First Floor #159 – Editorial Bias by the Numbers
a.k.a. A data-driven look at electronic music news coverage, plus a round-up of the genre's latest happenings and a fresh batch of new track recommendations.
What makes something newsworthy? When it comes to electronic music, the answer seems to be pretty fuzzy. In practice, however, it often boils down to a simple question: “Is this something people would click on?”
That approach obviously doesn’t make for the most inspiring of editorial principles, and it’s also at odds with electronic music media’s stated intentions. In recent years, many of the genre’s most prominent press outlets have loudly signaled their commitment to diverse storytelling and the platforming of a wide variety of artists, but has that commitment trickled down to their news coverage? After all, news is often the content type that these publications produce more than any other, but as someone who actively keeps tabs on the daily grind of electronic music, I had a suspicion that the rhetoric espoused by these sites didn’t necessarily align with the stories they were choosing to share each day.
The data-driven article I published earlier this week—more on that below—was born out of that suspicion, but today’s newsletter has more to offer than just charts, graphs and media analysis. There’s also a guest recommendation from Martyn Bootyspoon (one of dance music’s most colorful characters), plus a news round-up and whole lot of great new tunes. Electronic music never takes a breather, but First Floor is here to help you get caught up on at least some of what’s been happening during the past week.
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 takes an in-depth look at the news coverage being published by Resident Advisor, DJ Mag and Mixmag. All three publications have supposedly revamped their editorial during the past few years, but what kinds of news stories do they think are important enough to share with their audiences? This piece attempts to answer that question—with the help of several charts and graphs—but also goes deeper, examining how the curatorial decisions made by these sites reveal potential bias in both their business practices and journalistic approach.
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.
Fresh off the release of his excellent Petals EP for Hessle Audio, Jordanian artist Toumba has been profiled in a new feature for Crack magazine. He’s also quoted in an illuminating new article that Bertie Coyle put together for Bandcamp Daily, which dives deeper into Amman’s electronic music scene and and spotlights several of the city’s promising artists.
Although the trance revival has been ongoing for quite some time, it’s arguably kicked into high gear during the past year, particularly amongst post-pandemic clubbers eager to bathe in the genre’s emotional and melodic overload. In a new feature for Pitchfork, Philip Sherburne takes a closer look at what’s been happening, tracking the music’s rebirth while speaking with artists like Avalon Emerson, TDJ and Courtesy.
Moodymann has long been one of house music’s most celebrated (and unique) figures, but as the Detroit icon explains to Patrick Hinton in a new feature for Mixmag, he also has a history as a beatmaker in the Motor City’s hip-hop scene, and worked extensively with rapper K-Stone.
As someone who’s written extensively about the overwhelming amount of new music that’s released each week, I felt a certain kinship with tech writer Adam Douglas after seeing his latest article for Attack, which asks the question, “Are there too many plugins?”
Mixmag has kicked off a new content series focused on the cost of living crisis, beginning with a long feature by Megan Townsend that zeroes in on the struggles faced by venues and promoters in the UK. Despite the article’s limited geographical scope—it’s wholly based on what’s happening in the UK—the challenges outlined (e.g. rising energy bills, higher artist fees, spiraling travel costs, spotty attendance, etc.) will likely ring familiar to people involved in nightlife in many parts of the world.
JUST ANNOUNCED
A round-up of noteworthy new and upcoming releases announced during the past week.
Octo Octa unveiled a new project called Minimal Tears last week, and all the music she creates under that moniker is absolutely free. Based in part on a daily practice where she spends hours playing in her studio, Minimal Tears is an outlet where she can be “trackier, quicker, and looser” when making music. It’s also driven by a desire to make more of both her knowledge and work available to everyone, which is why all of the songs, sample packs and stems associated with the project are available free of charge.
UK pranksters Two Shell have dropped a surprise new EP called lil spirits. Out now via their Mainframe Audio label, the record was first supplemented by a video for the track “love him,” which was quickly followed up by another visual clip for the song “i m e s s a g e.”
