First Floor #242 – Bubbles Everywhere
a.k.a. Thoughts on the state of electronic music podcasts, plus a round-up of the latest electronic music news and a fresh slate of new track recommendations.
I’ve been thinking a lot about media and content bubbles lately.
The US election certainly has something to do with that, and while it’s long been evident that perceptions of reality vary greatly from one person to the next—particularly when we’re looking at our phones—my own sense of morbid curiosity has taken me down a variety of online rabbit holes in recent days, driven by a desire to take a look at the proverbial “other side.”
What I found, not surprisingly, was often puerile and wildly underinformed, and yes, these little treks are what ultimately got me thinking about podcasts—or, more specifically, the relative weakness of podcasts within the electronic music sphere. Maybe you saw that I published an essay on that topic earlier this week, and since the paywall has now (temporarily) been taken down, I should mention that you’ll find a link to the piece below.
It’s amazing—and frightening—just how quickly one can find some truly virulent content in the span of just a few clicks. I’d like to think that my looking at that stuff was motivated by a desire to learn and better understand the world around me, but I can’t deny that it was also a sort of coping technique, a way to process my deep disappointment with not just the election results, but what feels like the growing precarity of just about everything, everywhere. (Cue someone laughing about my “liberal tears.” Fair enough.) Call it dread, or anxiety, but whatever it is, I know that I’m not alone in feeling it, because the “mainstream” media bubble I usually inhabit is already pivoting to capitalize on it.
I subscribe to The New York Times. (Of course I do. As a married, 45 year-old, college-educated, left-leaning California native who works in a creative field, I’m practically the poster child for their target demographic.) And in the aftermath of the election, it’s not a coincidence that the paper last week published a story about digital nomadism, laying out which countries are the easiest options for Americans looking to relocate. That sort of thing is catnip to disaffected lefties, most of whom would never actually move abroad, but find it soothing to dream about the possibility. Relief is what they’re after, and it was also offered in the latest edition of The Amplifier newsletter, in which the Times’ Lindsay Zoladz made no direct reference to the election, but nonetheless presented “6 Ambient Tracks to Transport You Someplace Else.” Subtle.
Content like this—and these are just two of many things in this vein that The New York Times has published during the past week—isn’t really news. But seeing it reminded me of my interview with journalist Vincent Bevins a few months back, as he talked directly about how media has shifted during the past decade:
If you look at 2016 to 2020 in the United States, you can say that the media became much more overtly anti-Republican because Donald Trump was a unique threat to the United States. There’s some partial truth in that, but I also think it’s true that outlets like The New York Times weren't being paid to speak to everyone in the United States anymore. Instead of advertisers, they were being paid by subscribers, and those subscribers came from certain parts of the United States. They had certain concerns. You’re now way more likely to subscribe to The New York Times if you’re liberal than if you’re a Republican. You’re way more likely to subscribe if you’re upper-middle class and well-educated than if you’re not. That ends up affecting the ability to be objective, which, again, was always an impossible aspirational ideal, even in the 20th century.
What does that have to do with electronic music? Maybe not that much, but speaking as someone whose current livelihood is heavily dependent on subscriptions, it does give me pause. Am I, even unconsciously, tailoring content on First Floor to meet the expectations of the audience? I hope not, but after five years of publishing this newsletter, it’s not like I don’t have some idea what kinds of stories will do well with my readers, and potentially make waves in the wider electronic music world. First Floor isn’t a diary, and like any other publication, it employs a form of editorial strategy. There’s nothing inherently sinister about that, but over a long enough timeframe, following that strategy too closely can create a kind of self-reinforcing feedback loop, giving rise to the same sort of bubble that folks like me are often so quick to criticize.
Avoiding that requires vigilance, and it’s something I—and, honestly, anyone who works in media or makes content for a living—should be thinking about in the months and years ahead. But in the meantime, I can at least take solace in the fact that no presidential candidates are hitting First Floor up for interviews. If there is a bubble here, it’s more than likely a relatively benign one, at least for now.
