First Floor #223 – Lost and Found
a.k.a. An interview with Dubbel Dutch, plus a round-up of the latest electronic music news and a fresh bundle of new track recommendations.
I’ve actually been meaning to mention this in the newsletter for months now, but First Floor has its own Instagram account. Please consider giving it a follow, especially if you’re someone who spends more time scrolling social media than keeping your inbox neat and tidy.
With that out of that way, I’ve been thinking in recent days about how often we hear some version of the question, “Whatever happened to that person?” Electronic music is such a transitory space, and while it’s frequently mentioned how even dedicated clubbers tend to cycle out of the scene after a relatively short period of time—say, three to five years—it’s also true that those making and playing the music, including many of the ones who find some measure of success also tend to disappear relatively quickly.
By “disappear,” I don’t mean that they die or anything quite so dramatic, but they do drop out of the public spotlight, sometimes rather suddenly. I can’t say I blame them. On a purely economic level, music is far from being a stable occupation, and when combined with the expectation that even supposedly “underground” artists should be constantly online, it’s no wonder that so many of them wind up burning out. Maybe narcissists—and, to be clear, the electronic music world has more than its fair share of them—enjoy sharing the minutiae of their daily existence on social media, hoping that every on-stage video clip and behind-the-scenes pic will stoke “engagement” and somehow further their career. But for anyone who’s a more normal human being, the prospect of leaving that content hamster wheel behind and finding a little peace, not to mention a more easily sustainable way of earning a living, has to seem awfully enticing, at least on some level.
Peace certainly seems to be a big part of Dubbel Dutch’s current existence. After spending much of the 2010s attempting to “make it”—and producing a lot of fantastic material in the process—he very publicly made the decision to do something else with his life, and wound up cutting ties with many of the friends, colleagues and scenes he’d gotten to know along the way. There’s something intriguing about someone making the decision to leave the industry rat race behind and just stop, and for years, I and many others have asked, “Where is Dubbel Dutch, and what happened?” Earlier this week, I was finally able to provide some answers, publishing an interview—his first in more than six years—in which he explained what prompted his departure from the music game, and where he’s ended up in its aftermath.
That interview is below, as is the usual electronic music round-up you’ve likely come to expect from the First Floor digest. There are news items, new release announcements and links to interesting articles, along with a bunch of new track recommendations, all of them from releases that dropped during the past week. And if that’s not enough, I’ve also recruited artist J. Albert to pop in with a special guest recommendation of his own.
Let’s get into it.
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 interview with Dubbel Dutch, who during the first half of the 2010s was not only one of bass music’s most reliable talents, but one of the few club-focused artists who had (seemingly) smoothly transitioned into producing for pop, hip-hop, R&B and dancehall acts. From the outside, it looked like he was doing well, but appearances can be deceiving, and in this conversation he details why he publicly left the music industry in 2018, and what he’s been up to in the years since.
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.
Yesterday an announcement surfaced on James Chance’s Facebook page noting that the no wave and post-punk legend had died at the age of 71. The bandleader and saxophonist, who famously fronted The Contortions and co-founded Teenage Jesus and the Jerks alongside Lydia Lunch, had been battling health problems for several years. In the aftermath of his passing, writer Jazz Monroe penned a detailed obituary for Pitchfork, while Ben Beaumont-Thomas authored one for The Guardian.
Is the remix dead? Obviously not, at least if the sheer volume of remixes that land in my inbox each week are any indication. Nevertheless, an excellent new article that Ben Cardew put together for The Guardian tracks the shifting influence of the remix during the past several decades, highlighting their ’90s peak—when they regularly broke into the pop charts and could significantly alter artists’ career trajectories—and how their impact, particularly on the cultural mainstream, has notably declined in the years that followed.
