First Floor #103 – What's the Point of Music Reviews?
a.k.a. An honest look at one of culture journalism's traditional forms, plus a round-up of the week's electronic music news and a bunch of new track recommendations.
Hello there. I’m Shawn Reynaldo, and welcome to First Floor, a weekly electronic music digest that includes news, interviews, my favorite new tracks and some of my thoughts on the issues affecting the larger scene / industry that surrounds the music. This is the free edition of the newsletter; access to all First Floor content (including the complete archive) requires a paid subscription. If you haven’t done so already, please consider signing up for a subscription (paid or unpaid) by clicking the button below. Alternately, you can also support the newsletter by making a one-time donation here.
CRITIQUE VS. CURATION
Last month, I conducted the first-ever First Floor readers poll, and while I’m still poring through all the data, one stat definitely surprised me. Amongst those who responded to the survey, more than 60% listed the newsletter’s music reviews / recommendations (a.k.a. the “New This Week” section) as one of the parts of First Floor that they like the best. (For reference, only the essays and interviews were more popular, and not by that much.)
Why did this surprise me? Well, for years now, I’ve been under the impression that within the realm of music journalism, the importance of music reviews is rapidly declining. That’s not just a hunch or something I made up—even back when I was running the editorial at XLR8R (a job that ended in early 2015), the site’s reviews section had been slumping for years, and now that I regularly follow the numbers for First Floor, I can confirm that that same downward trend appears to have held firm (or perhaps gotten worse). Simply put, people don’t click on these things.
Other media outlets—particularly those that focus on electronic music—seem to have come to a similar conclusion. Despite the fact that the volume of new releases is arguably higher than ever, the number of reviews being published has undoubtedly shrunk in years. XLR8R last ran an album review in 2019, and Stamp the Wax appears to have halted years before that (although the site does continue to publish a lot of track premieres). Mixmag stopped doing reviews when its print edition was paused last year, and has since attempted to pick up the slack through monthly online round-ups of the “best” new albums and tracks.
Crack and Inverted Audio still publish reviews, but have scaled back their offerings to just a handful each month. Resident Advisor, which previously had one of the most robust review sections in electronic music, has also undertaken a significant drawdown, usually running one album review each weekday, along with a few single write-ups. That’s still more than most other electronic music outlets, but it’s telling that the word “reviews” was literally removed from RA’s main menu as part of the site’s redesign earlier this year. (Reviews are now filed under “Music,” where they’re listed alongside podcasts, “Mix of the Day” and themed playlists.)
The Wire still runs pages and pages of reviews each month, but as a publication that relies on paid subscribers and remains primarily focused on its print edition, it’s arguably playing by a different set of content rules than its more online counterparts. That said, The Quietus also remains committed to reviews (one is published each weekday), and so does DJ Mag—at least in its print edition, which runs dozens of reviews each month. Online, however, those reviews are rarely prioritized; although the magazine’s “Album of the Month” does get published as a standalone feature, the rest of the reviews are generally split up into three different categories (EPs & Singles, Albums and Compilations) and combined into unruly (and not easily searchable) bulk posts.
What does all this mean? What’s prompted this reduction? There are many factors at work, but at the most basic level, people just don’t read reviews anymore, at least not online. (A more complex reading might surmise that although some people still read reviews, they don’t do so in large enough numbers to justify the time and money required to do them properly.)
Of course, here is where cynics usually jump in and say something like, “People don’t read reviews because they’re tired of pompous gatekeepers” or “People don’t read reviews because the quality of writing has gone to shit.” Are there elements of truth in those sentiments? Sure, but they also leave out significant chunks of the story.
To read the complete essay, please click here.
PLEASE NOTE: The full essay was originally published yesterday and shared with paid subscribers, but the paywall has been temporarily removed for the next 24 hours. If you’d like exclusive first access to long-form First Floor pieces—and unlimited views of all newsletter content—then please sign up for a paid subscription.
REAL QUICK
A round-up of of the last week’s most interesting electronic music news, plus links to interviews, mixes, articles and other things I think are worth sharing.
Beats in Space is back. After putting the long-running radio show on hiatus earlier this year—and saying goodbye to WNYU, which had been the program’s home for more than 20 years—host Tim Sweeney announced on Monday that he’d made to the move to Apple Music, where he’ll continue to broadcast on a weekly basis and feature guest mixes by DJs from around the globe. The show’s famed hotline and artist Polaroids will apparently continue as well, and according to some brief comments Sweeney made to Resident Advisor, both he and all guests on the show will be paid for their efforts. The first Apple Music episode went out on Monday night, and it featured a mix from Sweeney himself, along with a guest mix from Planningtorock, who was also interviewed.