Anyways, let’s get into today’s First Floor digest, shall we? As always, I’ve put together a round-up of news items, new release announcements and reading suggestions, along with a fresh batch of track recommendations. (And yes, all of the tracks are from releases that dropped during the past week.) You’ll also find a guest recommendation from German ambient / experimental artist Florian T M Zeisig, so make sure to give that a look as well.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
Every Tuesday, First Floor publishes a long-form piece that’s initially made available to paid newsletter subscribers only. But if you’re not part of the paid tier, now’s your chance to see what you missed! The latest piece is now (temporarily) open to everyone, and it’s an article examining the current state of electronic music podcasts. Although the format is arguably more influential now than ever before in the media / content landscape, it has yet to make much of an impact in electronic music circles—why?
SOME OTHER THINGS I DID
Has anyone else noticed that the current jungle “revival” has been going on for longer than the genre’s oft-referenced “golden age,” which lasted for only a few years in the ’90s? The latest edition of my monthly Second Floor column for Nina takes a closer look a what’s (rightly or wrongly) being marketed as “new-school jungle,” tracking the evolution of the genre while also highlighting some of its best contemporary artists and labels.
First Floor also has a monthly radio show at dublab BCN, and the most recent episode aired last Thursday. It’s since been archived online, so anyone who missed the initial broadcast can now listen back and hear songs from Oliver Coates, Moin, Jabu, Tristan Arp, Félicia Atkinson, PIGMNT, Toma Kami, Low End Activist and more. (And yes, the full playlist is also available online.)
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.
With all of the attention that the music press has given to so-called “Latin club” during the past few years, it’s baffling that so few Latin journalists have been enlisted to put that coverage together. A little bit of insider knowledge and cultural context goes a long way, as Venezuelan writer / editor Rachel Grace Almeida brilliantly demonstrated in Resident Advisor’s latest The Art of Production feature with DJ Babatr. Having first encountered the raptor house pioneer at a miniteca party in Caracas when she was a teenager, Almeida was able to go deep in their conversation, which detailed not just Babatr’s backstory, but the social and cultural complexities of life as a working-class artist in Venezuela. It’s an excellent read, and while the interview ironically doesn’t feature a ton of detailed production talk, it is accompanied by a video piece in which Babatr breaks down some of his studio techniques.
Hosted by Chal Ravens and Tom Lea, the No Tags podcast—which got a couple of mentions in this week’s First Floor essay—yesterday announced plans to release its first book. Entitled No Tags: Conversations on underground music culture, it’s scheduled for a December 3 release, and includes edited transcriptions of all the interviews that have taken place on the show to date, along with several topic-focused conversations that the hosts themselves have had on the program. Its pages will also feature four new essays by Eris Drew, Chris Zaldua, Henry Bruce-Jones and Ray Philp, all of which are exclusive to the book.
Although the ethics and logistics of artist interviews is something that the general public rarely thinks about, it’s a topic that’s exceedingly important—or at least should be—for artists and journalists alike. Having spent the past 35 years on both sides of the interview divide, hardcore veteran Norman Brannon is well placed to comment on the matter, and he’s done just that in a new essay for his Anti-Matter newsletter, reflecting back on his own experiences and landing on the assertion that doing things the “right” way is something that largely boils down to trust.
When drummer Valentina Magaletti is mentioned by the press, it’s usually in reference to her capacity as a collaborator, but this week, the London-based Italian was the focus of her own feature in The Guardian. Penned by Jennifer Lucy Allan, the piece touches on Magaletti’s many, many musical endeavors (e.g. Moin, Holy Tongue, V/Z, Tomaga, etc.) and explores her unique approach to her chosen instrument.
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.
L-Vis 1990—who detailed his decision to return to that moniker in a First Floor interview earlier this year—popped up last week with a surprise new single called “On Tweeq.” Released via Tokyo label TREKKIE TRAX, the complete package is available now, and along with the UK producer’s original track, it includes and six different remixes from andrew, Carpainter, Seimei, Guchon, Oyubi and K8.
A lot has happened in the few months since Drew Daniel (a.k.a. The Soft Pink Truth a.k.a. one half of Matmos) literally dreamed up a new genre called hit em, but what at first seemed like a passing bit of online fun is about to become something much more concrete. On November 15 (i.e. tomorrow), the Tabula Rasa label will be releasing Thank You, Dream Girl., a 27-track hit em compilation curated jointly by Daniel and Machinedrum. They both feature on the record, as do Matmos, EPROM and a slew of other artists, and though no music has been shared, the full tracklist and more details about the release can be found here.