Press coverage of genres originating from the developing world will often make reference to things like poverty and crime, but tend to do so in a way that romanticizes / exotifies the people and places being written about. Jake Colvin, however, has admirably taken a different approach in his latest piece on the second wave of amapiano. The second installment of a three-part series for Mixmag, the article applies a sociological lens, detailing how the economic realities and structural challenges of life in South Africa’s townships has specifically shaped not just the music’s sound, but the way in which its artists work and relate to one another.
On a similar note, although electronic music from outside of Europe and North America usually tends be covered at a remove, DJ Mag recently sent writer Martin Guttridge-Hewitt to Kenya for Kilele, a weeklong event described as “East Africa’s first music technology summit.” The resulting feature provides a compelling, on-the-ground look at Nairobi’s electronic music scene, which has grown by leaps and bounds during the past few years.
Kieran Press-Reynolds trawls the weirdest corners of the internet and social media so you don’t have to. The young writer, who in April authored a fascinating piece about the latest wave jumpstyle here in First Floor, has now written a troubling new feature for Dazed that tackles something darker: Save Europe, an online, far-right movement that’s spreading xenophobic messages and calling for ethnic purity, and is bizarrely using tweaked versions of Eurodance and synth-pop classics to do so.
Pranav Trawn’s We Outside column for Passion of the Weiss has quickly proven to be a quality source of commentary on the live music industry. His latest edition surveys the contemporary touring landscape in the US, specifically focusing on the current state of the arena tour and how the mechanics of ticket sales are increasingly leaving consumers infuriated.
A Lily’s Saru l-Qamar album was featured here in the newsletter when it dropped back in April, but a new Bandcamp Daily feature by Michal Wieczorek more thoroughly digs into the LP’s compelling backstory. The record is rooted in archival, and often musical, recordings that Maltese migrants would send to relatives back home, and the piece explores how A Lily (a.k.a. Phantom Limb label founder James Vella, a UK-based Maltese artist) utilized those recordings, deepening his connection with his culture and family history.
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 recommend that you either inquire at your favorite local bookshop or try one of the online sales links that have been compiled here.
JUST ANNOUNCED
A round-up of noteworthy new and upcoming releases announced during the past week.
Burial and Kode9 dropped a surprise split release earlier this week. Phoneglow / Eyes Go Blank is out now on Hyperdub, although those wanting the vinyl version will have to wait until August. (Just FYI: A more detailed examination of the Burial track can be found below in today’s New This Week recommendations.)
Hessle Audio co-founder Pearson Sound returned to the label this week with a new track called “Hornet.” The buzzing (pun intended) banger is said to be “a taste of new material to come,” and it’s available now.
Much of Jeff Mills’ material in recent years has focused on the cosmos, but his latest album, The Eyewitness, appears to take a more personal route, with the techno icon exploring “trauma and the shock effect of it” in way that’s described by his Axis label as “psychologically pathological in nature.” The LP is slated to arrive on July 5, but in the meantime, first single “Those Who Worked Against Us (Vendetta Mix)” has already been shared.
Doctor Jeep will be at the helm of the next record from TraTraTrax. A follow-up to last year’s Push the Body EP, the Mecha EP once again finds the NYC producer putting his own bassy spin on Brazilian funk sounds, and he’s also lined up remixes from the likes of Peder Mannerfelt, Wata Igarashi and Ploy. The latter’s rework of the title track, along with Doctor Jeep’s original, have already been made available here, and the full EP will surface on July 5.
Slikback has been featured in the newsletter more times than I can count, but those who haven’t been able to keep up with every single one of the Kenyan bass manipulator’s many digital EPs will be happy to know that he’s collected his best tunes from 2021 to 2023 and compiled them on a new self-titled album. That album is available now on vinyl—something which doesn’t happen often with Slikback’s music—and for those who are only interested in the digital version, he’s currently offering it up as a name-your-price download on Bandcamp.
