First Floor #235 – Five Years of This Thing
a.k.a. The newsletter reaches a milestone—and needs your help—plus thoughts on the closure of Aslice, a round-up of the latest electronic music news and a fresh bundle of new track recommendations.
Five years ago this week, I sent out the first edition of this newsletter. I didn’t have any grand intentions. I was between jobs, and doing a newsletter seemed like a fun way to stay engaged with electronic music and keep my name out there while I waited for my next big gig to come along.
As it turned out, First Floor was that big gig.
“Big” is a relative term—running an electronic music newsletter is not exactly a lucrative enterprise—but First Floor has basically become my primary job, which is kind of incredible in a time when it’s often said that music journalism is dead and nobody reads anymore. While I wouldn’t hold up what I’ve done as evidence that the pundits are wrong—for what it’s worth, newsletters are absolutely not an adequate replacement for thoughtful, well-resourced journalism and cultural commentary—it has been encouraging to see that within the electronic music sphere, a whole lot of people read, reference and debate the many, many words I fire into their inboxes every week. Some of these people are even willing to pay for those words, which is of course what’s made this whole endeavor possible in the first place.
On that note, I have to bring this up: Please sign up for a paid subscription.
Unlike other media outlets, First Floor runs no advertising and does not engage in brand partnerships. It’s just me, and although nearly 16,000 people currently receive the newsletter (which is amazing), less than 6% of them are paid subscribers. I know not everyone can afford it, but if you read First Floor on even a semi-regular basis, I could really use your help.
Think of it as a little birthday present. (If you’re an industry professional, you can also think of it as a legitimate business expense.) And just to sweeten the deal, I’m offering a 20% discount from now through September 23. That’s just €4 per month, or €40 for the whole year, to never see another paywall on here again.
Anyways, that’s my pitch, but while we’re on the topic of people voluntarily paying for things, I know that many of you are eager to read my essay about the closure of Aslice, which went live earlier this week. You’ll find that below—and yes, the paywall is presently down—and if you read on, you’ll also see that today’s First Floor digest has the usual assortment of news items, new release announcements and reading links. That’s not all. For those craving new tunes, there’s a fresh batch of new track recommendations, all of them from releases that dropped during the past week, plus I’ve lined up a special guest recommendation from Colombian artist Julianna that you won’t want to miss.
Before we begin, one last piece of housekeeping. I’ll be taking next week off from the newsletter, but First Floor will resume publishing on the week of September 23.
Let’s do this.
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 a lengthy examination of what happened with Aslice, the revenue-sharing program that last week announced its imminent closure—and also shared a report which included a lot of pretty damning statistics about the participation rates among working DJs. The piece questions what went wrong, what the numbers in the report say about the current state of dance music culture and where producers looking to make a living ought to go from here.
The paywall on the above article has been temporarily removed for the next 24 hours. If you’d like exclusive first access to future long-form pieces (and unlimited access to the First Floor archives), then please sign up for a paid subscription, which is available at a 20% discount from now through September 23.
ANOTHER THING I’M DOING
On Sunday, September 22, I will be at the Hyperlocal Festival in Milan, Italy, where I will be moderating a talk with Pinch and Big D of Jah Lokko Soundsystem about the history of Bristol soundsystem culture and the city’s long-running St. Pauls Carnival.
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.
It’s not easy to write about meeting up with Mo’ Wax founder James Lavelle (multiple times) without sounding like a braggart, but there’s not a trace of ego in Sam Valenti’s latest Herb Sundays dispatch. The Ghostly International boss continues to be one of the most thoughtful voices in contemporary music, and in this particular piece, he examines Lavelle’s creative trajectory and the legacy of Mo’ Wax itself, reflecting on what the intense, ’90s-era hype around the label says about the state of culture, both then and now.
After raving about the debut album from gothy Welsh-language trio Tristwch y Fenywod in last week’s newsletter, I was pleasantly surprised to find a profile of the group over at Bandcamp Daily. Authored by Leigh Jones, it includes an interview with the unorthodox outfit and digs into their unique approach to ritualistic folk traditions.
In an interesting piece for The Quietus that’s both a mea culpa and an angry screed about the ways that streaming has warped the music landscape, Canadian artist Chilly Gonzales regretfully accepted responsibility for launching the neoclassical genre—and countless playlists of bland background music—with his 2004 LP, Solo Piano.
Most UK garage obsessives probably know the name Jeremy Sylvester already, or at least they should. But as a new Mixmag feature by Nathan Evans makes clear, the man’s catalog runs so deep—and contains so many different aliases—that even his biggest fans probably don’t realize just how big of an impact he’s had on British dance music during the past 30 years.
