First Floor #176 – Who Knew That Aphex Twin and Deadmau5 Had Something in Common?
a.k.a. The growing demands of the live show circuit, plus a round-up of the week's electronic music news and a fresh crop of new track recommendations.
I survived Sónar week here in Barcelona, along with the torrent of social media posts that followed Aphex Twin’s mind-melting live show. While that was just one of the eye-popping performances that happened last week, in the aftermath of the festival I found myself thinking two things:
These shows are starting to look more and more like EDM concerts.
Even supposedly “underground” artists are now expected to play this game.
As I’m prone to do, I wrote a whole essay on the topic (more on that below), but in recent days I’ve also been busy with another matter: my book, which now officially exists!
Preordered copies are already beginning to arrive in people’s mailboxes. Feel free to order directly from Velocity Press if you want one before the official July 7 release date, or from one of the links here if you don’t mind waiting. (Amazon has it too.)
I have to admit, I’m pretty excited—the initial response has been great—and in just a few days, I’ll be hitting the road for my first official book tour. (All the details on that are below.) In the meantime though, let’s talk about today’s newsletter, which features the aforementioned essay, a guest appearance by Tristan Arp and, as usual, a full complement of electronic music news, release announcements and track recommendations. Let’s get into it.
A quick scheduling note: With the book tour happening, I will be taking a break from the newsletter next week, but First Floor will return to its regular publishing schedule on Tuesday, July 4. In the meantime, come and see me on the road! I’d love to say hello in person.
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, examines the growing importance of visuals and dazzling live shows in the electronic music realm. No longer limited the EDM circuit, it now seems that “underground” heroes and even relatively unknown artists are expected to deliver something spectacular on stage, especially at festivals, and that’s a difficult proposition when only a handful of acts have the resources, contacts and know-how to make that happen.
FIRST FLOOR: THE BOOK TOUR
Beginning this weekend, I’ll be bouncing around the UK and Europe on a book tour. At each stop I’ll be joined by an artist who’s agreed to moderate the conversation and ask me some questions about my work, and while most of the events are FREE, it is HIGHLY advised to RSVP for the Bristol, Glasgow, Berlin and Barcelona dates.
The dates, details and relevant links are below.
June 25 - London, Cafe OTO (moderated by patten)
June 27 - Bristol, Dareshack (moderated by Bruce)
June 28 - Glasgow, University Chapel (moderated by Andrew Thomson)
June 29 - Manchester, O! Peste Destroyed (moderated by John Howes)
July 2 - Berlin, Bar Neiro (moderated by Matrixxman)*
July 4 - Barcelona, Llibreria Finestres (moderated by John Talabot)
*The Berlin venue has very limited capacity; please RSVP to firstfloorberlin@gmail.com if you’d like to attend.
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.
Even as someone with very little interest in the so-called “indie sleaze revival,” I very much enjoyed this feature that Millan Verma put together for No Bells, which dives into the largely New York-based “scene” (if it can be called that), evaluates the quality of the music on offer (spoiler alert: much of it is not good!) and considers whether that even matters to those most excited about it. On a similar note, check out this recent edition of Sam Valenti’s Herb Sundays newsletter / playlist series; although the music selections provided by The Dare were theoretically the headline attraction, it’s Valenti’s thoughtful (and refreshingly uncynical) observations about indie sleaze—and how it actually compares to the early-2000s era of NYC indie and dance music—that are truly worth pondering.
Dance music has always had more than its fair share of unusual characters (both inside and outside of the DJ booth), and few journalists have more love for them than Vivian Host. In the latest episode of her always entertaining Rave to the Grave podcast, she interviews Kevin Carpet, a man who’s spent decades showing up to parties in NYC, rolling himself in a carpet and encouraging people to step on him. It’s a fascinating conversation, and Host makes sure to ask him plenty of questions about not only what drives this pursuit, but how it works on a day-to-day level.