J. ALBERT 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 J. Albert, an NYC-based artist whose genre-agnostic creations have been featured many, many times here in the newsletter. As likely to create hazy beat constructions and mutant techno as he is fractured R&B and sludgy bass sounds, he’s previously shown up on labels like The Trilogy Tapes, 29 Speedway and Hypercolour, but much of his best material can actually be found in the self-released missives that litter his Bandcamp page. (A quick tip: Start with his Good Music Mixtape series; all four volumes are currently available as name-your-price downloads.) Here, he not surprisingly offers up another curveball, sharing something that harkens back to the music he heard growing up.
Tony Roach “Entertainer” (Rythem Track)
I wanted to use this opportunity to recommend music that I’ve loved for a long time that maybe people haven’t heard. During Covid I was digging a lot of dancehall and dub from the ’80s and early ’90s as a means to reboot my sonic memories of my childhood in South Florida. Although I had never heard of Tony Roach until I heard this song in an old Legowelt mix during the 2010s, “Entertainer” continues to make its way into my casual listening repertoire. That horn is the hardest earworm to shake... it just hits the right spot.
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.
Burial “Phoneglow” (Hyperdub)
For an artist who’s famous for lingering in the shadows, Burial has been surprisingly active during the past 12 months, returning to fabric for a split 12” with Kode9, making his debut on XL Recordings and remixing L.B Dub Corp for Dekmantel. Now the not-so-mysterious UK producer has teamed up with Kode9 again, this time for a split release on the latter’s Hyperdub label. It’s unlikely that many First Floor readers will need much prompting to check out Phoneglow / Eyes Go Blank, but the record does notably find Burial in club mode, or at least as close to club mode as he’s capable of being. With its UKG shuffle, breathy R&B vocal hooks and weirdly Christmasy melodies, “Phoneglow” is rightly drawing comparisons to previous Burial tunes like “Chemz” and “Claustro,” but it’s also much cleaner, and lighter, than those efforts, despite the presence of his usual atmospheric crackle. And with a runtime of more than nine minutes, not to mention artwork that not so subtly evokes that of TikTok, the silky tune does seem to be something of a subtle middle finger to a culture dominated by throwaway tunes and bite-sized content.
Stefan Braatz feat. Harry Dennis “Outlaw” (Nu Groove)
Nu Groove is one of the most important NYC house labels of all time, and though it’s now being run out of London—after a long period of dormancy, it was acquired by Defected in 2017 and restarted a few years after that—the title track of its latest release sounds a lot more like Chicago than either of those cities. That’s partially due to the presence of Windy City veteran Harry Dennis, whose hypnotic, no-frills talk singing pairs beautifully with the chunky bassline and stripped-down rhythms of Stefan Braatz, who’s arguably doing an excellent Mr. Fingers impression. Have plenty of artists gone down this path before? Absolutely. But “Outlaw” feels more like a celebration than an imitation, and is on par with any number of old gems from the Trax catalog.
Martyn Bootyspoon “Bingo!” (Fool’s Gold)
If Basement Jaxx and Vitalic had found their way into a studio together sometime during the early 2000s, there’s a decent chance that they would have cooked up something like “Bingo!” The title track of Montreal hero Martyn Bootyspoon’s latest EP—and first for Fool’s Gold—is a rollicking electro-house bruiser, its distorted synths recalling Ed Banger and any number of bloghouse-era Frenchies, though its stuttering gallop smartly prevents the boisterous tune from falling completely into the fist-pumping bro zone. Bootyspoon clearly understands that a little bit of groove goes a long way, and “Bingo!” is a raucous, albeit still highly danceable, good time.
Wata Igarashi “Collison” (WIP)
According to Wata Igarashi, “Collison” is inspired by the spectacle of heavenly bodies slamming into one another, yet this techno stormer’s high-octane drama feels much closer to home, its zooming synths conjuring thoughts of barreling down the Autobahn on a souped-up motorbike. The Japanese artist isn’t generally known for his maximalist tendencies, but here he throws caution to the wind, the song’s serrated textures, grinding rhythms and electro-tinged swagger invoking the spirit of DJ Hell and his wonderfully sleazy International Deejay Gigolo imprint.