Sinjin Hawke and Zora Jones celebrated Valentine’s Day by sharing their bootleg remix of One Way’s 1984 funk classic “Don’t Stop.” It’s available as a name-your-price download on Bandcamp.
Mexico City bass / techno producer Nico has a new release on the way. The Passage EP is scheduled to arrive on February 24 through the Grid label, but its title track—a collaboration with Tristan Arp—has already been shared.
Excitement is running high for DJ Babatar’s forthcoming archival EP The Tribe (Baila), but with that record not slated to drop until early next month, fans of Venezuelan raptor house can tide themselves over with “HA DA HE HE,” a DJ Babatr single that surfaced last week on the N.A.A.F.I label.
Joey Anderson has completed a new LP. Billed as “a fully instrumental deep dive into both Joey’s machines and mindset,” Exotic Sequence is said to reflect how even when the New Jersey veteran tries to make techno, it turns out sounding deep and housey. The album will be issued by Deeptrax Records on March 6—more details are here—but in the meantime, some preview clips have been shared.
After debuting last year with her Night Journeys EP, Courtesy is now set to return with a new EP called Violence of the Moodboard. Inspired in part by the Danish artist’s work on fashion-adjacent projects, the record continues her exploration of ambient trance, and even contains a cover of L.S.G.’s ’90s trance anthem “Hearts.” That cover is available now via Courtesy’s own Kulør imprint, and the rest of the EP will arrive on April 21.
Barcelona label Modern Obscure Music has assembled an all-star cast for an upcoming concept-driven compilation called Random and emblematic: The sound of space. Featuring tracks from Carmen Villain, Kuniyuki Takahashi, Pavel Milyakov, KMRU and more, the project invited artists to choose a specific space and then translate it to a piece of music. The full release drops on April 14, but two tracks have already been shared: Félicia Atkinson’s “Le Poème de l’angle droit” and Ana Quiroga’s “London Fields.”
MARTYN BOOTYSPOON 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 Martyn Bootyspoon, a Montreal DJ, producer and visual artist whose passion for sweaty machine music goes perfectly with sensual baritone, not to mention his reputation as dance music’s gregarious resident lothario. Quick to laugh but still deadly serious about his craft, he’s released tunes on labels like Fractal Fantasy, LuckyMe, 2 B Real, HAUS of ALTR and Model Future, but whatever Bootyspoon happens to be at any given moment, his existence is a welcome reminder that funk can’t be spelled without the letters F-U-N.
nit “Looney Tune (Rico The Wizard 97' Lemon Mix)” (Record Makers)
Any time a song lives rent-free, looping on low volume in my mind, I consider it to be a great thing of joy. This under-the-radar mix of nit’s “Looney Tune” has been precisely that for me lately. Where the original sits in the Air / Sebastien Tellier realm, the hallmark sound of Crydamoure lives in this version, inching towards you from the metaphysical Studio B like a dancing ASIMO robot. You don’t always get a bassline that hits such a sweet spot, but that toasted low-end is the very essence of Michelin-level French Touch studio engineering.
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
Bimol “La hoja y el bejuco” (NEA$)
During the past year, Latin rhythms have become the toast of the electronic music world, and while it’s encouraging to see artists, tastemakers and fans in places like the US, UK and Europe opening themselves up to new sounds, it’s also clear that not everyone is being invited to the party. For artists in Latin America, finding success (or simply getting noticed) is frequently dependent not on innovation or making the best possible tunes, but partaking in a kind of minstrelsy that caters to outsiders’ often stereotypical notions of what “traditional” Latin music and culture entail.