After initially connecting via The Lot Radio, Baltra and FaltyDL have officially joined forces with a new project called Twin Cities. The NYC duo’s eponymous debut single is scheduled to arrive on November 19 via Baltra’s 96 and Forever imprint; more information can be found here, and a snippet of the music can be heard in this Instagram post.
Colin Self’s lemniscate EP was released last month on RVNG Intl., and it turns out that the record was just an appetizer, as the avant-pop auteur has a new full-length coming next year on the same label. Entitled respite ∞ levity for the nameless ghost in crisis, it’s due to surface on February 21, but opening track “respite for the tulpmancer” has already been shared.
Given his prolific work rate, new music from DJ Q isn’t necessarily groundbreaking news. But a new bassline track from DJ Q? That doesn’t happen very often these days, as the UK veteran has been focused more on garage sounds in recent years. This week, however, he released “Gunshot,” a rowdy track on which the Local Action label says he’s in “full warper mode.” It’s out now.
Speaking of rowdy, Los Angeles bass queen Bianca Oblivion make her debut on LuckyMe yesterday, dropping a bombastic new tune called “Scat Track.” It’s actually an international (and intercontinental) collaboration with Lunice and Lamsi, and the song is available now.
FLORIAN T M ZEISIG 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 Florian T M Zeisig, a German ambient / experimental artist who’s also one half of the groups Unt, NUG and OCA. The latter notably contributed production to Kelela’s 2023 album Raven, but it’s Zeisig’s solo output on labels like enmossed, STROOM and Métron that’s been most impressive, whether he was cutting and pasting Enya (2020’s You Look So Serious) or creating imaginary soundtracks for late-night television broadcasts of outer space (2023’s Planet Inc). Next month he’ll embracing his newest alias, Angel R, with an album called Mossed Capable of Being Observant, but here he’s elected to take things in a completely different direction, sharing something that dates back to before he was born.
Shona Laing “Quiet Night” (Vertigo / Philips)
I love classic songs, especially when they have a sincere tone and a sense of hopefulness in them. The mixture of vulnerability, honesty, solitude and hopefulness has always resonated with me, and it’s special when a song like “Quiet Night” finds you. Its anthemic, worship-meets-stadium rock energy really hits the sweet spot and feels so pure, peaceful and powerful, and the whole thing is led by Shona Laing’s sincere vocals, which sit very close to the heart and are so open-hearted. Love love love.
In a way, this song reminds me of an album that I finished recently, working together with Mari “more eaze” Rubio, harpist and singer Róisín Berkeley and a few others.
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.
Shed “UFO2” (Ilian Tape)
The mere mention of Shed doing a record on Ilian Tape is enough to get techno nerds drooling—and, more than likely, reaching for their wallets—but the shapeshifting, multi-monikered German artist wasn’t resting on his laurels when he put together the new Applications EP. On the contrary, he broke new ground, largely setting aside the moody haze that’s characterized much of the Shed catalog. “UFO2,” which closes out the record, might be the most thundering thing he’s ever done, its hard-charging drums bolstered by brawny synths that sound like the air horn of a speeding tractor-trailer.
Kangding Ray “IPSO” (ara)
Speaking of beloved techno veterans, Kangding Ray quietly dropped a new full-length called ZERO last week, and while it once again displays his penchant for sound design and his well-documented attention to detail, the LP is squarely focused on the dancefloor. That said, it’s anything but a one-note effort. Album closer “OVAL” is a trance hybrid that somehow manages to be both crunchy and elegant, and the standout “OXID”compellingly pairs its weightless chords with the gloopiest of bass loops. Yet its the fervently thumping (and relatively straightforward) “IPSO” that proves most effective, layering laser-like, just-shy-of-psychedelic whirls atop its insistently churning underbelly.
Tim Reaper “World of Shadows” (Best Intentions)
How many times has Tim Reaper’s name been mentioned here in the newsletter during the past few years? I’m honestly afraid to look into it and find out, but I will acknowledge that I am in imminent danger of crossing over into full-blown fanboy territory. (In my defense, I do think I kept my enthusiasm in check when I interviewed the London junglist back in August.) All that said, Reaper has kept his hot streak going with the Raw Energy Movements EP, which also happens to be the inaugural release of the new Best Intentions imprint. The record sticks close to his usual ’90s jungle aesthetic, and reaches a high point on “World of Shadows.” A potent slice of controlled chaos, the track employs both bashy drum programming and ominous, hardcore-indebted stabs, but in the end, it still manages to feel a bit twinkly and introspective.
