First Floor #212 - A Little Bit of Time Travel
a.k.a. Pondering Coachella 2004 and Air's 'Talkie Walkie' album, plus a round-up of the latest electronic music news and a fresh crop of new track recommendations.
Summer is still months away, but festival season has already started. In truth, it never really ends anymore, but things at least slow down for a few months (in the northern hemisphere), usually from November until sometime in March. I was at a festival called Listen in Brussels last week, and here in Barcelona, a festival called Mostra was happening at the same time. MUTEK’s Barcelona edition is coming next week, and Primavera Sound and Sónar are on the horizon after that. It’s endless, and if I for some reason start feeling hungry for more festival action, there are dozens (hundreds?) of options just a short flight away.
For those of you thinking I’m about to launch into some anti-festival diatribe, you’re about to be disappointed. Festivals come in different shapes and sizes. Some are great, and some… aren’t. But even the ones that fall into that latter category often make a perverse sort of sense, particularly in the context of a “fast casual” cultural landscape in which most engagement with art comes via consumer-optimized, on-demand platforms that require little investment of either time or money.
Okay, that was a little bit of a diatribe. But the point I wanted to make is that although most festivals aren’t necessarily for me—which, given my age and occupation, is probably the way things should be—I can still remember a time that I was genuinely, or at least mildly, excited about them. Earlier this week, I did some reminiscing about the one time I went to Coachella, which somehow happened 20 years ago. (Getting older is wild sometimes.)
I wound up writing a(n admittedly navel-gazing) essay about it—you can find that below—and in the process spent an inordinate amount of time thinking about the band Air, and specifically their 2004 album Talkie Walkie. So if you’re an Air nerd, or even just someone who fondly remembers their first few albums, perhaps you’ll enjoy my little trip down memory lane.
Other than that, today’s First Floor digest has the usual rundown of what’s been going on in electronic music during the past week. Read on for news items, new release announcements and some links to interesting articles I’ve come across. And for all the new music fiends out there, I have of course assembled a new batch of track recommendations, all of them from releases that dropped during the past seven days. I also enlisted the help of Kaitlyn Davies, an insightful music industry jane-of-all-trades, who offered up a guest recommendation of her own.
As always, we have a lot of ground to cover, so let’s get started.
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, is an essay that goes back in time to 2004, a year that I not only went to Coachella for the first and only time, but then immediately rushed home to see the band Air for the second time in two days. The French duo had just released their third album, Talkie Walkie, and 20 years later, I found myself thinking, “Was that record really THAT good?”
ANOTHER THING I DID
Yesterday I hopped over to dublab here in Barcelona to do my monthly First Floor radio show, and if you didn’t get a chance to tune in, the episode has been archived here. That link also contains the complete tracklist, which includes new tunes from Relaxer, Bianca Scout, Doc Sleep, Florian T M Ziesig, Li Yilei, Gesloten Cirkel and many others.
REAL QUICK
A round-up of the last week’s most interesting electronic music news, plus links to interviews, articles and other things I think are worth sharing.
Following a lengthy search that began in November and apparently attracted more than 300 applicants, Resident Advisor yesterday announced a substantial revamp of its editorial leadership team. Gabriel Szatan, whose writing for places like Pitchfork and the Guardian has been featured many times here in the newsletter, is stepping in immediately as Editor, while Rachel Grace Almeida, who’s been an editor at Crack magazine for the past six years, will be joining RA next month as Deputy Editor. In addition to these new hires, the publication has also promoted longtime staffer Carlos Hawthorn to Managing Editor, and staff writer Nyshka Chandran has been named the site’s first Futures Editor.
Every Sunday, Pitchfork publishes a historical review of an album the site missed the first time around. Over the years, this series has featured some of the publication’s best writing, and the most recent installment—a review of Photek’s 1997 debut full-length, Modus Operandi—is no exception. Written by Philip Sherburne, it examines an LP that’s generally considered to be one of the most important drum & bass releases of all time, and in the process revisits not only the unique history of the genre, but the many ways that Photek subverted it.
Speaking of Pitchfork, the site’s most notorious review was published in 2006, when its assessment of Jet’s Shine On album consisted of nothing but a video clip of a monkey drinking its own urine. But who actually authored the post? In a new investigative article for The Ringer, Nate Rodgers finds out, interviewing a string of former Pitchfork editors and staffers and ultimately unveiling the true identity of Ray Suzuki, the name which appeared on the review’s byline.