“La hoja y el bejuco,” however, refreshingly tosses that paradigm aside. Taken from the new Terminales compilation EP, the track is closer to Gesloten Cirkel and Ilian Tape than Bad Bunny or Daddy Yankee, but listening to its percussive churn and broken drum patterns, it’s also undeniably Latin in origin. More interested in gothy darkness than Caribbean sunshine, Colombian duo Bimol have cooked up something that feels not only vibrant and spooky—the song’s disembodied vocals wouldn’t be out of place in a teen horror flick—but also honest, charting a path that reflects their various influences and interests without catering to tired tropes of what acts from South America are supposed to sound like.
Hollie Kenniff “Start Where We Are” (Western Vinyl)
Hollie Kenniff “Carve the Ruins” (Western Vinyl)
Perhaps it was a victim of pandemic-induced ambient overload, but Hollie Kenniff’s 2021 full-length The Quiet Drift, despite being a phenomenal piece of work, never really got the attention it deserved. At the time, I described the record as a “blissful tapestry of lush synths, gentle strings, celestial guitars and textured layers of Kenniff’s own voice,” and though she’s kept that formula relatively intact on her new We All Have Places That We Miss LP, she’s done so while moving into spiritually darker territory.
Rooted in memories of a lakeside home that was relinquished after having been in her family for generations, the album was largely constructed in the middle of the night while Kenniff was dealing with chronic insomnia. As such, it makes sense that LP highlight “Start Where We Are” occupies a dreamlike space, its ethereal textures glowing like an oncoming sunrise as they stretch across a seemingly infinite horizon. “Carve the Ruins” is similarly majestic, even as it’s loosely tethered to the ground by the only percussion on the record, and though its sumptuous melodic drift and muted guitars coalesce into what Kenniff describes as the “gentlest post-punk possible,” it’s also not far off from the billowing textures of Cocteau Twins and the fluffiest varieties of ’90s dream pop.
Danny Goliger & Choopsie “Cycling” (Dirtybird)
First launched in 2021, Dirtybird’s white label series continues to be a source of rowdy rhythms and unmitigated joy, especially for those with an appetite for low-end vibrations and shuffling, UK-style rhythms. Danny Goliger, who’s also dropped impressive tunes on labels like Scuffed and Fantastic Voyage, was one of the series’ first contributors, and now he’s returned to Dirtybird with Cycling, a collaborative EP he made alongside fellow LA artist Choopsie. Opening with a volley of gut-rumbling bass, the record’s title track immediately gets down to business, but there’s more to the song than its subby wobble. Bordering on electro while still sounding like something a DJ might have dropped at FWD>> back in the day—there are some definite nods to old-school grime in there as well—it’s a lively cut that’s sure to get bass fiends salivating on both sides of the Atlantic.
BEST OF THE REST
Nazario “Te Siento (Vocal Mix)” (Ritmo Astral)
“Te Siento” is a captivating piece of Latin-tinged beatbox funk, and though it supposedly grew out of a “rough demo” that landed in Ritmo Astral’s inbox, it’s not quite clear if Nazario is a real person, or if the whole story is an invention of label founder Orion Agassi. The song certainly sounds like the Spanish producer’s handiwork, but regardless of who made it, the percolating proto-house beats, swaggering synths and sexed-up vocal clips are a whole lot of fun.
Hevlaran “Eden” (Modern Fate)
After debuting the Hevlaran moniker with the impressive Templates 1 EP late last year, the German producer (who previously operated under the name Erdbeerschnitzel) has quickly returned with another quality outing, Templates 2. “Eden” is one of the record’s highlights, a jaunty bit of housey techno whose playfully swirling melodies give the track an almost kaleidoscopic feel.
SØS Gunver Ryberg “Out of the Shadows” (Arterial)
Techno is an eminently pliable genre, but somewhere along the line—most likely around the time that it began to make its way into arenas and Ibiza beach parties—it largely lost its weirdness. Thankfully there are still adventurous artists like SØS Gunver Ryberg out there, and “Out of the Shadows”—a standout from the Danish producer’s new SPINE album—skillfully veers away from plodding kick drums and cheap thrills, burrowing into a heady (albeit undeniably stormy) zone with her burly sci-fi synths and body-bending array of drum-machine beats.