Tone Glow is going on hiatus. Over the past two years, the newsletter had grown into one of the most valuable (not to mention prolific) outlets devoted to experimental and left-of-center music, but yesterday founder Joshua Minsoo Kim explained in a post why the time had come to take a break, at least for now.
Most First Floor readers will likely be horrified by the music featured in this Pitchfork feature, but Cat Zhang has quickly become one of music journalism’s best sociologists—at least when it comes to what the proverbial “kids” are up to with music on the internet these days—and she’s put together an intriguing look at how an entire wave of Gen Z artists has been experimenting with ’90s drum & bass and garage rhythms in their Tik Tok-ready pop creations.
It’s not often that artists I write about in the newsletter find their way into the New York Times, which made this profile of harpist Mary Lattimore (written by Grayson Haver Currin) a lovely surprise. (The opening anecdote about her debuting in an Arby’s parking lot as a teenager is particularly enjoyable.)
First Floor readers may remember an interview I did last November with Scottish artist Auntie Flo (a.k.a. Brian d’Souza), who spoke at length about Ambient Flo, a curated, profit-sharing DIY streaming platform he’d set up to showcase ambient and experimental sounds. A year later, Ambient Flo is now celebrating its first birthday, and will be marking the occasion with both an all-day event on November 21 at London’s Brilliant Corners and a limited-edition zine that will be sent to all of the platform’s Patreon supporters. As for the platform’s actual programming, UK artist Richard Norris is November’s guest curator, and he’ll be followed by Eris Drew and Orpheu The Wizard in the months ahead.
Having recently celebrated its 10th anniversary with a massive compilation, the Livity Sound label has been subject to a fair bit of attention as of late, and now Will Pritchard has added to the praise pile with this profile for Bandcamp, which traces back the Bristol imprint’s history, folds in some quotes from founder Peverelist and highlights some choice tunes from the back catalog.
Famed NYC nightspot Good Room is in trouble. As reported by Resident Advisor, the club was denied (without explanation) a pandemic-related government grant that its owners were hoping would help to cover all of the bills and back rent that had piled up during the past 18 months. To combat the venue’s precarious financial state, s series of fundraisers have already taken place—including one headlined by DFA founder James Murphy—but the club still has a long way to go. This weekend, Good Room is set to celebrate its seventh anniversary with a marathon weekender, and those who can’t attend are encouraged to either buy merch on Good Room’s Bandcamp page or purchase tickets to another event.
JUST ANNOUNCED
A round-up of noteworthy new and upcoming releases that were announced during the past week.
Jessy Lanza has been recruited to deliver the next installment of !K7’s celebrated DJ-Kicks mix compilation series. Fans of the Canadian artist won’t be surprised by the genre-hopping tracklist she’s put together—that can be viewed here—but they will be happy to know that the release will include four new tracks from Lanza herself, including a pair of collaborations with Taraval. Another collaboration, the bouncy “Seven 55” that she made with UK producer Loraine James, has already been shared ahead of the mix’s official arrival on November 19.
With records (including the world-beating “Ramos”) on labels like Hessle Audio, Timedance, Hemlock and L.I.E.S., Ploy has already built a rather impressive resume, but he’ll soon be adding to it with a new imprint of his own. The UK producer has christened it Deaf Test, and plans to kick things off with an EP of his own work, Rayhana, which is scheduled to appear on November 19. Ahead of that, he’s already shared the record’s rambunctious title track.
Longtime Hyperdub affiliate Cooly G will soon be returning to the label with a new EP, Save Me. Slated for a November 19 release, the record is said to combine her signature deep grooves with elements of amapiano and drill. One of the EP’s two tracks, “We Can Find Love Too,” which features the vocals of Ruth Brown, has already been shared.
Following appearances on labels like Local Action, Fractal Fantasy and Model Future, Martyn Bootyspoon is launching a new series of self-released EPs called Incognito Tabs. Devoted to what the Montreal artist describes as “low-key acid bangers,” the first chapter is set to drop on December 10, although one of its four tracks, “Ghetto Sexual,” is already available.
In a move that will likely surprise exactly no one, Finnish artist Alexi Perälä kicked off a new series of releases over the weekend. As the name implies, Phantabla combines his twinkling techno sound with bits of the traditional Indian instrument, and true to his hyper-prolific nature, he’s already issued two separate volumes via Bandcamp.