Streaming proponents often brush off complaints about how platforms like Spotify can be gamed in ways that are both creatively vacant and financially lucrative. Perhaps they should be forced to read writer Brett Martin’s new feature for The New York Times Magazine, which examines the output of songwriter Matt Farley. Most people won’t recognize his name, but the guy has written more than 24,000 songs—the most popular of which are designed for children and literally focus on the subject of poop—and last year earned nearly $200,000 from streaming platforms.
In my recent Nina column about electronic and experimental music in Washington, DC, Rhizome was highlighted as one of the city’s most important hubs for avant-garde sounds. This week the non-profit, mostly volunteer-run venue announced that it had launched a fundraiser to purchase a building and establish a permanent home. (Rhizome rents its current location, and encroaching development will likely require the venue to eventually relocate, which its team is being proactive now.) To secure the new spot, $100,000 is needed by April 15, and a total of $400,000 is needed by September 30. Aside from donations, Rhizome is also seeking loans from community members, and shared details about what that would entail.
The Sound of is DJ Mag’s label-focused interview / mix series, and the latest installment puts a spotlight on Los Angeles imprint ESP Institute. Writer Anna Wall traced back the label’s history with founder Lovefingers, who also delivered a mix containing some of his favorite selections from the ESP Institute catalog.
Crossovers between video games and dance music are now commonplace, but that might not be the case if wipE’out” hadn’t brought those worlds together back in 1995. The game’s soundtrack, made by a UK producer named CoLD SToRAGE, was reissued (with a slew of new remixes) last year by the Lapsus label, but in a new feature for Mixmag, writer Daniel Dylan Wray details how that music came together in the first place, and how its success forever changed the gaming landscape.
OBLIGATORY BOOK MENTION
My first book is out now. It’s called First Floor Vol. 1: Reflections on Electronic Music Culture, and you can order it from my publisher Velocity Press. However, if you’re outside of the UK, I’d actually recommend either inquiring at your favorite local bookshop or trying one of the online sales links I’ve compiled here.
JUST ANNOUNCED
A round-up of noteworthy new and upcoming releases announced during the past week.
British Murder Boys, the collaborative project of techno veterans Regis and Surgeon, started more than 20 years ago, yet the duo have never released a proper album. That will soon change, as they’ve unexpectedly finished a full-length, Active Agents and House Boys, that’s slated to arrive on June 14 via the Downwards label. More information on the LP can be found here, but in the meantime, they’ve released a new standalone single, “Now, This Is You,” which is out now.
In a recent newsletter, it was mentioned that DJ Sotofett has been releasing a series of name-your-price EPs, seemingly in an effort to promote his periodic club nights at Tresor in Berlin. Well, he’s done it again this week, offering up Resonance Dubs Vol. 2. It’s out now, but will only be available for free until April 11.
Montreal rave lothario Martyn Bootyspoon dropped a surprise release yesterday, a two-track effort for the Local Action label called Doors at 11. It’s out now.
A staple of the Past Behind the Present label, marine eyes will soon be returning to the prolific ambient outpost with a new album. Entitled to belong, it’s something of a family affair, featuring contributions from the LA artist’s husband, daughter and son, and though it won’t officially arrive until April 17, several of the record’s gauzy tunes have already been shared here. marine eyes also recently launched her own newsletter, Cloud Collecting, where she interviews women and gender-expansive artists and also shares updates about her own work.
Inspired by the classic 1984 film Paris, Texas, OOH-sounds label founder pardo has teamed up with more eaze and glass on an album of what they describe as “ambient neo-folk, fractured electronics and romantic escapism.” paris paris, texas texas is out now.
KAITLYN DAVIES HAS BETTER TASTE THAN I DO
First Floor is effectively a one-person operation, but every edition of the Thursday digest 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. Today’s recommendation comes from Kaitlyn Davies, a Toronto native, keen-eyed cultural observer and music industry lifer who over the years has seemingly done a little bit of everything, logging time at Boiler Room, SoundCloud, !K7, Friends with Benefits and a number of other places. She’s also hosted radio shows at both Refuge Worldwide and Cashmere Radio, written articles for a variety of outlets—including this thought-provoking essay on what she calls “community fetishism” that Nina published back in February—and she’s about to open up Well Read, a bookstore, event space and meeting place in her current hometown of Lisbon. Amidst all that activity, she carved out a few moments to tell First Floor readers about an obscure gem she recently came across online.