Long Island Sound “Anchor” (all my thoughts)
Let’s just get this out of the way: Irish duo Long Island Sound share a fair bit of musical DNA with Bicep. (Considering that both groups came of age on the same relatively small island—the former in Dublin, the latter in Belfast—it’s possible they share some ancestral DNA as well.) That’s not a knock on their talents, which shine bright on their long-gestating debut album, Hydra, but it does mean that their approach to the dancefloor is often emotional with a capital E. “Anchor” is an early highlight on the LP, and it’s by no means weepy, but even with its jaunty array of gleaming bleeps and bloops, there’s something pensive, even wistful about the track. Those in search of speaker-rattling bangers might need to look elsewhere, but “Anchor,” like the rest of Hydra, makes getting lost in your feels feel rather good.
Marc McGuire “Anhedonia” (Self-released)
I miss Emeralds. I’m sure lots of people do. But Anhedonia, a new EP from Emeralds guitarist Marc McGuire, offers a little bit of relief, tapping into a bit of the beloved Cleveland trio’s slow-burning psychedelic appeal. The title track is particularly good, and it’s an unassuming beauty, its lattice of intricately strummed electric and acoustic guitars gradually building into something that’s mesmerizing—and a little bit reminiscent of Manuel Göttsching and other Krautrock heroes. The dominant feeling is one of calm, and “Anhedonia” is best experienced by those who sit back and allow its serenity to wash over them.
Merope “Vija” (STROOM)
The first time I saw the word “kankles,” I thought it was a misspelling of the (admittedly not very nice) term “cankles.” As it turns out though, the kankles is a Lithuanian folk instrument, similar in nature to the zither, and it’s long been a foundational element of the music created by Merope. The duo’s latest album, Vėjula, is a relatively low-key affair, even with its contributions from artists like Laraaji and Bill Frisell, and it capably walks the line between ambient and folk—Baltic folk in particular. Indrė Jurgelevičiūtė’s subtly fantastical voice is something out of the classic 4AD catalog, and sounds especially good amidst the warbling melodies of LP cut “Spindulė,” but it’s “Vija,” an entirely instrumental number, that’s the biggest standout. Led by the kankles, the song’s plucked melodies unfold with a comfortable ease, settling into a relaxed groove that’s part Mary Lattimore, part Studio.
Nilotpal Das “Dragon’s Descent” (Doyenne)
Artists have used all sorts of field recordings over the years, but Red River is quite possibly the first album to prominently feature the sounds of a Bell 407 civil utility helicopter. What’s more impressive, however, is the fact that those helicopter sounds have been processed and manipulated to such a degree that their origin is anything but obvious. For Kolkata-based musician Nilotpal Das, they’re just another texture to be added to his already rich tapestry of harmonium, woodwinds, guitars and violin. The end result might be described as ambient, but Das also has a clear taste for drone, which transforms many of his otherwise tranquil compositions into something trippier—and often denser as well. On the standout “Dragon’s Descent,” the drones largely hover in the background, but that enables the song’s assorted string instruments—and the guitar in particular—to take center stage, their feverish interplay hypnotically conjuring up what almost feels like a distortion-free wall of sound.
Black Rain “Head Music” (Room40)
First published in 1984, William Gibson’s Neuromancer is a world-renowned sci-fi novel, and still stands as one of the definitive tomes of the cyperpunk genre. Ten years after its original release, NYC duo Black Rain were commissioned to create a soundtrack for a new audio version of the book, and while that audiobook wound up being a success, the music they created for it fell into obscurity—until now, that is. Newly reissued by Room40, Neuromancer takes an anxiety-streaked (albeit undeniably engrossing) trip through dystopian despair, moving through industrial-tinged sleaze, growling drones and blurred, not-quite-human sonics. The latter loom large on “Head Music,” a song whose haunted moans swell to towering heights, their imposing nature only slightly tempered by the sheer grandeur of the sounds on offer.
