leanings don’t—and shouldn’t—qualify as news. Morelli, however, is more than “just” a DJ; he’s an important figure, and although he certainly isn’t the only person in electronic music with right-wing views, he voluntarily put that information into the world, knowing what the likely response would be. And just as artists are entitled to their own political beliefs, so are fans. So are bookers. So are his colleagues. If anyone finds an artist’s beliefs abhorrent, they’re within their rights to stop working with, listening to or associating with that person. There’s nothing more American than the free market, but somehow, I don’t think Morelli or the hosts of this podcast are going to see it that way.
Anyways… maybe we should get into today’s newsletter digest. Earlier this week, I did a deep dive into the music of Shackleton, taking stock of the many, many collaborations he’s done over the years. You’ll find that below, alone with the usual assortment of news items, reading links, new release announcements and track recommendations. All of those recommendations come from releases that dropped during the past week, as does the special guest recommendation I’ve lined up from Baltimore native and fast-rising club talent JIALING.
Let’s get started.
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, which is now (temporarily) open to everyone, takes a detailed look at the Shackleton catalog, highlighting the many different collaborations he’s engaged in during the past decade-plus and how much his soundworld has grown and changed as a result.
REAL QUICK
A round-up of the last week’s most interesting electronic music news, plus links to interviews, articles and other things I think are worth sharing.
Matt McBriar, better known as one half of UK duo Bicep, is recovering in the hospital following brain surgery. As he explained via an Instagram post earlier this week, doctors recently discovered “a large, and pretty rare craniopharyngioma tumor on [his] pituitary gland” and elected to operate. McBriar says the tumor was “almost certainly not cancerous” and he’ll be recovering during the next six to eight weeks. In the meantime, scheduled Bicep gigs will go ahead, with his partner Andy Ferguson performing solo.
Several swaths of the music world were shocked by the sudden passing of Silent Servant (a.k.a. Juan Mendez) earlier this year, but shortly before his death, the Los Angeles artist had recorded a mix and interview with Tim Sweeney for the latter’s long-running Beats in Space program. August 14 would have been Mendez’s 47th birthday, so Sweeney decided to honor that by airing what in all likelihood was the last Silent Servant mix and interview on last Friday’s episode of Beats in Space.
Factory Floor has been on hiatus for quite some time—the band’s last live show was five years ago, and they last released new material in 2018—but longtime members Gabe Gurnsey and Nik Colk Void have gotten the group back together. The two offered more details in an interview with Daniel Dylan Wray for the The Quietus, and while they do plan to release new music, nothing concrete has been announced just yet. In the meantime though, they will be returning to the stage with a performance at MUTEK Montreal later this month.
DJ Lag popped up on wav.world mix / interview platform this week, delivering an exclusive DJ session that leans heavily on his own productions. He also sat for an interview with writer Michael McKinney, who conversed with the South African artist about the origins of gqom, the current state of the Durban scene and how DJ Lag himself, who was once just a guy playing house parties with burned CDs, is dealing with critical acclaim and life on the international touring circuit.
Following the recent death of UK jungle pioneer DJ Randall, an anonymous Reddit user has assembled a massive archive of the late artist’s mixes. The original Reddit posts are here and here, and the archive currently contains more than 500 mixes, although it seems to be expanding as other fans submit additional entries.
Later this month, the Astrophonica label will be reissuing “Clisshold” and “The Limit,” two Fracture & Neptune tracks from 2009 and 2010 that played a pivotal role in getting the imprint started and on the wider dance music map. Details of the reissue can be found here, but what’s perhaps even more interesting is that the process of putting this release together inspired Fracture to put the history of Astrophonica into words via a post on his Substack. It’s a substantial read, as he details the label’s origins, explains how he linked up with Neptune in the first place and explains how Astrophonica’s approach and visual identity has evolved over the years.
OBLIGATORY BOOK MENTION
My first book is out now. It’s called First Floor Vol. 1: Reflections on Electronic Music Culture, and you can order it from my publisher Velocity Press. However, if you’re outside of the UK, I recommend that you either inquire at your favorite local bookshop or try one of the online sales links that have been compiled here.
JUST ANNOUNCED
A round-up of noteworthy new and upcoming releases announced during the past week.
Back in June, AceMo teased the fact that he had a new album on the way, and last Friday the prolific NYC artist released it into the world. Inter-Transit is actually his third full-length of 2024, and he says its 13 songs were all “made while traveling or within a transition period in life.”
