First Floor #121 – Why Americans Don't Understand Electronic Music
a.k.a. Paul Oakenfold's 'Bunkka' and the legacy of "electronica," plus a round-up of the week's electronic music news and a giant batch of great new tracks.
A QUICK NOTE
Today’s First Floor is a bit longer than usual, largely because of the absurd number of releases that came out during the past week. (And yes, I do mostly blame Bandcamp Friday for that.)
On the bright side, that means today’s newsletter has a supersized helping of new track recommendations, but the downside is that the First Floor email will probably be cut off in your inbox. (If you use Gmail, you’ll see one of those “[Message clipped] View Entire Message” alerts.) I know that’s annoying, but for the sake of the artists highlighted—and your own listening pleasure—please click that link, check out the online version of the newsletter and listen to all of the tunes. It’ll be worth it, I promise.
ELECTRONICA’S LAST GASP
PLEASE NOTE: This essay 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.
Do you remember Paul Oakenfold’s Bunkka album? Probably not, and for a variety of reasons that likely include these facts:
It came out 20 years ago.
It wasn’t very good.
So why am I bringing it up now? Because that album, regardless of its (again, rather subpar) contents and how they were (mostly poorly) received, represents the end of a unique time in electronic music, at least in the US. Non-Americans may not know this, but during the late ’90s and early 2000s, there was a concerted effort by the music industry to “break” electronic music—which had been rebranded as “electronica”—into the mainstream American market. (And no, the fact that the music had actually been invented in the US a decade prior didn’t factor into the sales pitch.)
Despite a whole lot of hype, those efforts largely failed, and Oakenfold’s Bunkka—the debut artist album from someone who was literally one of the biggest DJs in the world at the time—encapsulates that failure. Full of head-scratching collaborations (e.g. songs with the likes of Ice Cube, Nelly Furtado, Hunter S. Thompson and the lead singer of Crazy Town) and ill-advised genre experiments, it demonstrates the absurd lengths that major labels went to in hopes of making “electronica” happen. And though the album itself was far from remarkable, its mere existence says a lot about why electronic music history and culture were—and still are—so widely misunderstood in the US.
I dove much deeper into the topic in a First Floor essay published earlier this week, and it’s 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.
This story is both terrifying and one of those things that leaves me wondering “why isn’t this bigger news?,” but a Brooklyn club called Rash was the victim of what certainly appeared to be an arson attack last Sunday night. The NYPD has since released a frightening video of the incident, in which a man (who subsequently fled from the scene and has yet to be identified) walked into the venue, dumped gasoline on the floor and set it ablaze. Thankfully the attack only resulted in two minor injuries, but the venue—which caters to an LGBTQ audience—has set up an online fundraiser to assist with repairs and support the club’s staff, who now find themselves out of work.
Few people get mentioned more in the newsletter than Cherie Hu (founder of the Water & Music platform) and Mat Dryhurst and Holly Herndon (co-hosts of the Interdependence podcast), so of course I’m going to sound the alarm when all three of them get together for a conversation. Hu recently appeared as a guest on Interdependence, and the episode is now available to everyone, as it’s just today been taken out from behind the podcast’s subscriber paywall.
Butterz co-founder Elijah is another First Floor regular, and his conversation with journalist Kieran Yates—a live version of Resident Advisor’s Exchange podcast that coincided with his recent run as guest editor of the publication—is now available in both audio and video formats.
I often forget to check Pioneer’s editorial platform The Bridge, despite the fact that I literally wrote an article for them earlier this year. That’s too bad though, as the site is edited by Ryan Keeling (a former Editor in Chief of Resident Advisor) and tends to only publish thoughtful long-form pieces about electronic music, DJ culture and the music industry. Some recent highlights include Mike Steyels’ examination of various dance music subcultures in Southeast Asia, and a piece from Keeling himself, where he pulls out DJ equipment from 20 years ago, puts together a set and reflects on what’s been lost / gained during the past two decades.
The Trilogy Tapes is one of electronic music’s most beloved independent imprints, and Lazo Rugoff has put together a little retrospective for The Vinyl Factory focusing on the label’s distinctive artwork.