MY WIFE HAS BETTER TASTE THAN I DO
My wife Dania is a wonderful person, but she has little regard for my taste in electronic music. Head of the Paralaxe Editions label, she often describes the music I like with words like “cheesy,” “simple,” “predictable,” “boring” and, worst of all (in her mind), “happy.” In contrast, I think she has a fantastic ear, and I’m constantly amazed by the obscure gems she unearths, both from record bins and the dark corners of the internet. Given that, I’ve asked Dania to share some of her finds with the First Floor audience. Each week, she highlights something that she’s currently digging, and adds some of her thoughts as to why it’s worth our attention.
Serafina Steer / John T. Gast “Water Carrier” (5 Gate Temple)
Hello. As I’m back to full-time work right now, I haven’t had time to do much of a dig during the past few days, so I’ll leave you with this track that I might have played during my DJ set at Sónar last week. (I have a bad memory.) “Water Carrier” is a beautiful collaboration between experimental producer John T. Gast and harpist Serafina Steer, and it came out back in April as part of a two-track release.
Follow Dania on Twitter, or check out her monthly radio show on dublab.es.
NEW THIS WEEK
The following is a selection of my favorite tunes that came out during the past week or so. The ones in the ‘Big Three’ section 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. In both sections, you can click on the track titles to hear each song individually, or you can also just head over to this convenient Buy Music Club list to find them all in one place.
THE BIG THREE
MMM “The Interview” (Self-released)
On the Edge, the first full-length of MMM’s celebrated 25-year career, is also the most restrained effort that the duo of Errorsmith and Fiedel has ever produced. The artists themselves have used words like “meditative” to describe the album—for a deeper dive into what inspired the new record, feel free to revisit the German pair’s extended First Floor interview that ran back in September—but the LP’s mellow nature shouldn’t be mistaken for a lack of emotional intensity. Like many tracks on the album, “The Interview” is sparse, but it’s also heavy, with sturdy, heavily reverbed beats echoing across the song’s empty expanse as a series of dramatically brooding string flourishes portend a sense of approaching doom. Imagine Basic Channel messing around with the Jaws theme and splicing in a few creepy vocal clips (presumably from the song’s titular interview), and you’ll be somewhere in the neighborhood of this track. It’s unnerving, but satisfyingly so.
Mary Lattimore “Mary You Were Wong” (Ghostly International)
Mary Lattimore “We Wave from Our Boats” (Ghostly International)
In fairness, neither of these Mary Lattimore tracks is technically new. “Mary You Were Wrong” first appeared as a one-off single in the final days of 2018, while “We Wave from Our Boats” popped up on Bandcamp last March. Both songs, however, appear on Collected Pieces II, a freshly assembled odds-and-ends collection from the LA-based harpist. The former track was apparently composed while Lattimore was in the midst of mending a broken heart, and though there exists a definite sadness in the song’s airy expanse, there’s also something hopeful in its beautifully echoing melodies and slow-but-steady advance. “We Wave from Our Boats,” which she composed during the earliest days of COVID lockdown, has a less regal atmosphere, but it’s still exquisite, her plucked tones exuding a sense of genuine warmth, despite the fact that they were laid down during a time when all of us were aching for connection.
Leif “Seven Hour Flight to Nowhere” (AD 93)
Leif “Every Weather” (AD 93)
AD 93 didn’t provide much concrete information about the latest album from UK ambient specialist Leif. Entitled 9 Airs, it’s described as something that “took shape during an unconscious reconnection with music long since forgotten,” and a full-length that sprung out of “an instinctive recall for melodies played out on guitar, low whistle and voice.” Reading that, it’s a fair bet that Leif wanted to keep his inspirations and methodology close to the vest, but thankfully, appreciating the serenity and lush textures of his new LP doesn’t require a peek behind his creative curtain. Album opener “Seven Hour Flight to Nowhere” lays out a tranquil expanse, yet it never feels sleepy, thanks to intermittent flurries of what sound like taut strings being feverishly plucked (and at times also resemble the whirring mechanical pings of a pachinko machine). “Every Weather,” another album highlight, is more of a zonked-out number, with washy warbles, softly strummed guitar and featherlight percussion evoking the soothingly twee sounds of early-2000s indietronica outfits like Múm.
BEST OF THE REST
Zvrra “Society” (Avian)
Keeping up with all of Zvrra’s releases can be a daunting task, but last week the prolific Chicago producer and video game developer dropped her highest-profile effort to date, a new album called Bizzaroland for Shifted’s Avian imprint. A murky collection of tunes that moves through assorted strains of techno, ambient and experimental sounds, the LP reaches on notable high point on “Society,” a haunting dancefloor chugger that bathes its percussive churn in eerie keys and crackling passages of static.
