First Floor #119 – Can Crypto Get Producers Paid?

a.k.a. An interview with Maelstrom about his Web3-powered DJ mix, plus a round-up of the week's electronic music news and a big batch of new track recommendations.

Mar 24, 2022

MAELSTROM BRINGS DJ MIXES TO THE BLOCKCHAIN

PLEASE NOTE: This interview was originally published on Tuesday and made available to paid newsletter subscribers, but the paywall has now 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.

The basic economics of electronic music are out of whack. DJs are making money, while producers (i.e. the people who make the tracks that DJs play) are not. Blame streaming, blame the commercialization of the culture or blame one of a hundred other contributing factors, but regardless of exactly who or what is at fault, this situation is a problem, and it continues to get worse.

French electro / techno artist Maelstrom knows that, and in hopes of drawing attention to the issue, he’s put together a unique sort of experiment: the Ensemble Mix, an “on chain” DJ mix that uses NFTs and crypto technology to automatically compensate everyone involved, including (and especially) the other artists whose music appears in the tracklist.

The mix is scheduled to go live later today, but how exactly does it work? Who else is involved, and what is the financial structure of the project? Most importantly, is crypto and Web3 really the best way to address structural compensation issues in electronic music? These are just some of the questions that I asked Maelstrom in a wide-ranging interview that went live earlier this week, and our conversation is now available for everyone to read here.

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.

Crypto and all of its associated terminology (e.g. blockchain, NFT, DAO, Web3, etc.) continues to take up a larger and larger place in cultural / economic discourse, yet the vast majority of people out there still don’t fully understand what these words mean or how this technology works. That’s likely why the New York Times commissioned Kevin Roose to put together “The Latecomer’s Guide to Crypto,” an expansive, five-part article that dives deep into the topic, and most importantly does so while explaining things in relatively plain English.
If you’re looking for something that’s sure to make even the most ardent crypto enthusiasts feel a bit gross about the current NFT boom, check Part 2 of David Turner’s The Record Industry Needs You to Love NFTs series for his Penny Fractions newsletter. He examines how major labels have been engaging with (and heavily investing in) NFTs, and counters the narrative that Web3 is poised to dismantle corporate control of the music industry.
Joy Orbison is Mixmag’s latest cover star, and the historically press-shy UK artist has given an in-depth interview to Patrick Hinton, detailing his own personal history and how his relationship with dance music has evolved over the years. To mark the occasion, he’s also put together a brand-new mix for the magazine.
It’s frankly a little embarrassing that I haven’t mentioned Herb Sundays before now, but hopefully fans of the weekly playlist series / newsletter will grant me a late pass. I’m not a huge fan of playlists in general, but Herb Sundays is curated by Sam Valenti (founder of the Ghostly International label) and enlists “world-class music fans, some more famous than others, to make their perfect Sunday mix for ‘when no one is looking.’” Over the past several months, artists like Carl Craig, Claire Rousay, Jonnine Standish and DJ /rupture have taken part, as have noted music writers such as Simon Reynolds, Hua Hsu and Vivian Host. (The latter is at the helm of this week’s edition.) The music selections are great—and far less stodgy than what you might find in other playlist series—but what really makes Herb Sundays pop are Valenti’s accompanying writeups, which convey his genuine appreciation for music and celebrate those who love it just as much as he does.
As previously reported, Butterz co-founder Elijah—who I interviewed last year here in the newsletter—is Resident Advisor’s guest editor this month, and his stewardship has produced two thought-provoking features during the past week. First up, Michael Lawson spoke to three different promoters in Germany, Spain and the UK, and got them to break down the real costs involved in throwing a club night. The second article was put together by Annabel Ross, who spoke to 13 different people that work behind the scenes in dance music (e.g. booking agents, publicists, merch managers, A&R managers, etc.) and asked them to explain what their work entails, how they’re compensated and what advice they have for folks looking to enter the industry.
Although I’ve been content to largely ignore DJ Mag’s onslaught of “Miami 2022” content during the past couple of weeks (sample headline: “Eats Everything Brings the Party Back to South Beach”), it’s noteworthy (and not in a good way) that the publication has now teamed up with Spotify, partnering with the streaming platform for a livestream broadcast—which is happening today—from Miami Music Week. The official announcement is also filled with anodyne promotional text that highlights Spotify’s services and provides zero critical context, failing to note the litany of critiques that have been thrown the company’s way in recent years. Perhaps that’s because the whole thing is a paid sponsorship, but there’s no disclosure acknowledging it as such.
Cinthie, whose DJ-Kicks mix is due to arrive next week, is the subject of Beatportal’s latest Cover Story feature, in which Michael Lawson profiles the Berlin-based DJ, producer, label head and record store owner.
Metalheadz, arguably the most celebrated drum & bass label of all time, has announced the launch of a new offshoot, HeadzState, which is meant to “showcase a hybrid of what the foundations of techno represent and the evolution of those sounds over the last 30 plus years.” Information about the new imprint’s first release hasn’t been shared yet, but is said to be “due imminently.”