µ-ziq “Belvedere” (Planet Mu)
Having spent more than three decades in the music game, Mike Paradinas has likely played more gigs than he could count, and Grush, his latest full-length as µ-ziq, is purposely intended to replicate the energy and spontaneity of live performance. That doesn’t mean it’s an album full of mindless jams, but several tracks were written specifically to be played live, while others were written in hotel rooms as direct responses to shows he’d played while on tour. LP highlight “Belvedere” falls into the latter category, and it’s a manic romp, combining nitro-fueled jungle breaks with gleaming melodies both fast and slow. It’s almost like an ultra-caffeinated take on Aleksi Perälä, and while that does make for a slightly chaotic listen, the mayhem is part of the fun.
SALOME “Hacker” (Herrensauna)
If you’ve ever listened to Gesloten Cirkel, The Exaltics or any other industrial-strength electro specialists and thought, “This is cool, but it’s not quite sinister enough,” then the music of SALOME might be exactly what you’re looking for. Hacker is the Berlin-based Georgian’s debut for Herrensauna, and it’s stuffed with jagged synths, hard-as-nails breakbeats and glamorously detached vocal bits. The title track is especially gritty, and finds a sweet spot between the rave scene from The Matrix Resurrections and a squat show full of gutter punks.
Less-O “Last Mic Jack” (TEMƎT)
It’s no secret that Simo Cell is one of the most creative and inventive producers in all of bass music, but his brother Less-O might have an even more unhinged approach to club rhythms. Following up on his excellent Shenanigans EP from 2021, the young Frenchman has now dropped Cri du Cœur, a mini-album which takes genres like trap, Jersey club and amapiano and effectively turns them inside out. The results can be jarring, but Less-O’s drum programming always slaps, no matter how dizzying the final product may be. There are traces of Ramadanman and early Overmono in the the standout “Last Mic Jack,” but the track turns its percussive attack up to 11, its multi-layered, perpetually shifting rhythms forming a sort of gauntlet for anyone brave enough to try to keep up on the dancefloor. Getting battered is rarely this enjoyable.
Harba “Transforma” (re:lax)
Laksa and re:ni’s re:lax imprint has only been around for a little more than a year, and though it’s already an established outpost for techno-infused bass hybrids (or is it bass-infused techno hybrids?), the young label has seriously leveled up with Despair, a new EP from Harba. Keen-eared observers may have heard these tunes wrecking shop in DJ sets from some of bass music’s leading lights during the past year, but there’s still a lot of life in this record, and especially lead track “Transforma.” Maybe it’s the song whirring synths, which bring to mind thoughts of racecars zipping by at a Formula 1 race, or maybe it’s the unrelenting thwacks of Harba’s off-kilter drum patterns, but this tune will raise anyone’s temperature at least a few degrees.
Ma Sha “Beat Goez Off” (Kindergarten)
Having spent the past several years building up the Kindergarten label—and in the process helping to ensure that the US is never left out of the contemporary bass music conversation—Ma Sha could have easily put on the cruise control and kept doing what she was doing, with no complaint from anyone. Instead, the NYC artist has gone to work sharpening her production skills, and after appearing on Nervous Horizon with last year’s Elastik EP, she’s now returned to her own imprint with Slipstreaming, a new split EP with Kindergarten regular Sobolik. The whole record is solid, but it’s Ma Sha who shines brightest, oddly enough because of her willingness to tap into the power of wobble bass. Long abused by brosteppers and largely avoided by respectable producers during the past decade, wobble does seem to be making a comeback, and its rubbery thrills are undeniably part of what makes “Beat Goez Off” such a thrill. A manic footwork / techno hybrid, the song at times employs what sounds like a turbocharged take on DJ Plead’s Middle Eastern-flavored rhythms, but Ma Sha brings her own unique rave energy to the mix, serving up a frantic blur than even Sonic the Hedgehog might have a hard time keeping up with.