Saliyah “The Death of Fear Is Certain” (Self-released)
Last month I had the pleasure of hosting Growth in Decay affiliate Saliyah for a set in Austin, Texas as part of my ongoing work with Refraction, and have been mainlining his original productions and DJ sets ever since. This piece, an extended 22-minute track / mini-mix released on Nina protocol, is an interesting experiment in what it means to make and listen to music that doesn’t cater to playlists or monopolistic streaming services. The short journey through lush ambient soundscapes, and the occasional snare drum, is one that I was happy to find (and lose!) myself on.
NEW THIS WEEK
The following is a selection of my favorite tunes from releases that came out during the past week or so. 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.
Jubilee & Astrolith “Tinfoil” (Magic City)
Despite having pretty much zero interest in what Charli XCX is doing, I couldn’t help but notice the stream of music journalists rushing to compare her recent “Von Dutch” single to the glory days of bloghouse. It’s a savvy move on her part; the culture’s current fascination with all things Y2K can’t last forever, and the punky electro bangers of the Ed Banger epoch seem like a natural next stop for the nostalgia train. But if we’re really going down that route, perhaps we’d be better served by handing over the reins to someone like Jubilee, a Brooklyn-based veteran who successfully navigated the “purple hoodie and shutter shades” years the first time around. “Tinfoil,” a collaboration with old friend Astrolith, might actually be the most linear thing she’s ever done. (As a South Florida native, she very much loves her breakbeats.) But even with its four-on-the-floor rhythm, there’s nothing stiff about this tune, which has the same pronounced swagger and glittery, raucous funk one might expect from Human After All-era Daft Punk or a classic SebastiAn cut.
Axle “Sludge” (SPE:C)
The new Assault EP is said to be heavily inspired by “OG Big Apple and Skream steppers,” and its dubsteppy contents surely would have gone down a storm in a Croydon basement during the mid 2000s. But standout cut “Sludge” goes beyond dubstep, borrowing from the Sinogrime sound that was popping off around the same time. The song’s primary melody sounds like something snatched from an old Bruce Lee flick, but while the evocative, Asian-coded riff provides the song’s initial hook, it’s ultimately just an appetizer for Axle’s low-end handiwork, which drops a wubby hammer amidst the track’s clattering percussion.
Kosh “Human Condition” (Kalahari Oyster Cult)
In my recent Nina column about progressive house, I said that, “no survey of the current scene would be complete without mentioning Kalahari Oyster Cult, a prolific Amsterdam label that has offered up a fountain of both new music and proggy reissues over the past seven years.” I stand by that assessment, but perhaps it deserved a small caveat, because the label’s remit goes well beyond the traditional boundaries of progressive house. That fact was made abundantly clear by The Chopper, a fantastic new EP from Moroccan producer Kosh that opens with the triumphantly bassy “Human Condition.” With its booming Amen break, brawny synths and weightless wobbles, it’s closer to the hardcore continuum than the Sasha & Digweed catalog, and more likely to be enjoyed by howling bass fiends than tripped-out flower children.
Skee Mask “Double Standard” (Ilian Tape)
In news that will surprise absolutely no one, the new Skee Mask record is really good. What is surprising, however, is that ISS010 is basically a straight-up techno release. Although Skee Mask has always been something of a shapeshifter, it’s hard to think of another instance when his production sounded legitimately close to that of someone like Jeff Mills—and to his credit, the tunes capably measure up to that lofty standard. The whole EP is strong, but “Double Standard” might be the best of the bunch, pairing its skippy, mechanized pulse with an undulating cloud of vaporous haze. It’s subtle, and maybe even a little bit proggy, but it’s excellent.
Human Space Machine “Lyf” (Nous’klaer)
The last thing the world needs is another acid track. But listening to “Lyf”—an electric highlight of Human Space Machine’s new Mopo EP—I’m reminded that whenever I hear a good acid tune, questions of “need” usually fly out the window. From a rhythmic perspective, the track is as linear as it gets, and while its steady throb provides most of the momentum, it’s the song’s bubbling riff that provides the excitement, its tweaky crunch constantly morphing and changing across six (subtly) mind-bending minutes of dancefloor revelry.
samb271 + S T I N 9 + DJ Pidge + Addison Rich “Needles” (CloudCore)
At its core, “Needles” is an R&B flip, and while its basic formula (chipmunk vocals, shiny color palette, hyperactive beat) will surely ring familiar, the song itself is absolutely, undeniably fun. Or, better yet, FUN. Of course, the CloudCore label specializes in this sort of thing, skillfully walking the line between pop tropes and club mayhem in a way that asks questions like, “What if PC Music was less overtly camp?” and “What would Jacques Greene’s music sound like if he’d been born 10 years later?” A team effort credited to samb271, S T I N 9, DJ Pidge and Addison Rich—all of them not quite anonymous, but still relatively unknown and (refreshingly) not all over social media—“Needles” is a joyous little banger, and if you want to get your hands on its chiming rave riffs, you’d better move fast, because CloudCore sells its releases for one week only, and TODAY is the last day this one can be purchased.