What’s the best Martyn track? That’s a tough question to answer, but if forced to come up with a response, a high percentage of people would surely land on “Vancouver.” First released in 2008, the song was recently reissued on Martyn’s own Through Lines compilation, which apparently prompted the Washington DC-based Dutchman to also commission a fresh slate of remixes from Verraco and Rhyw. The latter’s “SKG Mix” has already been made available, and the full release is due to arrive on September 13.
Matt Karmil is one of those perpetually underrated producers, a figure who’s somehow remained relatively unknown despite having excellent records on labels like Smalltown Supersound, Beats in Space, Idle Hands and Studio Barnhus. His last LP, STS371, dropped in March 2020 and was quickly lost in the fog of the pandemic, but following a lengthy hiatus, he’s now completed a new full-length. Entitled No Going Back, it will be released on October 4 via Studio Barnhus, though its microhouse-flavored opening track, “SFP,” has already been shared.
Following the warm response to last year’s Digital Underground mixtape, Hotflush founder Scuba has prepared a sequel, D:U:2. Like its predecessor, the release is inspired by the early days of UK hardcore, and while a handful of tracks have already been made available during the past few months, the full mixtape will see the light of day on August 16 (i.e. tomorrow). A vinyl release featuring select cuts from the mixtape, Hardcore Heaven III, will also be available for purchase.
Barely two weeks have passed since Drew Daniel (a.k.a. The Soft Pink Truth a.k.a. one half of Matmos) literally dreamed up a new microgenre called hit em, and there’s already a full compilation dedicated to the nascent sound. Disposable Heroes of Hit Em was assembled by the Oregon-based label Suitably Bizarre, and its 16 selections—all of which are in 5/4 time and clock in at 212 bpm—are available now.
JIALING HAS BETTER TASTE THAN I DO
First Floor is effectively a one-person operation, but every edition of the Thursday digest 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. Today’s recommendation comes from JIALING, a Taiwanese-American artist and Baltimore native who’s as well versed in the city’s iconic club sound as she is the classical music canon. Though her youth was dominated by the cello—she spent 15 years training on and playing the instrument—she’s since transitioned to visual and sound art, and currently splits her time between Baltimore and NYC. Musically speaking, her output continues to be diverse. Her debut album, 家 (jiā), surfaced earlier this year, combining samples of traditional Chinese instrumentation with modern electronic production. But it’s her most recent EP for the Clasico label, FREAKY HORNS, that’s taken the club circuit by storm, its raucous tunes informed by Baltimore club, old-school Chicago house and classic UK rave. Her recommendation here is also focused on the dancefloor, and comes from some of the talents she’s come across in the NYC club circuit.
HONEY B x nextdimensional “BOY U UP? (Jubilee remix)” (Self-released)
This is a dancefloor crusher. Following their debut release together, HONEY DIMENSIONAL, HONEY B and nextdimensional dropped a remix EP last week, which included reworks from heavy hitters KYRUH, RITCHRD and bastiengoat. Beginning with crunchy Florida breaks and Honey B’s infectious vocals, Jubilee’s remix of “BOY U UP?” launches into a fun techno banger that’s infused with trance-inspired synths, chopped ravey vocals and a driving bassline. This flip would carry through the late-night hours of a set impeccably.
NEW THIS WEEK
The following is a selection of my favorite tunes from releases that came out during the past week or so. 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.
Jabu “Oceanside Spider House” (do you have peace?)
Have Cocteau Twins ever been more influential than they are now? Based on the amount of smudgy melancholy and celestial avant-pop that’s flooded the experimental music landscape during the past few years, maybe not. At some point, this bubble will inevitably burst, but in the meantime, it’s hard not to revel in the beauty of a song like “Oceanside Spider House,” which surfaced last week on a new two-song offering from Bristol outfit Jabu. Said to be the first taste of a forthcoming album, the song seems to indicate that the group—which first emerged more than a decade ago from the city’s rich bass music lineage, but has never adhered too closely to any particular sound—has taken a turn toward the majestic. Vocalist Jasmine Butt deserves a lot of the credit for that, her siren-like vocals casting a gothy spell atop the song’s sparse, 4AD-meets-trip-hop instrumentation. It’s easily one of the most enchanting tunes of 2024, and the sort of song people will be happy to get lost in, most likely while playing it on repeat.
