First Floor #178 – Playing Catch-Up
a.k.a. A whole lot of great music came out while I was doing my book tour.
After finishing my book tour last week, I took a few days to find my bearings, but once the haze began to clear, I quickly came to two realizations:
My inbox was a total mess.
A whole lot of music came out during the two weeks I stepped away from my usual newsletter routine.
It took some doing, but I’m happy to report that item #1 is now under control—as a strict “inbox zero” person, it simply had to be done—and today’s First Floor is my attempt to properly address item #2. Simply put, this paywall-free edition of the newsletter is devoted entirely to highlighting my favorite tracks from electronic music releases that dropped between June 22 and July 6, so if you’re looking to stock up on new(ish) tunes or refresh your playlists, you’ll definitely want to keep reading.
Before we jump into that, however, I do have a couple of quick announcements:
The book was officially released last Friday, July 7, which means it should now be available at a variety of stores across the UK and Europe. (Unfortunately the copies meant for North American readers are still on a boat crossing the Atlantic, but the book will also be available there in a few weeks.) If you’d rather buy it online, the book can be ordered directly from my publisher Velocity Press, although those outside the UK may wish to instead patronize one of the many sales links here or just get it via Amazon.
This Thursday, July 13, I’ll be publishing a “normal” edition of First Floor, complete with news items, links to interesting reads, new release announcements and a fresh batch of track recommendations.
In the meantime though, let’s dig into this backlog of new releases. Summer is supposed to be a slow time for new music, but I’m starting to think that seasonal industry slowdowns may be a thing of the past. The content hose now seems to be on full blast more or less all year round, but First Floor is here to try and point out the good stuff.
(When perusing the tracks below, you can click on the 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.)
Moin “Will I Have Enough Grapes” (AD 93)
V/Z “Candles (Version)” (AD 93)
Is AD 93 quietly morphing into a post-punk label? Probably not, but the London outpost has increasingly been dipping its toes into angsty, guitar-oriented waters during the past few years, and has impressively done so while keeping its impeccable curatorial ear very much intact. Granted, curation becomes a lot easier when it involves saying “yes” to drummer Valentina Magaletti’s various endeavors, and the in-demand Italian percussionist is a member of both Moin (with Raime’s Joe Andrews and Tom Halstead) and V/Z (with Japanese artist Zongamin).
“Will I Have Enough Grapes” is the closing track from Moin’s surprise new Clocked Off EP, and while the London trio declined to name many specific influences when they were interviewed here in the newsletter last year, the song’s winding guitars and brooding bass tones loudly echo the post-hardcore sounds of the mid-to-late ’90s. Bands like Three Mile Pilot, Slint and Joan of Arc all come to mind, although none of those groups ever sampled some rage-filled guy petulantly screaming, “Get out of my room!” for use on one of their tracks. V/Z “Candles (Version)” takes a much dreamier approach, settling somewhere in between moody ’80s goth and the fuzzy shoegaze of bands like Ride and Chapterhouse. The closing number from the duo’s debut album Suono Assente, it’s one of the more orthodox tunes on a record that frequently crawls into some of post-punk’s weirder crevices, yet it’s also a testament to the genre’s unique ability to celebrate both skronk and ethereal bliss, often within the span of just a few tracks.
Klara Lewis & Nik Colk Void “Junk Funk” (A L T E R)
“Junk Funk” lasts only 71 seconds, and isn’t really indicative of what the rest of Klara Lewis and Nik Colk Void’s collaborative album Full-On sounds like, but it’s a damn potent tune. Drenched in grotty reverb, it’s a sneering, give-no-fucks detour into grungy post-punk, and better yet, it’s got a proper groove. Coming from two accomplished synth experimenters, it’s a surprisingly lo-fi moment that sounds more like Sonic Youth and Bauhaus than anything from the Editions Mego roster, and as good as the rest of their LP is, I for one would love to hear Lewis and Void do an entire record in “Junk Funk” mode.