JUST ANNOUNCED

A round-up of noteworthy new and upcoming releases that were announced during the past week.

Galcher Lustwerk—who I interviewed last year here in the newsletter—is no stranger to aliases, having also released music under the names Road Hog and 420. Last Friday, new music from someone named Macchiato suddenly surfaced on his Lustwerk Music label, and while it contained no identifying information, the NYC producer has confirmed to me that yes, he is the one behind the project. The eight-track release is called Foam, and it’s available now.
Space Afrika’s “B£E” first appeared on last year’s Honest Labour album, but the song has now been given a wholesale transformation by fellow UK artist aya, who says she “begged” for the stems. Her intensely banging “Wavefold” version of the track is available now.
Are you following Slikback on Bandcamp? You ought to be, because the prolific Kenyan bass producer continues to offer up “name your price” releases on the regular. The latest is a single called “Takayuki,” which dropped last Friday.
The Range has a new album on the way. First Floor readers may remember his “Bicameral” single being featured here recently, and that song will appear on the new LP, which is called Mercury and will arrive on June 10 via the Domino label. Ahead of that, the Vermont-based artist has shared another hook-heavy, R&B-flavored single, “Ricercar,” and the song’s dreamy animated video can be seen here.
Planet Mu founder Mike Paradinas (a.k.a. µ-Ziq) is getting ready to release a special 25th Anniversary Edition of his Lunatic Harness album, and while digging through his archives, the UK artist got inspired to revisit various sounds from the ’90s. What resulted was a new EP, Goodbye, which is slated for an April 1 release. In the meantime, fans can enjoy the record’s title track, which is already available.
Los Angeles ambient artist Green-House has assembled a new EP of “unheard and rare recordings from 2021 and 2022.” Entitled Solar Editions, it will be issued by Leaving Records on April 22, but one of its four tracks, “Produce Aisle,” has already been shared.
Sticking to the ambient realm, South Korean duo Salamanda have unveiled their forthcoming new album, ashbalkum, which will be released via the Human Pitch label on June 10. Lead track “Overdose” surfaced as a standalone single a few weeks back, and now the pair has shared another song from the LP, the equally beguiling “Melting Hazard.”
Irish producer Krystal Klear has found himself a home on Running Back over the past few years, and he’s set to return to Gerd Janson’s label on April 15 with the Connect EP. Before it arrives though, he’s shared a glamorously twirling cut from the record called “Telephone.”
Throughout his career, Answer Code Request has been closely affiliated with the Ostgut Ton label, but the Berlin techno maverick will be hopping over to Delsin records for his next EP. Shattering will surface on April 25, but closing track “Sustaining Life” is available now.
Efdemin is another Ostgut Ton alumnus (although he’s also done numerous records with labels such as Dial and Curle), and now the Berlin producer has teamed up with Counterchange for his upcoming Mono EP. It’s scheduled for an April 8 release, although both the title track and the DJ Skull remix of the song “Sequence 100” have already been shared. (The EP also includes an additional remix from Swedish producer Johanna Knutsson.)