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.
Following up on her sentiment album from earlier this year, experimental artist / emo ambient champion claire rousay—who was interviewed here in the newsletter—has unveiled a forthcoming companion EP, sentiment remix. Scheduled to arrive on November 6 via Thrill Jockey, it contains reworks from more eaze, Patrick Shiroishi and several other artists, including Maral, whose remix of “ily2” has already been shared.
Tunisian artist Azu Tiwaline has also commissioned a new EP of remixes, inviting Forest Drive West, Cinna Peyghamy, Kangding Ray and Polygonia to rework songs from her 2023 album, The Fifth Dream. The I.O.T label will be releasing the record on October 18, but previews of all four tracks on The Fifth Dream (Remixes) can be heard here.
It’s hard to believe that Midland has never before released a full-length, but he last week announced that his first proper album is on the way. Entitled Fragments of Us, the LP contains vocal clips from two of the UK producer's “artistic heroes,” the late queer artists / activists David Wojnarowicz and Marlon Riggs, along with contemporary vocal contributions from Stereogamus’ Jonny Seymour and Horse Meat Disco’s Luke Howard. October 4 is when the record will be issued by Midland’s own Graded imprint, but one track, “Never Enough,” is available now.
Techno and electro originator Juan Atkins will soon be returning to his legendary Cybotron alias with a new EP. Last year, the project released its first new material in 28 years, and Atkins is now poised to follow that up with Parallel Shift, a three-track effort he wrote and produced alongside Laurens von Oswald. The EP will arrive on November 1 via Tresor, but the title track is out now.
Love International Recordings—the label arm of the festival of the same name—this week shared the news that the sixth edition of its The Sound of Love International compilation series is on the way, this time with Palms Trax at the helm. As always, the release is geared toward the digger crowd—the full tracklist and more details are here—and it’s due to surface on October 11.
Low End Activist’s Airdrop, which dropped back in April, is one of 2024’s most rewarding electronic albums, and the UK producer already has plans to release another full-length. His latest is called Municipal Dreams, and it’s said to consist of “weightless grime and suspended hardcore miniatures.” One track, “Just a Number (Institutionalised),” has already been shared, and the rest of the LP will be issued by Sneaker Social Club on October 18.
Two of bass music’s most promising American upstarts, JIALING and Farsight, have joined forces on an upcoming EP for Clasico. WHISTLE TIP will be released on September 26, but ahead of the record’s arrival, its rowdy title track has already been made available.
Donato Dozzy and Neel’s Spazio Disponibile is already one of the most interesting labels in techno, although much of its output intentionally veers far outside the usual confines of the genre. Now, however, the two Italians are looking to get back to basics with a new offshoot, Spazio Nero, which they say will be will be focused “on heady dancefloor techno only.” Neel himself is handling the inaugural release, an EP called Movimento, and while the track “Visione” is available now, the full record will arrive on October 7.
Just a few months ago, Dubbel Dutch was completely off the dance music radar, but now that he’s returned to the fray after an extended hiatus—a decision he laid out during a recent First Floor interview—he’s been very busy. Last week he offered up Pleasing Drums, an EP that contains two unreleased tracks from his archives and one newly created tune. All three songs are available now through his Rare Earth Tones imprint.
Speaking of busy artists, Montreal mainstay Patrick Holland has been dropping new music at a steady clip throughout 2024, and last week he released a new EP called Humble Bluff through his own Verdicchio Music Publishing label.
Lapsus has taken many forms over the years—a radio show, a label, a festival, a booking agency—but the Barcelona outpost is currently celebrating its 20th anniversary. To mark the occasion, a new compilation, VINT, has been assembled, and it contains new tracks from Suzanne Ciani, Kode9, Simo Cell, µ-Ziq, naemi, Plaid, Wordcolour, Nueen and a slew of other artists. It’s slated for an October 18 release, but one track, Marina Herlop’s “Collige Virgo Gladium,” is out now.
JULIANNA 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 Julianna, a Medellín-based artist who got her start in Colombia’s techno circuit, though her sonically adventurous, hard-to-define selections have always veered from the four-to-the-floor norms of the genre. Best known as a DJ, she started playing all over Europe and North America long before the current “Latin club” craze kicked in, and she’s also a producer—back in 2022, she even teamed up with Matías Aguayo on the Que Si El Mundo EP. Earlier this year, she partnered with TraTraTrax co-founder Lomalinda to launch a new party, Bamba, and its boundary-busting, genre-blurring spirit is reflected in the track she’s recommended below.