Skee Mask “Schneiders Paradox” (Ilian Tape)
Though he first made a name for himself with his various deconstructions and reconstructions of the hardcore continuum, Skee Mask has never been particularly interested in cracking skulls, preferring instead to surround his breakbeat creations and techno mutations with soft textures and airy expanses. In recent years, he’s increasingly leaned into that softer side, and while his new Resort album isn’t a full-blown ambient record, it is one of the most relaxed things he’s ever released. Better suited to a summer afternoon spent lounging in the shade than a long night at the club, the record is populated with jazzy chords and hazy static, and even its most strident beats—which borrow most prominently from house and IDM—are far more likely to tap than bang. LP highlight “Schneiders Paradox” does feature a chunky, distorted bassline, but its crunch ultimately takes a backseat to the song’s floaty pads, which could have been lifted from any number of classic prog records. Is this a sign of a more “mature” Skee Mask, or is Resort merely a temporary detour into a more serene musical headspace? It’s not clear, as Ilian Tape didn’t offer much in the way of explanatory backstory, but like pretty much everything he does, the LP is a pleasure to listen to.
2muchachos “I’m Not Afraid of Cold Air” (Not Not Fun)
The name 2muchachos seems like it would belong to a fun-loving tech house duo, but it was actually chosen as an intentional act of misdirection, as the Russian duo of Vladimir Karpov (a.k.a. X.Y.R.) and Dmitriy Borodin purposely wanted to drive away those who rely too heavily on names and artwork when deciding what to listen to next. Their project actually swelled to three people when vocalist Aleksandra Evseeva joined the group, and during the late 2000s and early 2010s, the trio crafted a sizable volume of lo-fi dream pop. The best of that material has now been reissued on the new Natura: 2009-2012 collection, and “I’m Not Afraid of Cold Air” is one of the release’s spooky highlights. A scratchy, static-laced and baby-voiced tune, its gentle flow somehow recalls both the ethereal sounds of ’80s / ’90s UK outfit The Cranes and the mellower end of witch house.
Loula Yorke “lie dreaming, dreaming, still” (quiet details)
The closing track of the new speak, thou vast and venerable head album, “lie dreaming, dreaming, still” is a fully immersive listen, its robust synth tones seemingly defying gravity as they drift through what sounds like a verdant meadow. The persistent (but not overpowering) birdsong definitely adds to the sense that Loula Yorke is somehow communing with nature, but the song’s epic feel can be traced back to the UK composer herself, and specifically her ability to effortlessly coax a sort of elegant grandeur out of her modular rig. ““lie dreaming, dreaming, still” isn’t going anywhere fast, but considering the gorgeous space it occupies, there’s very little chance that anyone will be left wishing its creator had picked up the pace.
KRM & KMRU “Differences” (Phantom Limb)
Considering that the new Disconnect LP is the product of a collaboration between soundsystem warrior Kevin Richard Martin (a.k.a. The Bug) and ambient sound artist KMRU, it’s a safe bet that many people will check out the record solely based on the pedigree of the personnel involved. That’s fair enough, but the album stands up on its own merits, most intriguingly by putting the soft-spoken KMRU on the mic. It’s a risky move from someone who’s perhaps best known for his delicate tones and imaginative use of field recordings, but opening cut “Differences”—a hazy slice of avant-pop that stretches across more than 13 minutes of reverb-drenched chords and bassy undertones—demonstrates why it was an inspired choice, as the Kenyan artist’s vocalizations have been fashioned into drone-like textures that only enhance the song’s hypnotic appeal. Even better, they still sound not just human, but rather casual, as though they were captured without his knowledge. Is this what KMRU sounds like when he’s home alone and quietly singing to himself? I can’t say for sure, but I’d like to think so.
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.)
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.