Jules Reidy “Rave Angels” (Longform Editions)
The music of Jules Reidy is rarely associated with raving, but given that the experimental composer and guitarist grew up in Australia (home of the “bush doof”) and now lives in Berlin, it’s not surprising that they’ve logged some hours on the dancefloor. According to Reidy, “Rave Angels”—their new contribution to the latest batch of Longform Editions releases—is inspired by the “kinship, intimacy, connection and hope that [they] experienced through [their] queer community, raving culture and two particular rave angels.” The music, however, isn’t aimed at the club. A chillout room would be more appropriate, but so would an open-air venue under the stars, as Reidy’s slow-brewing piece—the runtime is nearly 21 minutes—is a patient, elegant excursion, its softly strummed (and gently processed) guitar notes floating weightless atop a sea of sparkling tones and delicate reverb.
Belong “Jealousy” (kranky)
There are songs on Realistic IX that directly pull from the vaporous dub techno legacy of Basic Channel and Chain Reaction, and they’re excellent, but even better are the songs where Belong—the New Orleans duo whose last full-length, Common Era, came out all the way back in 2013—takes cues from the glory days of shoegaze. Although the group has previously shied away from such comparisons, it’s nearly impossible not to hear echoes of bands like My Bloody Valentine and Ride in the dreamily distorted guitars of “Jealousy,” one of the new record’s standout tunes. Add in the angelic drone of the track’s warm, albeit impossible-to-decipher lyrics, and we’re left with something that could have comfortably slotted into the Lost in Translation soundtrack. Maybe that wasn’t their goal, but the fuzzy swirl Belong have cooked up is both captivating and beautiful, and considering the frequency with which the term shoegaze is being abused these days, it’s comforting to know that there’s at least one group out there doing the genre justice.
Mystic Bill “U Won’t C Me (Stefan Braatz Panic Dub)” (Nu Groove)
Originally released in 2015, deep house favorite “U Won’t C Me” sounds like something Trax Records might have put out in 1988, which makes sense, because Mystic Bill first moved to the Windy City that very year. Freshly reissued last week, the track still has plenty of allure, particularly for those with a weakness for the heavenly grooves of artists like Larry Heard, but a pair of new remixes from German producer Stefan Braatz are even more firmly rooted in the milieu of 1980s Chicago. Swapping out some of the original’s dreaminess for a chunky (and rather familiar) bassline, this “Panic Dub” almost sounds like an interpolation of another early house classic: Adonis’ “No Way Back.” Was doing a remix in this style necessary? Probably not. But is it effective? Absolutely.
Mikey “Thrythm” (CloudCore)
In recent years, a handful of producers have struck creative paydirt while experimenting with beatless trance, but what about slow trance? (Surely some artists have attempted it, but it has yet to become a “thing.”) Mikey’s “Thrythm” technically isn’t even all that slow, but at 128 bpm, it feels like a gentle breeze compared to the migraine-inducing thumpers that dominate many of today’s dancefloors. It helps that the song itself is so lush, layering tinkling, Robert Miles-style piano keys atop a bouncy, almost Balearic groove before (briefly) unleashing the kind of synth riff that powered thousands of Ibiza-ready Eurotrance cuts during the Y2K era. To his credit though, Mikey dispenses with the gargantuan builds and breakdowns that characterized so many of those tunes, smartly realizing that his melodies are perfectly capable of shining on their own.
Mark-E.T. “Starliner” (PLUSH)
A Liverpool-based party that started in 2022, PLUSH recently launched its new label arm, first with a compilation called The Sound of PLUSH : RED, and now with a second one called The Sound of PLUSH : BLUE. Both collections cover a lot of stylistic ground, offering everything from what the young imprint describes as “Aggro Hardware Electro” and “Acidique Euphorique Breakbeat” to “Bouncy Sunshine House” and “Glistening Go-Go Techno.” I believe that last descriptor is supposed to be applied to the joyous “Starliner,” a standout contribution from Liverpool talent Mark-E.T., but it doesn’t fully capture the song’s ethereal sparkle and shuffling bounce, which come together to form something that’s as reminiscent of the Final Fantasy game series as it is the UK rave canon.
RIOT CODE “Bet You Never” (Unknown to the Unknown)
We should all be sick of UK garage by now. On a purely musical level, the genre has barely changed in the past 20 years, and yet, no matter how many times we’ve heard the same handful of shuffling drum patterns, artists still find a way to squeeze something tasty out of what’s become an awfully familiar sound palette. “Bet You Never,” the lead track from Irish producer RIOT CODE’s new Dance Trax Vol. 67 EP, is a particularly delicious morsel, and while it doesn’t reinvent the wheel, it’s not some timid R&B shuffler, either. Although there is a certain cuteness to the track’s borderline-nonsensical, helium-voiced loops, “Bet You Never” mostly exudes a bold sense of confidence, as though its creator is ready to ride the song’s wubby underbelly and thick, buzzing synths straight into the big room.