Light Conductor “The Rooms Are Turning Inside Out” (Constellation)
A standout from the new Sequence Two album, “The Rooms Are Turning Inside Out” is a florid piece of soaring, synth-driven psychedelia. Montreal duo Light Conductor have definitely listened to a Tangerine Dream record or two, and this colorfully bubbling, long-form creation—it clocks in at nearly eight and half minutes—is the ideal soundtrack for anyone who wants to close their eyes and feel like they’re floating off into the stratosphere (without actually having to leave the confines of their bedroom).
Fasme “Home” (Feel My Bicep)
With the success of songs like “Glue,” Bicep have become the unofficial kings of big-room melancholy, and now it appears that they’re looking to cultivate a similar vibe through the curation of their eponymous label. Home is the new EP from French producer Fasme, and its title track, powered by some moody chords and a little bit of Tin Man-esque acid wiggle, pulls off the difficult task of making its rave-ready beats sound positively wistful.
La Mverte “Rubedo” (Les Enfers)
Listening to his new Alchemy Calls EP, listeners might initially be tempted to file La Mverte away with all of the other techno producers dabbling in industrial and EBM sounds, but “Rubedo” makes clear that this Parisian artist is a lot more fun than his grim-faced peers. The song is dark and stompy, yes, but it’s also rife with camp and slightly goofy sci-fi aesthetics, ultimately sounding more like a classic Belgian new beat track, with the ebullient spirit of ’80s-loving artists like Lauer mixed in.
Projections “Original Cell (Coyote Deep State Remix)” (Ritual Release)
After more than a decade operating under the unwieldy Wooly vs Projections moniker, the California duo has reverted to their original name while starting a new label and largely keeping their signature “West Coast Balearic” sound intact. The original “Original Cell” is a beatless, somewhat woozy tune with a touch of orchestral flair, but UK outfit Coyote has injected their version with an agreeably psychedelic chug that’s perfect for a blissed-out sashay across the dancefloor.
Forest Management “Tributary” (Self-released)
Not much happens in “Tributary,” the quiet B-side of Forest Management’s new Layover EP, but the Chicago ambient veteran long ago mastered the art of drawing maximal emotional impact from his compositional minimalism. The release artwork depicts an empty street at dusk (or maybe dawn), perfectly encapsulating the mood of the music, as the song—which consists of little more than the gentle rise and fall of a few synth tones—evokes the uneasy calm of being out in the world when the light is low and no one else is around.
Sulk Rooms “Illusion” (Waxing Crescent)
“Illusion” is another notably subdued selection, and can be found on Winter Visit, a new cassette from Sulk Rooms (a.k.a. the new ambient alias of UK producer Thomas Ragsdale a.k.a. Winter Son). An introspective production on a release that’s full of them—one track on the tape is literally 27 minutes long—the song gloomily glides along, its dour swells accompanied by the subtle crackle of analog static. This is music for a cloudy day, but there’s enough comfort in its plush textures to ensure that you won’t be waiting for the sun to come out.
Jónsi “Ambrox” (Krunk)
Best known as the frontman of dreamy post-rock band Sigur Rós, Jónsi surprised fans with a new album last weekend. Obsidian, his third solo full-length, is inspired by his latest audio-visual exhibition of the same name, which itself was inspired by the 2021 eruption of the Fagradalsfjall volcano in his native Iceland. “Ambrox” sumptuously captures the majesty of that event, with Jónsi’s unmistakeable falsetto drifting across a gargantuan expanse of strings and ethereal drone—that is, until the whole composition eventually disintegrates, leaving behind only a series of delicate strings.
D.K. “Disciples of Power” (Gang of Ducks)
Nick Foglia (feat. Michel Jun Collet) “Koishiteiruchocho (恋している蝶々)” (Gang of Ducks)
Pooling contributions from artists like Stenny, Azu Tiwaline, Kelman Duran, Mana and others, Turin outpost Gang of Ducks has put together quite the assemblage of talent on its new Paradisia Vol. ∞ compilation. Although not many tracks have been optimized for the club, the music on offer is rich and expressive, often lingering on the fringe of the dancefloor. On “Disciples of Power,” French artist D.K. tweaks his formula a bit, upping the drama and setting aside his usual new age-leaning synth manipulations as he takes the hallucinogenic track down a more percussive, gamelan-flavored path. “Koishiteiruchocho (恋している蝶々),” however, serves up plenty of new age bliss, as Italian Nick Foglia has constructed a breezily relaxed, spa-ready number that’s loaded with whimsically soothing chimes.
That’s all for today’s edition of First Floor. As always, thank you so much for reading the newsletter, and I do hope 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 week,
Shawn
Shawn Reynaldo is a freelance writer, editor, presenter and project manager. Find him on LinkedIn or drop him an email to get in touch about projects, collaborations or potential work opportunities.