The Bug “Brutalized (Headwrecked)” (Pressure)
After inaugurating the Machine EP series earlier this year, The Bug has quickly returned with a second installment, Machine 2, which is as sludgy and brutal as anything the veteran bass warrior has ever done. “Brutalized (Headwrecked)” is the record’s closing track, and though its thundering drums and buzzing drones are fully menacing on their own, it’s the song’s relaxed tempo that makes it a truly terrorizing piece of music. Moving with the confidence of an apex predator, it draws out the kill, calmly stalking its prey before pouncing with a vicious low-end assault.
Emily Jeanne “Blue Dawn” (Peder Mannerfelt Produktion)
In its lone year of existence, the club-focused PM+ series has featured tracks from Henzo, Flore, LWS and a litany of other talents (including PMP label founder / namesake Peder Mannerfelt), but Blue Dawn / Ao Sen from Belgian artist Emily Jeanne is quite possibly its strongest offering yet. The urgent “Blue Dawn” is particularly good, its insistent thump and sci-fi sheen bringing to mind the techno stylings of producers like Matrixxman, though its percolating drums and ominous undertones also nod to the likes of Oliver Ho, James Ruskin and even some of the Ilian Tape label’s more propulsive outings.
Real Tears “All the Way” (GODDEZZ)
A sparkling highlight of London producer Real Tears’ new Lost Again EP, “All the Way” borrows heavily from the technicolor maximalism that artists like Hudson Mohawke and Rustie made their calling card more than a decade ago. Combining candy-colored trance riffs with a cartoonishly rubbery bassline, slapping rap drums and a chipmunk diva, it’s got glee to spare, and is sure to loosen up even the surliest of techno grumps.
6SSIS “NLP” (Micron Audio)
Is there a more trusted figure in electro than DJ Stingray? BOTS is the latest EP on the Detroit veteran’s Micron Audio label, and though the record was made by Belgian artist 6SISS, its snarling grooves will do nothing but bolster Stingray’s already bulletproof reputation. Closing track “NLP” is especially fierce, an imposing slice of IMAX-ready machine funk that sounds like it was composed for one of Michael Bay’s Transformers flicks and also incorporates some slithering “melodies” (in the loosest sense of the word) that unnervingly recall the squid cyborgs from The Matrix.
Paralog “Mirage” (Science Cult)
There’s not much information out there about Paralog, other than the fact that he’s from Belgium, has a lot of vintage gear and also makes music on occasion as Analog Memory. 100 Heartz is his debut on the Science Cult label, and “Mirage” is the record’s clear standout, a sharp electro cut with a distinctly ’80s feel, both in terms of its breakdance-ready groove and its sleek, Miami Vice-style synth melody.
DJ Manny “Alert Unit” (Teklife)
During the past 15 years, few sounds have reshaped dance music—and bass music in particular—more than footwork, but despite the genre’s outsized influence, it’s rarely been hailed for its melodic sensibilities. “Alert Unit,” a new one-off single from Chicago mainstay DJ Manny, just might change that, as he’s paired a lively footwork rhythm with glittering FM synths, tapping into the same sort of crystalline magic one one might find on a vintage new age record or an old house cut by Dream 2 Science. It’s an unexpected combination, but DJ Manny makes it work—and in the process drives footwork into promising new territory.
Hidden Element “Illyah” (YUKU)
Inspired by a friend who lost his life to invading Russian troops, “Illyah” is steeped in a profound sense of melancholy, but it’s far from a morose number. Created by Ukrainian artist Hidden Element, the track—a highlight of his new Differences EP—takes a page from the Bicep playbook, weaving its sadness into a breakbeat-driven, big-room ready tune that ultimately feels more like a celebration of life than a mournful meditation on death. (It also sounds a bit like Future Sound of London’s classic “Papua New Guinea,” which only adds to the song’s appeal.)