DJ Polo “Bloodhound” (Livity Sound)
Simon Reynolds coined the phrase “hardcore continuum” at some point during the ’90s, and in the decades since then, it’s largely been thought of as a UK phenomenon, one rooted in distinctly British sounds like hardcore, garage, grime, dubstep, etc. In an increasingly globalized music landscape, however, that perspective no longer feels adequate, especially as much of the most interesting bass music being made right now is a byproduct of the hardcore continuum intermingling with sounds from Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and beyond. There are many different alchemists leading this charge, but Bristol’s DJ Polo has proven to be one of the most consistently compelling, and his new If the Glove Fits EP is a testament to the possibilities of hybridized music. Opening track “Bloodhound” is especially strong, its gqom-indebted rhythm playfully stutter-stepping as its creator rolls out a lively procession of ribcage-rattling bass tones.
Relaxer “Immaculate & Infinite” (Lovers Rock)
Daniel Martin-McCormick has released a lot of records over the years (under several different names), and it’s fair to say that none of them sound like In Softening Air. Though his Relaxer alias was initially an outlet for dubby-yet-propulsive machine techno, he’s taken the project in an increasingly freaky direction during the past few years, and this new album swerves away from the club almost entirely, diving deep into tactile sound design and gently voiced spoken word. It’s an unexpected, albeit not unpleasant, turn, and while the LP’s poetry component won’t be for everyone, “Immaculate & Infinite”—which contains only a few scattered whispers—is a slow-brewing oasis, luxuriously stretching its trip-hop-meets-comsic-ambient-meets-dub-techno grooves across more than 10 deliciously zoned-out minutes.
Bianca Scout “Midnight (feat. Mun Sing)” (sferic)
Bianca Scout “Anon’s Song” (sferic)
Having lingered in the ether of the UK’s experimental and avant-pop music circuit for many years—during which times she’s collaborated with the likes of Space Afrika, Mica Levi and Klein— Bianca Scout has just delivered a new album, Pattern Damage, that feels like a more proper introduction to the world. The fact that it’s been released via the meticulously curated sferic will surely help to get the word out, but irrespective of the label involved, the LP nicely showcases both Scout’s sweet, almost childlike voice and her stripped-down, weird-but-not-too-weird approach to songcraft. “Midnight” is one of many highlights; a collaboration with Giant Swan member Mun Sing, it’s an acoustic, folky lament that could easily be mistaken for an old Hope Sandoval demo. But don’t let the sparse arrangement fool you—the song will tug at even the gruffest listeners’ heartstrings, as will much of the rest of the record, including those tracks on which Scout’s voice largely fades into the background. The gorgeous album closer, “Anon’s Song,” is one such selection, and its slow string swells and hazy atmosphere recall the lush work of Romance.
Kelly Moran “Dancer Polynomials” (Warp)
As much as I admire the skill and talent of even mediocre pianists, I have to admit: I’m not a huge fan of albums that solely consist of piano. And if I’d only given Kelly Moran’s new full-length a passing listen, I might have thought the record was exactly that—”just piano”—and quickly tossed it aside. But Moves in the Field is something far more complex, as the NYC artist used a Disklavier—a kind of digital player piano—that would record her melodies, and then play them back as she played additional notes on top. What developed was a sort of piano-based dialogue, one that would have been impossible for a single player to perform on their own. Is knowing that backstory necessary to enjoy the album? Probably not, but it does enrich the twirling majesty of the “Dancer Polynomials,” one of the LP’s true stunners.
Paige Emery “Walking” (Leaving)
Intercommunication is far from the first album that’s been conceptually intertwined with plants, but it might be the first record born out of a daily ritual in which the artist both sung to and meditated with plants. That fact alone is likely setting off some readers’ hippie alarms, but even those with a low tolerance for new agey crunchiness are bound to be mesmerized by Paige Emery, who blends her own low-key singing with delicate tones, soft textures and just enough reverb to give the music a pleasantly dreamy feel. Despite the song’s title, the plinky tones of “Walking” have an almost aquatic quality, their watery shimmer made all the more alluring by Emery’s wordless intonations.
That brings us to the end of today’s First Floor digest. 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.)
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.