Otik “Hyperborea” (Solar Body)
Even with nearly a decade of releases under his belt, Otik is one of those artists whose style is more or less impossible to pin down. (Not even the nebulous “bass music” really covers it.) Summer Ghost is the London producer’s latest offering, and EP highlight “Hyperborea” is quite possibly the most melodic thing he’s ever done. Constructed atop a crooked (albeit potent) drum pattern, it’s a spacious tune, one that gets downright wistful as its celestial pastels and new agey vocal textures gracefully float towards the heavens.
Resocode “Horizon” (Model Future)
GENESIS III is the third and final chapter of an EP trilogy from young electro phenom Resocode, and “Horizon” closes out the record on a high note. The track’s taut rhythms have a familiar sci-fi edge, but they’re ultimately no match for Resocode’s technicolor melodies, whose otherworldly glow joyously (and probably inadvertently) evokes memories of Super Mario Kart’s Rainbow Road levels.
Rrose “In Place of Matter” (Eaux)
Although Rrose’s new Tulip Space EP is billed as a collection “synth oddities,” it doesn’t skirt the dancefloor entirely. “In Place of Matter” is a rather intense, slo-mo techno stomper, and while its thundering gait brings plenty of low-end weight to the proceedings, it ultimately takes a back seat to the song’s undulating mass of sine waves, which collectively vibrate with the force of an industrial laundry room.
RBCHMBRS “Eloise” (1432 R)
Tapping into the same sort of smokey, late-night house magic that long ago put fellow East Coasters like Levon Vincent, Joey Anderson and DJ Qu on the map, “Eloise” appears on Toe the Line, the latest EP from RBCHMBRS. That said, there’s more than 5 a.m. haze on offer here; the track’s underlying rhythm is positively frenetic, its beats galloping along at nearly 140 bpm (and practically tripping over themselves in the process) as the Queens producer lays down a deeply cool groove.
Apiento “Axis” (Love International / Test Pressing)
“Axis” is said to bear traces of Detroit techno, but while the song’s dreamy atmospheres do nod toward the Motor City’s sci-fi legacy, they also have something of a new age vibe. The latter characteristic has long been associated with the name Apiento, but much like the rest of the London artist’s new Escape Reality EP, “Axis” eludes easy categorization. The song’s pummeling percussion has a lot to do with that, and though it somehow seems to channel both freewheeling jazz and hard-hitting gqom, what’s most impressive is how it manages to do so without spoiling the track’s spaced-out sense of chill.
Kelly Lee Owens “Moebius” (Smalltown Supersound)
An addendum to last year’s LP.8 album, LP.8.2 might initially seem like an odds-and-ends collection that will only interest Kelly Lee Owens superfans, but its contents shouldn’t be overlooked, particularly by anyone who enjoys the Welsh artist’s more pop-oriented flirtations. Born out of the same sessions as LP.8, the tracks on LP.8.2 display a similar level of chilly, industrial brawn, but they also allow Owens’ voice to take flight, which is how an emotive near-ballad like “Moebius” winds up sounding a bit like Homogenic-era Björk.
the humble bee “flakes of rust fill my palm” (quiet details)
The idea behind quiet details is simple: artists are asked to create something that suits their interpretation of the label’s name. lichen cloak on a white stone is the young imprint’s first official offering, and it’s a slow-brewing, richly detailed listen, one that Manchester artist the humble bee has filled with “subtle and detailed field recordings,” “frayed piano tape loops” and other bits of exquisite aural minutiae. Album standout “flakes of rust fill my palm” unfolds over nearly 10 minutes, at times evoking thoughts of a less bombastic Tim Hecker, but even during its most stripped-down moments, the song’s glacial patience (and elegance) feels truly spellbinding.
That’s all for today’s edition of First Floor. 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.