With a new archival Arthur Russell release set to drop this week, Philip Sherburne spoke to Steve Knutson (i.e. the man who put it together) in a new feature for Pitchfork. The piece explores how Knutson—who never knew Russell personally—obtained access to the artist’s archives in the first place, and how he’s gone about assembling multiple posthumous releases while doing his best to respect the legacy of such an iconic figure.
Have synthesizers peaked? Writer Adam Douglas thinks so, and he (somewhat scoldingly) explains why in a new article for Attack, comparing the historical trajectory of synths to that of other instruments and arguing that perhaps we should stop expecting the technology to continue making radical leaps forward.
As part of Cherie Hu’s month-long stint as a guest editor at Resident Advisor, she commissioned Water & Music affiliate Katherine Bassett to put together a wide-ranging look at the current state of merch, and more specifically the various ways that artists are using it to stay afloat—or at least attempt to.
JUST ANNOUNCED
A round-up of noteworthy new and upcoming releases announced during the past week.
Just a few days after his Sónar performance, Aphex Twin announced an upcoming new EP. Set for release on July 28 via Warp, it’s called Blackbox Life Recorder 21f / in a room7 F760, and lead track “Blackbox Life Recorder 21f” has already been shared.
Shackleton has never been shy about working his other artists, and last week the celebrated English producer unveiled Flesh & The Dream, a new collaborative endeavor with Heather Leigh. Choose Mortality is the duo’s debut album; out now via their own Everything Forever label, it’s available via Boomkat, who describe it as “a psychedelic prog masterpiece, probing the gooey membrane between outré folk vocalisations and dizzying, queered soundscapes.”
Peggy Gou has signed to the XL label, and has kicked off the relationship with a singalong-ready new single called “(It Goes Like) Nanana.” It’s available now.
Azu Tiwaline has a new album on the way. The Fifth Dream is the Tunisian artist’s second full-length, and the vinyl version is slated to arrive via the I.O.T label on July 7. (The digital version will follow on October 6.) In the meantime, first single “Night in Palmtree” has been shared, along with the song’s accompanying video.
Actress dropped a surprise new single this week. “Jimmy” appears to be a nod to Bronski Beat frontman Jimmy Somerville—the song consists, at least in part, of chopped-up bits of the synth-pop group’s classic “Smalltown Boy”—and it’s available now as a name-your-price download on Bandcamp.
MoMA Ready self-released a new album last week called HEADLOCK, which the prolific NYC artist billed as “music for smoking dj's and clubs.” It’s out now on Bandcamp.
Yamaneko has completed a new full-length. Now based in Japan, the English producer (and longtime Local Action affiliate) has linked up with the 1000Doors label to release Escape Artists Never Die, an “introspective meditation on euphoric melodies and hard dance styles” that’s scheduled to surface on June 30. Ahead of that, LP cut “Kitana” has already been shared.
Jackson Ryland—a talented Washington DC producer who, aside from releasing solo material on labels like 1432 R and Fixed Rhythms, is also one half of the groups Rush Plus and Superabundance—often flies under the radar, but his forthcoming Boosted EP for Peach Discs is sure to put more eyes (and ears) on his work. The record is slated for a June 30 release, but one track, “Hyp Gruuv,” is available now.
TRISTAN ARP 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 Tristan Arp, a Mexico City-based artist and co-founder of the Human Pitch label. Although his work could technically be described as a kind of bass music, Tristan’s music exists in its own space—and never feels tethered to the dancefloor, perhaps because his playful (and often broken) rhythms pull in elements of ambient and new age that many of his peers would never touch. His ear for the delightfully weird helped shape the forthcoming End of a Line or Part of a Circle? EP, which drops later this month on 3024, but today he’s put that talent to good use by sharing an obscure gem he came across earlier this year.
504 Aquatic “LoE3” (kshack)
I’m always drawn to music that lives its own orbit… stuff that speaks its own language and has its own logic. This piece by 504 Aquatic—a producer I discovered on a Bandcamp dig who released this on a label called kshack, which appears to be based in New York—creates a vivid, imaginative world and unlocks some new rhythm patterns along the way.