Following her recent collaborative release with Al Wootton for Livity Sound, Azu Tiwaline has put together a new mix for Stamp the Wax, and also answered some interview questions from Rosie Cain, the site’s Editor in Chief.
Speaking of Stamp the Wax, the site also tapped Katia Mullova to pen a lengthy feature looking at the effects (good and bad) of exclusivity clauses on local music scenes and the industry at large. Included are thoughts from artists like Peach, Johanna Knutsson and Saoirse, along with several promoters.
The second season of Mixtape Club—the curated mix series (that pays the artists involved) from Finn and Local Action that was profiled here in the newsletter last year—is well underway, and the latest mix comes from NYC artist DJ Wawa. (And speaking of Finn, he has a new tape of “Manchester house jams” called Everything Is Alright coming out tomorrow on his 2 B Real label.)
Physical Therapy is another one of NYC”s most celebrated selectors, and the dance music chameleon—who granted a highly entertaining interview to First Floor last year—is at the helm of this week’s Resident Advisor podcast.
JUST ANNOUNCED
A round-up of noteworthy new and upcoming releases that were announced during the past week.
Two Shell made quite a bit of noise when their deliciously bubbly track “Home” was given a wide release back in January, and now the London duo has followed it up by quietly slipping something called Eternalseed into the world. Clocking in at more than 21 minutes, it’s essentially a mini-mix of their own edits / productions, and will reportedly only be available for one month. (That said, it has also been posted on YouTube.)
Seb Wildblood is someone who rather nimbly walks the line between house music and pop, and the LA-based Brit will soon be issuing his sophomore album, do you feel it too?, via his own All My Thoughts label on May 18. Accompanying the announcement was the release of the first single, “For Emotional Use Only,” on both digital and limited vinyl formats. (Literally only 25 records have been pressed up, so act fast if you want one.)
The ever-prolific Slikback has done it again, offering up a new EP of bass manipulations called Tier as a name-your-price download on Bandcamp.
Less than a month after he dropped one surprise new single (“Vocoder”), Floating Points has offered up another. There’s no word yet if these will be eventually be part of a larger release, but “Grammar” is available now through Ninja Tune.
Dekmantel has continued its busy 2022 by announcing the forthcoming release of Light, Cruel & Vain, a new album from Dutch artist (and label regular) Parrish Smith that’s set to drop on May 20. No songs have been shared yet, but Smith has posted this brief teaser video.
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
JakoJako “Perzeption” (Bigamo)
JakoJako “Affekt” (Bigamo)
Anyone who heard JakoJako’s previous pair of EPs for Leisure System likely already knew that she was a serious talent, but the Berlin-based producer has seriously leveled up on her debut album Metamorphose. Rooted in modular synthesis, it’s an elegant and intricately detailed collection of songs, and while tracks like “Perzeption” are sure to draw (favorable) comparisons to artists like Caterina Barbieri and (thanks to its occasional acid gurgles) Tin Man at his most mellow, JakoJako has her own distinct voice, eschewing overt grandeur for a more restrained elegance. The gently bubbling “Affekt”—another standout on an LP that’s honestly full of them—demonstrates her ability to create momentum without the need for drums, and does so while employing delicately twinkling melodies and celestial pads. This album is many things, but in a word, it’s fantastic.
Kareem El Morr “How to Bring Down Your Government (Rakim’s Stay in Bed Mix)” (RFR)
Kareem El Morr “Don’t Try This at Home” (RFR)
Like most German cities, Munich tends to be outshined by Berlin (at least when it comes to music), but the Bavarian capital is a serious hub for forward-thinking club sounds, as anyone familiar with the Ilian Tape label (and its impressive network of artists) surely knows. It might be a stretch to call Kareem El Morr an Ilian Tape affiliate—he contributed a single track to the imprint back in 2018—but irrespective of his associations, his new Super Illegal Revolution Trax EP makes clear that he’s a force to be reckoned with. “How to Bring Down Your Government (Rakim’s Stay in Bed Mix)” is an acid ripper with booming bass and an anthemic streak, while “Don’t Try This at Home” is a high-stepping techno bruiser whose slippery grooves owe a lot more to ’90s Detroit than Berghain stomp.