Adam Pits “Take a Moment” (On Rotation)
After his first LP—2021’s excellent, prog-indebted A Recurring Nature—was heavily inspired by nature (the record’s press blurb literally mentioned “elderflower picking and mushroom foraging”), Adam Pits has turned his focus to the digital realm on new full-length Synthetic Serenity, specifically exploring “the idea of being at peace with machines.” Musically, however, his music remains as spacious (and nostalgia-tinged) as ever, as album standout “Take a Moment” pilots a celestial path through buoyant breaks and trance-adjacent melodies, its synths glimmering like stars in a moonlit sky.
URTE “Hold onto Me” (Coyote)
Sometimes the best club tracks are the ones that are actually too mellow to be effective on the average dancefloor. “Hold onto Me,” a pensive standout from German artist URTE’s new Parallel Heights EP, is clearly informed by long nights of raving, but its pared-back breakbeats, pillow-soft pianos and warmly nostalgic glaze are better suited to an after-party comedown, or even a cloudy afternoon of walking around town with headphones on.
Mathimidori “Zanziba (Levon Vincent Remix)” (Echocord)
Mathias Kaden has been turning out quality tunes for two decades now, but in recent years, his Mathimidori alias has specifically inserted the German artist into the dub techno conversation. The project’s 2020 debut LP Akebono was particularly good, and new EP Anata admirably builds on that, but Kaden ultimately winds up ceding the spotlight to another veteran producer, Levon Vincent. Spreading out over more than 10 minutes, he transforms “Zanziba” into one of his signature stompy house epics, the song’s confident swagger unencumbered by its abundance of filtered pads.
Al Wootton “All the World Is a Hospital” (TRULE)
Speaking of dub techno (and dub-centric dancefloor sounds in general), few artists are operating at a higher level these days than UK producer Al Wootton, who’s just released his second full-length, We Have Come to Banish the Dark. “All the World Is a Hospital” may sport a rather gloomy title, but it’s actually one of the LP’s more spritely tunes, with a plinky, chime-like melody that jaunts atop the song’s scratchy sonics and stripped-down underbelly.
Pierre Rousseau “Mémoire de Forme” (Beats in Space)
Kristen Roos “Diablo IV” (We Are Busy Bodies)
In the mood for a good old-fashioned synth excursion? Either one of these tunes will satisfy your craving for a blippy journey into the cosmos. “Mémoire de Forme” is the title track of Parisian artist Pierre Rousseau’s latest release, and it’s a propulsive (albeit beatless) number that recalls acts like Tangerine Dream, with darting arpeggiations and soaring pads that lend the proceedings an air of grandeur. More whimsical is “Diablo IV,” the closing track on Kristen Roos’ newly reissued Universal Synthesizer Interface Vol. II album. Like the rest of the release (which first came out last year), not to mention Vol. 1 (which has also been freshly reissued but first came out in 2021), the song was composed after the Vancouver artist purchased a copy of the Commodore Amiga version of Laurie Spiegel’s 1985 Music Mouse software on eBay, and while its glassy chimes do have a certain vintage charm, “Diablo IV” transcends nostalgia, elegantly resonating across more than 10 minutes of majestic bliss.
Not Waving “Running Back to You (with Romance)” (Ecstatic)
I was born in 1979, which puts me right on the cusp of Gen X and Millenials, and while I generally tend to identify more with the former, one of my most undeniably Millennial traits is my seemingly undying love for tweaked fragments of R&B from the late ’90s and early 2000s. Said fragments were a staple of the post-dubstep era, and while their usage now often feels formulaic, Not Waving (with the help of frequent collaborator Romance) has found a way to freshen up the recipe on “Running Back to You,” a standout cut on the London-based Italian’s new The Place I’ve Been Missing LP. Though the song is built around a manipulated sample of Ashanti’s classic “Foolish,” the track itself is a patient bubbler, one that splits the difference between Oneohtrix Point Never’s more playful offerings and the music one might hear during the montage sequence of a lighthearted teen drama from the ’90s. In other words, it’s catnip for someone like me.