Poison Zcora “BP Can’t Save You Now” (Tiff’s Joints)
It was just last week that my column about the current state of UK funky was published, and now I’m starting to hear the genre everywhere, including in “BP Can’t Save You Now.” A highlight of Poison Zcora’s new Return of the Rattle Pendants EP—a benefit record for legendary soca producer Jason "Big Red" Phillip, whose home was recently destroyed by Hurricane Beryl—the song isn’t straight-up funky, but its carefree sway and percolating drum patterns will send plenty of listeners’ minds straight back to the champagne-soaked dancefloors of 2009. Breezy, light and featuring some smoothly fluttering flute melodies that recall Snoop Dogg’s “Sexual Eruption,” it’s an infectiously joyous tune, despite the fact that, as the title subtly implies, it’s meant to be an “instrumental diss track” targeting the British Museum, which Poison Zcora refers to as “the most shameful ‘cultural institution’ in the land.”
Bluematter “Hope” (Frosti)
Whether he’s working as Sulk Rooms, Two Way Mirrors or operating under his own name, Thomas Ragsdale always seems to infuse his music with a cinematic bent. So it’s not surprising that Bluematter, his jungle-oriented collaboration with fellow UK artist Joseph Kindred (a.k.a. Jozef K), has followed a similar path on the new Fallen album. That doesn’t mean they’ve gone fully atmospheric, or have even dialed back their percussive attack—rest assured, their drums still knock with best of them—but there’s a notable heft to the new record, which employs sound design in a way that insures its impact will be felt beyond the confines of the dancefloor. Listening to the standout “Hope,” the song’s Godzilla-like growls, soaring pads and tweaked vocal refrains don’t conjure visions of the DJ booth; they’ll have you looking upwards, wondering what’s about to come crashing down from the night sky.
Nicolas Bougaïeff “Tesseract Jazz” (NovaMute)
Discussions of Nicolas Bougaïeff often mention his education—the Berlin-based Canadian literally has a PhD in minimal techno—but it’s not clear how much that applies to his new EP3, for one simple reason: the record isn’t very minimal. Closing track “Inner Division” is a jagged-edged bruiser, closer in sound to Justice than Villalobos, and the word “muscular” could accurately describe the entire release. That’s not a bad thing; this is some of the strongest material he’s ever done, and “Tesserect Jazz” is a genuine highlight, as Bougaïeff infuses its taut rhythms with a refreshingly playful sensibility. Techno isn’t something that’s usually said to scamper, but the melodies here do exactly that, jauntily darting to and fro and generally running amok as the song’s rhythmic undercarriage churns ahead like a steam engine.
Braille “Cost of Living” (Hotflush)
Before he reemerged late last year with the “Cavernous Testing Zone” single, Braille had been relatively quiet for quite some time. His debut album, Mute Swan, had dropped back in 2015, and Sepalcure, his long-running collaboration with Machinedrum, hadn’t released much in the years following 2016’s Folding Time LP. At no point did he officially call it quits—in fact, he’d put out a couple of low-key EPs in 2019 (Stand Still) and 2020 (Too Much)—but the post-dubstep veteran did recede far enough from the spotlight that when he unveiled plans for a new full-length called Triple Transit earlier this year, it felt like something of a surprise “Braille is back” moment.
Moreover, it raised questions of what exactly his music would sound like, especially given his newfound love for modular synthesis, a wormhole that has swallowed countless artists over the years, for better and for worse. Triple Transit definitely bears traces of modular experimentation, but anyone concerned that the record would be some sort of masturbatory geekfest will be relieved. If anything, Braille sounds looser and freer, darting between genres and beat patterns in a way that recalls the boundary-hopping spirit of golden-era IDM. There are bits of house, techno and electro scattered throughout the LP, and some songs (“Powder Keg,” “We Are Free”) do harken back to the soulful sentimentality of Sepalcure’s best material, but its best track might be the album’s opening number, “Cost of Living.” Packed with details, it’s the sort of thing that demands to be listened to on quality headphones, pairing its jittery rhythms with sci-fi bloops, melodic twinkles and a satisfying amount of static crunch.
That brings us to the end of today’s First Floor digest. Thank you so much for reading the newsletter, 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 great week,
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.