Franz Kirmann “Soupirs” (Bytes)
Franz Kirmann “Homesick” (Bytes)
Forget Me Not—the latest album from veteran London artist Franz Kirmann—often feels like the musical equivalent of a raincloud, and not just because it occasionally gets a bit gloomy. (In terms of mood, it’s actually more pensive than dour, even on slightly weepy tunes like the cautiously grand “Homesick.”) There’s a certain formlessness to Kirmann’s compositions, in the sense that his static-laced textures and softly groaning oscillations have an almost gaseous character, constantly moving and shifting. As with an actual cloud, there’s nothing that can be firmly grabbed onto, but the music’s density is obvious nonetheless. “Soupirs” is one of the LP’s weightier numbers, and like much of the album, it echoes the vaporous legacy of shoegaze and artists like Fennesz, but the song also charts its own path, sounding almost devotional once Kirmann brings some disembodied vocals into the mix.
BEST OF THE REST
Mosca “Who Don’t Hear They Must Feel” (Rent)
Just days after I published a long essay lamenting the lack of innovation in dance music, Mosca offered up the wildly inventive (and frankly unclassifiable) “Who Don’t Hear They Must Feel,” a tune the UK producer likens to 2-step, jungle, trap, grime and the influence of “baile funk, Night Slugs, Blawan, Randomer, IDM, ballroom, techno, gqom” and more. He’s not wrong, but this buzzing, bass-heavy tune (that somehow also feels light and effervescent) has no real peers, which is perhaps what makes it such a thrill.
Mikkel Rev “Entrance” (positivesource)
Merino “Frequencia” (Esmerelda)
Two tracks for the techno heads. “Entrance” is the bouncy highlight of the new src003 compilation EP, and while its insistent pulse rubs up against trance territory, Norwegian producer Mikkel Rev keeps his head down, forgoing flowery melodics while keeping his foot on the gas. “Frequencia”—which appears on Colombian artist Merino’s new Green Trax 1 EP—takes a less frantic approach, its murky underwater chug underpinning the song’s squeaking sonics.
Terrence Parker “I Love the Way You Hold Me (TP’s Bangin’ House Re-Edit) (!K7)
Shinichiro Yokota “Time Lapse” (!K7)
Cinthie’s new DJ-Kicks mix / compilation is a joyous tour through classic (and classic-sounding) house music, and it opens with Detroit O.G. Terrence Parker’s “I Love the Way You Hold Me,” an organ- and diva-driven track that’s easily one of the best feelgood house jams of all time. Shinchiro Yokota’s “Time Lapse” is another standout, and while it exercises a bit more restraint, it’s just as uplifting, with smooth strings, a piano-powered strut and a glorious sax riff.
Bianca Oblivion “Selecta” (Magic City)
Jubilee’s Magic City label promises “ALL BANGERS, NO CHILL,” and LA producer Bianca Oblivion’s new Sub Zero EP perfectly embodies that mantra, infusing old-school grime sounds with rowdy rave energy. “Selecta” is one of those undeniable club tracks, and it sounds a bit like Ruff Sqwad covering Timbaland’s famous “Indian Flute” beat. This one is sure to be rattling bassbins in the months ahead.
G Sudden “Walk & Stagger” (Duppy Gun)
Speaking of old-school grime, “Walk & Stagger”—a dancehall cut sung over Element’s potent “Rum Song” riddim—conjures memories of Youngstar’s iconic “Pulse X.” That said, the track—which appears on the Japanese producer’s new Andromeda EP—opts for bassy swagger over rapid-fire energy, the dubby flow of Jamaican MC G Sudden providing a little extra bite.
Hassan Ideddir “Atfalouna (Instrumental)” (Dark Entries)
First released in 1989 (on a major label, no less), “Atfalouna” is a newly reissued slice of pop-tinged electro-funk from Moroccan artist Hassan Ideddir. Brightly colored, undeniably funky and slightly chaotic (in a great way), the song is a vibrant cultural mash-up, and while the original version highlights Ideddir’s emotive, Arabic-language croon, this instrumental version is perhaps a bit better suited to the club. Furthermore, it isn’t strictly instrumental, maintaining a female-voiced chant-rap (which basically serves as the chorus) atop the song’s rubbery bounce.