Man Rei “I don’t want the money” (Somewhere Between Tapes)
Fresh off the release of Chantal Michelle’s brilliant Broken to Echoes album, burgeoning Glasgow outpost Somewhere Between Tapes strikes gold again with Health, a new tape from Man Rei. While the floaty sound palette is certainly familiar—acts like Cocteau Twins and Ana Roxanne immediately come to mind—this Frankfurt-based Estonian proves captivating all the same, especially on weightless opening cut “I don’t want the money.” Consisting of little more than Man Rei’s voice and dreamy tendrils of reverb, it takes on an almost angelic quality, peacefully gliding toward a shimmering horizon.
Ex Wiish “10,000 ft.” (Incienso)
Succinctly describing Shards of Axel, the debut album from Ex Wiish (a.k.a. Ben Shirken, founder of the 29 Speedway label and performance series) is no easy task. The NYC sound artist and composer bills the record as both as “fleeting dream” and an effort rooted in “subtle Sisyphean resistance to techno-utopian optimism,” but musically, it’s a bit all over the place, its heavily processed sounds stretching into freaky beat constructions and blown-out ambient alike. LP highlight “10,000 ft” falls into the latter category—as does much of the record’s strongest material—but the song’s lack of drums shouldn’t be mistaken for a lack of tension; its airborne textures and diaphanous drones carry a sort of existential weight, offering only a temporary respite from the spirit-crushing reality of life on the ground below.
Shida Shahabi “Tecum” (130701)
There’s a cinematic streak running through Living Circle, the latest album from Shida Shahabi, and things become particularly dramatic on “Tecum,” which the Swedish-born Iranian artist has populated with symphonic swells, gently rustling static and some rather imposing blasts of cello. In the slow-brewing song’s latter half, those blasts become downright ominous, their resonant frequencies menacing the listener like sharks circling a disabled maritime vessel. Both beautiful and bleak, it’s not exactly a feel-good composition, but few others have made looming disaster sound so rich and resplendent.
Mieko Suzuki “Disaster 厄” (raster)
As the album’s title implies, Ödipus, Herrscher was first composed for a staging of Oedipus at the Schauspielhaus Bochum in Germany, but Mieko Suzuki’s score—which literally filled the space with an “immersive drone” before a single line of dialogue was spoken—remains powerful even when removed its original context. “Disaster 厄” is essentially a showcase for the Berlin-based Japanese sound artist’s drone mastery, its rippling tones and spiky sonics seemingly threatening to extinguish any peon who refuses to submit to their raw power. It’s not far off from some of Tim Hecker’s more muscular work, but Suzuki conjures a notably apocalyptic vibe here, to a point where it’s not entirely clear whether the track’s gut-rattling reverberations are coming from her low-end frequencies or the fearful trembling of whoever happens to be in earshot.
HORNORABLE MENTION
After 21 tracks, I realize that even the most avid First Floor readers are likely feeling a bit overloaded by now, but there are a few more quality tunes that came out during the course of my book tour. Given that I’m both a completist and am also running out of room, I’ve posted them below, but rather than giving each one a full-blown blurb, I’ll simply say, “I also thought these songs were pretty good.”
Tristan Arp “The Language Change” (3024)
Iro Aka “Iceberg B-15” (Hivern Discs)
Dorisburg & Sebastian Mulleart “Skyward” (Spazio Disponibile)
Stefan Vincent “Yonghegong Lama Temple Exit F (Priori Remix)” (Musar)
MAL.E “Spectacle of Automation” (Fixed Rhythms)
Rrose “Spore” (Eaux)
Baalti “Spilling” (all my thoughts)
Florian Kupfer “About U” (Ediciones Capablanca)
That brings us to the end of today’s newsletter. Do you feel caught up? If so, enjoy that feeling while it lasts, because another mailout (with more new music) is coming on Thursday. In the meantime though, 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.)
More soon,
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.