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
Florian T M Zeisig “I” (enmossed)
Florian T M Zeisig “ix” (enmossed)
The first half of Florian T M Zeisig’s new You Look So Serious I + II was released five years ago, yet those songs—which the German artist constructed using more than 400 four-second tape loops he’d created by splicing a cassette of Enya’s 1988 album Watermark—still feel like a revelation, pushing the Irish singer’s famously celestial tones even further into the stratosphere. Opening track “I” captures the music’s devotional aura, and while there’s no denying that Enya herself provides much of the magic—there’s no mistaking that voice, no matter how much it’s been chopped up and run through audio effects—Zeisig himself can’t be dismissed as a mere bystander. These are reconstructions, not remixes, and he dials down the grandeur (some might say cheese) of the source material, pushing it into a dreamily psychedelic zone that’s often stunningly beautiful.
The album’s second half (i.e. the 10 new songs that presumably make up You Look So Serious II) dials down the opulence even further, occupying quiet spaces in which tape hiss and crackling static are often the most prominent occupants. “ix” is a particularly ghostly highlight, on which Enya’s voice is not only pitched down, but relieved of its usual angelic glow. Even so, the music remains warm and eerily comforting, relishing in the isolation offered by the world’s poorly lit corners. Regardless of whether or not you’re an Enya fan, this is fantastic stuff, and a testament to that fact that providence can be found in the smallest of details.
DJ Cuddles “But You” (Self-released)
Earlier this week, writer Chal Ravens tweeted her surprise that dance music was once again experiencing an “Anthems Summer,” and while I’m not sure I agree with her assessment—it really depends on exactly how one defines the word “anthem”—I would like to submit “But You” as potential evidence that she might be on to something. The latest single from DJ Cuddles—a new, house- and techno-oriented alias that grime veteran Mr. Mitch debuted a few months back—it provides an instant shot of candy-colored euphoria, the song’s skippy beat buffeted by a joyously elastic bassline and some delightfully chipmunked vocals. The giddy effervescence brings to mind the recent output of Hudson Mohawke and even Two Shell, but “But You” is more blatantly pop than the former and less beholden to winking internet in-jokes than the latter. Simply put, it’s just plain fun, and whether or not it winds up being classified as an anthem, it deserves to be played quite a lot in the months ahead.
RAVETRX “Fifth Drops Poly” (E-Beamz)
RAVETRX “Scatta” (E-Beamz)
The true identity of RAVETRX is unknown. According the the E-Beamz label, it’s a new alias of “bona fide legend,” but even without that qualification, it doesn’t take an expert to ascertain that the new Final Fantasy EP is not the work of some rookie producer. While the record’s booming breakbeats are clearly informed by old-school jungle, tracks like “Fifth Drops Poly” and “Scatta” don’t feel like golden era throwbacks. The former has been tuned for modern dancefloors—and big rooms in particular—its percussive rattle flanked by video game blips, trance-adjacent riffs and wobbly basslines that sound more like tech-step than old Photek and Roni Size records. EP closer “Scatta” takes a more laid-back approach, employing plinky tones and watery textures that recall the vibe of a Y2K-era chillout room, yet its fortified drums are lively enough to keep things from ever feeling snoozy. Who is RAVETRX? Folks like Sully, Coco Bryce, Tim Reaper and even Paul Woolford come to mind, but regardless of whether it’s one of them or someone else entirely, they’d be well advised to keep making records in this vein.
BEST OF THE REST
Caterina Barbieri “Math of You” (light-years)
Do you like Caterina Barbieri? Then you’ll almost certainly like Myuthafoo, the latest album from the Italian synth specialist. Though the LP doesn’t represent any sort of reinvention—or even an evolution—of her sound, that’s by design, as its six tracks were all originally written around the same time as her acclaimed 2019 full-length Ecstatic Computation. Barbieri thinks of the two records as “sister albums,” and while the glowing arps and modular twee of standout track “Math of You” do sound familiar, the song’s weightless melodies are enticing all the same.