Hari Sima “En la Azud” (Objetos Perdidos)
Lucient “Sa Casa Des Carbó” (Lapsus)
The woozy currents of the Mediterranean flow through this pair of ambient(ish) tunes. Hari Sima hails from Valencia, and his new Solo en Occidente LP showcases a talent for patient modular explorations, particularly on the subtly sparkling album closer “En La Azud.” Lucient—one of Barcelona’s busiest DJs—takes a similarly introspective approach on his debut album Sa Casa Des Carbó. Named after an old fishermen’s house in Ibiza that he spent some time in during the pandemic, the record is steeped in feelings of isolation and the beauty of those surroundings, and it fully flowers on the LP’s title track, where the Catalan producer’s wandering synths slowly coalesce into a sort of psychedelic bloom.
Merrin Kerras “Out of the Silent Planet” (A Strangely Isolated Place)
Silent Planet—a continuous, 41-minute composition that Merrin Kerras first released in 2020—is a real stunner. Aside from being an impressive act of world building—the Irish artist literally wrote and recorded the whole thing in just two days—it’s also incredibly lush and inviting, and the gauzy synths and shining melodies of “Out of the Silent Planet” (the piece’s more majestic second half) evokes both ambient trance and classic Tangerine Dream.
Hidden Agenda “One Time” (TempoSpeed)
Throughout the ’90s and early 2000s, brothers Jason and Mark Goodings dropped a slew of much-loved drum & bass records, and though the latter sadly passed away in 2016, the project has been newly revived after nearly two decades of silence. That lapse doesn’t seem have have hindered Jason’s effectiveness though, as the title track of his new One Time EP is a rousing, subtly sci-fi cut that recalls the bouncy energy of jump-up—and does so without indulging in that style’s penchant for goofiness and cheap thrills.
Calibre “Im Ent” (The Nothing Special)
Irish producer Calibre long ago transcended his drum & bass roots, but his new Double Bend LP pretty much swerves the genre entirely, reaching a high point on moody album closer “Im Ent.” A low-key tune that’s perfect for 5 a.m. dancefloors, it might best be described as cross between breakbeat and deep house, though its slinky basslines definitely bear traces of a junglist’s touch.
Statiqbloom “Cost of Lies” (Sonic Groove)
A hard-charging (but undeniably groovy) highlight of Statiqbloom’s new Threat album, the razor-sharp “Cost of Lies” definitely shares some DNA with seminal industrial outfits like Nitzer Ebb. Yet the track goes beyond mere imitation, occupying a zone that feels urgent, vital and—at least for more sensitive ravers—a little bit intimidating.
Doxil “Brio” (Bricolage)
I’ve written before about how Bicep are the current kings of big-room melancholy, but after hearing Doxil’s new Vert EP, they might have some competition for the crown. The Glaswegian producer stands especially tall on “Brio,” which marries knocking, Burial-esque garage rhythms with dreamy rave melodies. With any luck, it just might be the next great sadboi anthem.
Aura “Earth (Electron Forest Re-entry Mix)” (ELEGAL)
A sparkling, space-themed dancefloor cut that first dropped in 1993, “Earth” has now been reissued on Klasse Wrecks’ ELEGAL imprint, who’ve also commissioned this fresh rework from Electron Forest (a.k.a. one of Aura’s two members). Leaning into the trance tendencies of the original, this “Re-entry mix” goes big, but smartly never leaves orbit, avoiding “hands in the air” breakdowns and instead indulging in some wonky acid squiggles.
Dance System “4Play” (System)
At its core, Dance System’s music can be boiled down to three F’s: filter house, French Touch and FUN. Tossing subtlety aside and openly cribbing from his heroes (Daft Punk and the Dance Mania crew in particular), the UK artist formerly known as L-Vis 1990 has set his sights on the biggest of big rooms with his new In Your System album, and while the LP is stuffed with bouncy, riotous tunes, manic closer “4Play”truly strikes gold, its shuffling gait and mischievous energy bringing to mind the work of “Fly Life”-era Basement Jaxx.