3HDSafaxri “Obelisk 2021” (Faith Disciplines)
In recent years, it has become increasingly difficult to find music that I truly enjoy playing on the dancefloor. I’m especially drawn to that combination of raw, techno and tribal sounds, which I always seek in my music and for my DJ mixes, along with the authentic industrial sound. Recently, I came across “Obelisk 2021,” a track that encapsulates everything I love: field recordings, textures, atmospheres and irregular cuts that, in their apparent chaos, create a deep and hypnotic structure. It’s part of Obelisk, the latest EP by Polish producer 3HDSafxri, and it was released by Faith Disciples—a sublabel of the Valencia, Spain-based Subsist Records—back in March.
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.
Mia Koden “Real2Me” (Self-released)
Solidifying her claim as one of the most talented young producers in UK bass music, Mia Koden this week dropped 34U.2, a sequel to April’s 34U EP. Like its predecessor, the release features tracks that Koden first shared via Made By Mia Koden Vol. 2, a treasure trove of mix that consisted solely of her own unreleased productions. “Real2Me” closes out the new record, and even with its smacking drums and corpulent bass tones, the track is a real smoothie, employing a tripped-out, ’80s-flavored synth melody and some silky R&B vocal snippets that fondly recall the post-dubstep era at its early-2010s peak.
Martyn “Vancouver (Rhyw’s SKG Mix)” (3024)
Rhyw “Drool” (Fever AM)
Speaking of bass music talent, Martyn brought in some bona fide heavy hitters for the new remix 12” of his 2008 classic, “Vancouver.” TraTraTrax co-founder Verraco leads off the record, and once again demonstrates his off-the-charts sound design skills on his bustling, rave-ready “MDE Reshape,” but Rhyw—who’s also no slouch in the sound design department—takes the song in an even freakier direction, folding in crunchy acid lines and an off-kilter drum pattern before playfully stretching the original’s ominous “Vancouver” vocal into something closer to “Vaaaaaaaaaaaancooooouuuuver.” There’s a sense of silliness at work in his production, but it never feels cheap, even when he pushes that sense even further on the new “Drool” single, which surfaced yesterday on the Fever AM label he runs alongside Mor Elian. Billed as an “underwater mutant-octopus romance scene,” it too revels in squirmy bits of acid, though it’s the track’s semi-intelligible vocals that truly shine, directly hinting at polished pop production but ultimately coalescing into something that sounds borderline alien.
Ocean Dawn “Progressive Future Music” (Future Retro London)
Jack Horner “The Hoover (Tim Reaper VIP)” (Future Retro London)
If last month’s First Floor interview with Tim Reaper didn’t make it clear that the man is a true jungle historian, the latest batch of releases from his Future Retro London label sure hammered the point home. While the name Ocean Dawn likely won’t ring familiar to many readers, it’s a new alias from Damon Kirkham, who’s gone by many different monikers over the years (e.g. Kid Drama, Jon Convex), but is still best known for the many years he spent as one half of the boundary-pushing duo Instra:mental. This new persona he’s adopted is devoted to atmospheric jungle, and “Progressive Future Music”—a highlight of the new FR045 EP—is a plush cruiser, its low-key breakbeats swaddled in pillow-soft pads and plinky melodies that wouldn’t be out of place on a vintage new age record.
“The Hoover,” on the other hand, is a legitimate jungle artifact. The track, originally released in 1995, was a longtime favorite of Reaper, so when UK veteran Jack Horner asked him if he might like to remix it, he was initially sure about whether he dared to take the assignment. That trepidation, however, eventually passed, and while Reaper’s “VIP” version stays true to the source material, it does significantly amp up the level of mayhem, unleashing a torrential downpour of percussion and a brawny bassline that hits like a bulldozer crashing through a wall. Although there’s no shortage of ’90s worship in today jungle circuit, and this track may feed into that, Reaper proves here that he’s the rare producer who can reference the past without sounding like he’s stuck in a tired nostalgia loop.
Crespi Drum Syndicate “Broken Bread” (Isla)
Of all the promising dance music artists and projects that have come out of South Florida in recent years, Crespi Drum Syndicate might be one of the weirdest. Yet that works in the duo’s favor, as members Jonny from Space and El Gusano (a.k.a. DJ Fitness) have landed in freak-funk zone that’s strongly reminiscent of post-punk / no wave greats like Konk and Liquid Liquid. It’s funny to think about two guys in Coral Gables inadvertently channeling the anything-goes spirit of Downtown NYC circa 1980, but by purposely “refrain[ing] from melody and harmony as much as possible,” Crespi Drum Syndicate have managed to fill their debut release, Beats, with some compellingly atonal grooves. Elements of dub, dancehall and krautrock also factor into the equation, but the clanging rhythms and controlled chaos of the standout “Broken Bread” might as well be a transmission from a Chelsea loft party from 40 years ago.