NEW THIS WEEK

The following is a selection of my favorite tunes from releases 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 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

Malcolm Pardon “Peder Mannerfelt Meets ‘The Blindspot’” (The New Black)

Malcolm Pardon “Klara Lewis Meets ‘End Less Theory’” (The New Black)

When the time came to commission some artists to remix tracks from his 2021 album Hello Death, Malcolm Pardon didn’t fuck around, enlisting the likes of Regis, Klara Lewis, Penelope Trappes and Peder Mannerfelt. All four reworks on Death Revisited are excellent, but it’s the Swedes who shine brightest. Peder Mannerfelt, who also happens to be Pardon’s partner in the Roll the Dice project, takes “The Blindspot” down a dark, sludgy path, filling the air with tension as his distended basslines slowly slither through the muck. Klara Lewis follows a more ethereal route on her reinterpretation of “End Less Theory,” stripping the song down to the studs and slathering what remains in soft reverb, giving the track an almost ghostly ambience.

Hinako Omori “Will You Listen In” (Houndstooth)

Hinako Omori “A Journey” (Houndstooth)

When creating her beautiful debut album a journey…, Hinako Omori folded in two distinct influences: shinrin-yoku (Japanese forest bathing) and sound therapy (i.e. the notion that certain frequencies can have restorative physical and psychological effects). Both of those things center around the idea of healing, and that’s certainly the dominant vibe of “Will You Listen In,” the LP’s dreamily drifting centerpiece. Full of delicate voices and pillow-soft drones, the nearly nine-minute song offers up a warm, womb-like atmosphere, its gently rippling melodies exuding an aura of welcoming calm. The underlying mood of “A Journey” is similar, but the track is more energetic and far more colorful, as the London artist unfurls a series of shining, sprite-like arpeggios amidst her whispered refrains and soothing ambient haze.

Hysteria Temple Foundation “Tendrak” (Hysteria Temple Foundation)

Hysteria Temple Foundation “Shyrokyu Iu” (Hysteria Temple Foundation)

There’s only one Shackleton, but Hysteria Temple Foundation do seem to be cooking with a similar set of ingredients. The French duo, who debuted last year with the head-turning Atrahasis EP, specialize in powerful, highly percussive tunes that evoke the rhythms of Africa and the Middle East, but their music ultimately sounds like it might be extraterrestrial in origin. Ritual is the pair’s latest outing, and “Shyrokyu Iu” is capable of lulling listeners into a trance-like state, its drums relentlessly pounding beneath the song’s cybernetic tweaks and crunchy flourishes. “Tundrak” is a bit less intense (at least during its opening minutes), but its basslines are much brawnier, and working in concert with the track’s wailing horns, they underpin a track that’s arresting enough to stop anyone dead in their tracks.

BEST OF THE REST

Nathalie Duchene “I Don’t Need Nobody” (Toy Tonics)

A Belgian artist based in Paris, Nathalie Duchene—who previously made music as Jane Oak, and is also one half of O.N.O—has just released the Praia EP, her solo debut under her own name. Oddly enough, “I Don’t Need Nobody” is a digital bonus track that won’t appear on the vinyl release, but the song is a joyous romp, infusing classic house sounds with sticky pop hooks to create a swirly, string-filled delight.

Trudge “Dead Orange” (Lobster Theremin)

Much of Trudge’s No More Motivation LP is focused on high-energy techno and rave sounds, but the French producer also uses his first full-length as an opportunity to occasionally slow things down and stretch his stylistic legs. “Dead Orange” is the most impressive of those efforts, a dazzling trap hybrid that layers bright, distinctly digital melodies atop a series of snapping (albeit still somewhat laid-back) beats.