Aleksi Perälä “FI3AC2267070” (AP Musik)
I’ve poked a lot of fun at Aleksi Perälä, whose exceedingly prolific nature borders on overkill, but to his credit, his current CYCLES series of releases has changed up his signature formula just enough to keep things interesting. Simply put, he’s largely dropped kick drums from the equation, which leaves songs like “FI3AC2267070”—which closes out his new CYCLES 8 藻—to exist as bits of free-flowing, chime-filled new age. The effect is rather mesmerizing, and if he keeps dropping releases in this vein, I might even stop complaining about how many of them there are.
Thomas Ragsdale & Richard Arnold “Walk” (Mysteries of the Deep)
Transformations I is an inter-generational and intra-family collaboration between UK producer Thomas Ragsdale and his stepfather Richard Arnold, and most of the record’s raw material (e.g. guitar parts, keyboard lines and string passages) was provided by the latter. Ragsdsale, however, has massaged and manipulated those pieces into swirling ambient tendrils, with songs like “Walk” feeling especially transportive, its meditative pulse—which approaches sort of a beatless techno—evoking images of giant skies at sunset.
O Yuki Conjugate “Discrepant” (World of Echo)
UK outfit O Yuki Conjugate have spent the past several decades working as a duo, but the pandemic forced its two members to work alone, resulting in 2021’s double cassette A Tension of Opposites: Vol. 1 & 2. Newly reissued on vinyl, both halves of the record explore a variety of (largely ambient and often quite lovely) sounds, but “Discrepant,” while beautiful, is also streaked with tension, its distortion-licked guitar and soaring drones bordering on shoegaze as the noise levels slowly rise.
Matías Aguayo “El Camarón (2022 Mix)” (Cómeme)
In all likelihood, most people who reach for the new El Camarón Remixes EP will be drawn in by the Ricardo Villalobos remix (which is honestly quite good) but Matías Aguayo—who first released the song as part of his 2013 album The Visitor—has also given the track a fresh coat of paint, elongating its bubbly rhythmic tumble and allowing his surreal, mantra-like lyrics (which he sings in Spanish alongside his Cómeme partner Avril Ceballos) to fully hypnotize anyone in earshot.
Private Press “L Betts” (Mechanical)
Private Press hail from Warsaw, but the Polish duo have conjured an almost Balearic vibe on “L Betts,” a track they (accurately) describe as “elegant yet funky.” Pairing plush pads with booming bass and lively breakbeats, the song bears an undeniable similarity to artists like Shed, but it’s also something that Sasha & Digweed might have slipped into one of their Northern Exposure mixes back in 1990s.
µ-Ziq “Giddy All Over” (Planet Mu)
Is “Giddy All Over” the cutest song that Mike Paradinas has ever produced? It’s definitely one of the most fun. A glistening (and openly nostalgic) breakbeat romp from his new Goodbye EP—an effort born out of a dig through his ’90s archives—it’s a bubbly delight whose sparkling textures are likely capable of charming K-pop fans and grizzled ravers alike.
Tomáš Niesner “Andante” (Warm Winters Ltd.)
Taking its name from the Bečva, a Czech river (which was sadly spoiled by chemical leaks in 2020), Bečvou is both a nostalgic lament and a travelogue, as Tomáš Niesner—who spent much of his youth frolicking on the Bečva’s shores—journeyed 100 km alongside its waters before creating the album. It’s a gorgeous, contemplative record, and while Neisner’s field recordings ground the music in a certain place, it’s his use of acoustic guitar that really makes the music shine, especially on LP highlight “Andante,” where his soft strumming (and some lovely strings) float inside a suite of gentle drone and modular bliss.
SKYENCE “Radiation Cycle” (Modularfield)
The closing track on German artist SKYENCE’s new Mimicking Bodies album, “Radiation Cycle” is essentially just a modular synth composition, but the song’s minimal nature shouldn’t be mistaken for simplicity. It’s a graceful, quietly cinematic track, and its gradual blossoming—which builds to an awe-inspiring crescendo before retreating back into the ether—makes for a sublime listen.
And with that, we’ve arrived at the end of the 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.)
Until next time,
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.