DJ Boring “Beautiful Strangers” (Running Back)
In a time when seemingly every producer is striving to make larger-than-life bangers, weepy gems like “Beautiful Strangers”—the title track of DJ Boring’s latest EP—have become something of a rare commodity. The melodic house cut isn’t exactly dark, but even with its big pads and chirpy melodies, it sounds like the dance music equivalent of someone turning down the brightness knob on an old television set. Wistful is perhaps the best word to describe it, as the song isn’t something made for big moments in the club; it’s for remembering the big moments from days gone by.
Phran “Yes Misael” (Dimana)
Sometimes an artist’s under-the-radar releases contain their best tunes. Earlier this month, Phran quietly inaugurated Dimana—a new, digital-only imprint of the Barcelona-based Venezuelan’s Vimana label—with Fantascene, a bubbling, percussion-led EP that pulls from a variety of Latin and Caribbean rhythms, including raptor house (a.k.a. changa tuki) and reggaeton. “Yes Misael” is the most effective of the bunch, its shuffling, stripped-down drum patterns providing some low-end heft as the song’s stabbing synths and chopped vocal—itself culled from a ’90s reggaeton cut—lend the proceedings a little extra bounce.
“La Primera Vez (Orion Agassi Edit)” (Ritmo Astral)
Taken from a new edits compilation called Servicios Integrales de Discoteca, “La Primera Vez” is a rework of Angelique’s 1996 track “You Look So Fine.” Spanish artist Orion Agassi hasn’t majorly altered the source material—though it does seem that he’s spliced together bits of two different versions of the original song—but what matters most is that the final product remains a joyous throwback to the upbeat sounds of ’80s freestyle. Built atop an old-school, Afrika Bambaataa-style electro beat, “La Primera Vez” could have soundtracked a breakdance battle back in the day, but it’s the boy-crazy vocals of Angelique—whose pipes compare favorably with those of freestyle queens like Shannon and Exposé—that truly shine bright.
LA-4A “Outgesourct” (Delft)
Although Kevin McHugh (a.k.a. Ambivalent) has been relatively quiet on the release front during the past few years, he’s remained active in the electronic music world, periodically releasing others’ music via his Valence label and working steadily behind the scenes as mixing / mastering engineer. Earlier this month, however, he stepped back into the spotlight, returning to his LA-4A alias (which had been dormant since 2016) and dropping a new album called Folio. The sharply produced LP capably moves through a myriad of electro, techno and jackin’ house sounds, often combining all three in a single track, and sounds particularly potent on crunchy highlight “Outgesourct,” which nods towards acts like Dopplereffekt but also retains its own gritty street swagger.
Passarani “Numero 2” (Studiomaster)
Opening a new studio would be more than enough to keep most artists busy, but Marco Passarani (a.k.a. one half of Tiger & Woods) isn’t most artists. The veteran producer and native Roman has also spent the past year dropping a flurry of Bandcamp releases, sharing music both old and new. The latest, “Numero 2,” falls into the latter category, and it’s a high-stepping acid cut with a paranoid streak, its hard-smacking drums guaranteed to wake up even the sleepiest of dancefloors.
Code Industry “Behind the Mirror (Image Mix)” (Dark Entries)
Black faces have historically been few and far between in EBM and industrial circles, but that didn’t stop Detroit quartet Code Industry from doing their thing during the early ’90s. The group’s 1991 Structure EP has been newly reissued by Dark Entries, and lead track “Behind the Mirror (Image Mix)” is a sultry goth-dance cut that bears traces of early house and techno, but also comfortably sits alongside the best tunes that acts like Front 242 and Nitzer Ebb had to offer.
Prayer “Set Me Free” (Rua Sound)
UK producer Prayer has never been shy about taking his music in an epic direction, so it’s not surprising that the new Io EP contains one track (“Reteroic”) which clocks in at nearly 12 minutes. Opening cut “Set Me Free” is only half as long, but it’s just as good—and no less grand in its aspirations, openly referencing the glory days of hardcore and jungle while layering urgent diva chops, trancey pads and big feels atop its window-rattling drum attack.
That brings us to the end of today’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.)
See you on the road,
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.