The Body “The Building” (Thrill Jockey)
Building on the magic of their collaborative Orchards of a Futile Heaven album from earlier this year, experimental metal outfit The Body have once again enlisted Dis Fig to contribute to a track on their latest full-length, the The Crying Out of Things. Though it it’s billed as a full-blown collaboration—in fact, Dis Fig is only listed in the credits a vocal contributor, and under her legal name, Felicia Chen—but there’s no mistaking that the piercing shrieks of “The Building” belong to her. It’s a heavy tune, and while it’s built upon a sludgy morass of static and distortion, the song’s opening minutes are actually kind of sedate—albeit not in a way that anyone would describe as “relaxing.” The track’s thrilling closing volley, however, is an explosion of fury, one in which Chen’s tortured howls are quickly swallowed by repurposed trap drums and a rising tide of corroded sonics.
Nova Varnrable “Split (Sister Marion Dub)” (5 GATE TEMPLE)
Having previously showcased her avant-pop inclinations on compilations from Danish labels Escho and Kulør, Nova Varnrable has ventured deeper into the abyss on her bizarrely titled new EP, pulling away******that have **** or **** just couldn't' do it *love u*. Her originals explore a gothy, percussion-driven strand of dream pop, but the murkiest (and best) number on the record is this fuzzed-out version of “Split” by the mysterious Sister Marion, who’s stripped out the drums entirely and bathed the track in an opaque haze. High-gloss it is not, but this stripped-down, reverb-drenched arrangement only makes Varnrable’s ethereal vocalizations sound all the more alluring.
MAXAMBIENT “intro” (Self-released)
What, exactly, is J. Albert up to? The prolific NYC-based producer is already someone who routinely defies easy categorization, freely moving between dub techno, abstract beat science, floaty microhouse, glitched-out R&B and more—sometimes within the span of a single release. Back in September, he complicated matters even further, introducing a new alias called MAXAMBIENT that A) doesn’t appear to be dedicated to ambient music and B) arrived with no explanation beyond a single line of promo text that read, “MAXAMBIENT IS SPAM.” A second MAXAMBIENT release, Special Needs, surfaced last week, and though it does nothing to clear up its creator’s aims, it does contain some excellent tunes. Listening to “intro,” the song’s off-kilter rhythms and sculpted static recall Actress and early Flying Lotus, while its scratchy melodic splashes almost sound like a more digital take on Boards of Canada. I have no idea where MAXAMBIENT is headed, or where J. Albert intends to take any of his projects, but if he keeps making tracks like this one, I’ll happily continue to go along for the ride.
perila “she wonder” (Smalltown Supersound)
It’s rare that more than a few months go by without new music from perila finding its way into the world, and while that might frustrate those fans who (understandably) have a hard time keeping up, this steady stream of releases has also enabled the Berlin-based Russian artist to define of the boundaries of what increasingly feels like her own unique creative universe. Intrinsic Rhythm is her latest effort, and it’s a substantial volume of work, its 21 tracks weaving together meditative passages, flickering field recordings, fleeting rhythms and barely there nods to the most avant-garde of pop structures. There’s a lot to digest, but as it turns out, the album’s quietest moments are also some of its strongest; LP highlight “She wonder,” for instance, is mesmerizing, but it feels more like free-form poetry than traditional songcraft, its gentle flourishes powered entirely by fragments of perila’s own voice.
Sussan Deyhim & Richard Horowitz “Craving Your Embrace” (RVNG Intl.)
Composers Sussan Deyhim and Richard Horowitz spent the bulk of their lives together—the latter passed away earlier this year—but it was in the Downtown scene of 1980s New York that they first connected. The Invisible Road: Original Recordings, 1985–1990 puts forth a previously unheard batch of songs they recorded during that era, and it’s a wonderfully weird collection of pop songs that make little effort to conform to the usual norms of that term. Deyhim, who was born and raised in Iran, has long been celebrated for her unorthodox approach to vocals, and that talent is on glorious display on “Craving Your Embrace,” a playfully quirky (and subtly funky) tune that sounds like a combination of Talking Heads, Yellow Magic Orchestra and Middle Eastern pop. (For those wanting a more modern reference, it’s not far off from what Kate NV—another RVNG Intl. affiliate—has been doing in recent years.) Sometimes the best songs are the ones that throw all the rules out the window.
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.