Francesco Leali “Mother Tongue” (Until Riots)
String instruments (e.g. cello, double bass, violin, viola) feature prominently on Francesco Leali’s new Let Us Descend full-length, but the album shouldn’t be mistaken for some sort of polite orchestral exercise. The Milan-based artist is obsessed with “the culture of cults, minor and major religious movements,” which is perhaps why his music has such a fervent zeal, its vacillation between elegant melodies and jagged outbursts mirroring the frenzied energy of a holy man who claims to be possessed by some unseen higher power. LP highlight “Mother Tongue” seems to be guided by raw fury, and its serrated blasts of distortion bring to mind the more aggressive work of Ben Frost. With a runtime of just under two minutes, the song might leave some wishing for something longer, but this sort of intensity is often most effective—and most potent—in limited doses.
Nexciya & mu tate “Sans Titre” (29 Speedway)
Nexcyia “creek” (Haunter)
Considering that the new UltraBody compilation includes tracks from Jake Muir, Flora Yin Wong, James Hoff, Maxwell Sterling, James K and a number of other experimental faves, it wasn’t going to be easy for anyone involved to seize the spotlight. Yet “Sans Titre,” a scratchy, static-laced collaboration from Nexcyia and mu tate, does just that, conjuring up a hypnotic, free-floating space in which every nervous rhythm and hazy texture has been luxuriously slathered in reverb. A similar vibe also colors much of Nexcyia’s new Exodus LP, a (mostly) vaporous effort inspired by the Paris-born, Berlin-based American sound artist’s exploration of his own family history. “creek” is one of the high points, and its windswept, not-quite-ambient aesthetic somehow manages to feel soothing, even as Nexciya populates its crevices with haunted vocal fragments, distorted bass tones and a variety of rustling field recordings.
Inner-Sound “Fauna” (Never Sleep)
Formerly operating under the name Alia, the Scottish duo of Sei A and Liam Robertson (a.k.a. one half of Clouds) rebranded themselves as Inner-Sound earlier this year, and just released the Yellow Boa EP. While the record could be categorized as bass music, it’s bass music that’s only loosely concerned with the dancefloor, opting instead to indulge the pair’s more cinematic impulses. That said, these guys aren’t making ambient music, or cooking up some half-baked attempt to sound like Hans Zimmer; their deconstructed techno and garage drum patterns can rumble with the best of them. But on a standout cut like “Fauna,” the drums are also a backdrop to the interplay between the song’s swirling, goth-tinged textures and its bright, almost childlike melody. There’s a lot going on, but the composition never feels cluttered, and listening closely may prompt questions like, “Is this what a less glum version of Skull Disco would have sounded like?”
AAAA “Safe House” (Umor Rex)
During AAAA’a decade-plus of activity, techno and acid have been his primary calling cards, but on the new X Scroll Era album, the Mexico City producer takes a more introspective approach, constructing what he calls a melancholy “sound memory” while exploring a variety of ambient, IDM and even beatless trance sounds. And while those longing for his usual woozy acid lines can still find them scattered throughout the record—mostly notably amidst the dialed-down breakbeat of the LP’s excellent title track—it’s when AAAA ventures into new territory that the record proves most rewarding. “Safe House” is actually one of the few floor-focused tracks on offer, and though it’s too restrained to qualify as a proper banger, it is genuinely bubbly, with twirly, pastel-colored melodies that seem to glide atop the song’s steadily bopping house beat.
Dj Steve & Bobi Cacen “Moon 4 (Inner Orbit)” (Klasse Wrecks)
According to Klasse Wrecks, the tracks on Dj Steve & Bobi Cacen’s new Synchronic Orbit EP were taken from The 12 Moons of Ikutaro, a record that was originally slated for release in 1993. It’s unclear if that record ever came out, or if this backstory is even true, but the new EP certainly sounds like it came from 1993, and sits somewhere between the Detroit techno and proto-trance of that era. “Moon 4 (Inner Orbit)” is the strongest cut, and while its carefree spirit and glistening polish might be a bit too much for those who prefer their dance music to have some grit, the song’s lush string pads and sci-fi aesthetic should be enough to satiate a good portion of the Metroplex and Underground Resistance diehards out there.
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.