Needs “Brother (Red Mountain Alchemy)” (Rush Hour)

With its soulful vibe and jazzy undertones, “Brother” sounds like something that came out of Detroit, but in reality, Needs was a deep house trio from Frankfurt that made a slew of similarly smooth tunes during the late ’90s and early 2000s. Many of those tracks have now been compiled on the new Needs (Not Wants) retrospective, and while it’s full of gems, this “Red Mountain Alchemy” version of “Brother” might be the best of the bunch, stretching the original’s subtle funk stylings across 12 gloriously sparkly minutes.

Subp Dao “Drift” (Yuku)

Equal parts percussive and meditative, “Drift”—a highlight of Dutch producer Subp Yao’s new Flana album—lives up to its title, its washy melodies and disembodied R&B vocal refrain cooly floating alongside the song’s clattering, garage-indebted underbelly.

R Cole “Time Potency” (Mechanical)

Inspired by what R Cole and his friends call “the last rave”—a club night with Bruce, Pessimist and Parris that took place in NYC during the weekend before the first COVID lockdown in 2020—the electro-flavored “Time Potency” is powered by thick sheets of sinewy, big-room-ready bass, but the song’s cracking breakbeats and trippy vocal stutters sound more like a jubilant tribute to the ghosts of ’90s raving.

Submotive & Krakota “Poisoned” (Metalheadz)

Best known as one half of Ulterior Motive, Submotive has now teamed up with fellow UK drum & bass veteran Krakota on a new two-tracker for Metalheadz, and lead cut “Poisoned” is the rare screwface anthem that offers up more than a menacing snarl, setting the mood with glittering melodies and the soulful warbling of a crooning diva.

Aquarian “Rene Likes the Steak” (Dekmantel)

As a general rule, attempting to combine jungle and trance is probably a bad idea, but Aquarian nimbly walks that genre tightrope on “Rene Like the Steak.” A standout from the Berlin-based Canadian’s new Mutations I: Death, Taxes & Hanger EP, the track has plenty of rumbling Amen breaks, but it’s the shimmering synth riffs that lead the way, harkening back to ’90s prog euphoria atop the song’s thundering low-end boom.

Soul Twin “IV” (Mind Product)

Hailing from Delta de l'Ebre (an area 200 km southwest of Barcelona that’s known for its giant ecological reserve), Soul Twin evoke the sparsely populated sound of classic Kranky on their new III album, finding a real sweet spot on the pensive “IV,” where softly strummed, reverb-soaked guitars creakily echo across an abandoned landscape.

Suso Sáiz “Looking You in Silence” (Music from Memory)

Keeping things in Spain, Resonant Bodies is the latest album from Suso Sáiz, one of the country’s great ambient mainstays. The 18-track LP covers a lot of ground, exploring moments of placid bliss and crunchy tension alike, but “Looking You in Silence”—whose groaning guitar tones also wouldn’t be out of place on an old Kranky release—is stoic and meditative, as though its creator is quietly contemplating a great loss while staring out across a wide-open natural expanse.

Taru “Partenze” (Nous Disques)

An Italian synth experimenter whose music is “based on arpeggiator, melodic research and spatiality of sound,” Taru undoubtedly takes his work very seriously, but “Partenze,” a highlight of his new Post Analogic Tales EP, is a whole lot of fun, its vintage palette of plinky tones gleefully pinging off one another across four bubbly minutes.

M//R “Stranger Dub” (Enmossed)

Plenty of artists have experimented with dub over the years, but only a handful have tapped into the genre’s delicious potential for weirdness. M//R, however, isn’t afraid to color outside the lines on his new Anxious Meditation EP, and “Stranger Dub” lives up to its title, with percussive outbursts and heavily reverbed undulations that coalesce into a disorienting (albeit totally riveting) sort of aural hallucination.

That brings us to the end of this week’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.)

Take care,

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.