First Floor #250 – How Can Something So Important Sound So Bad?
A critical look back a the big beat genre, plus a round-up of the latest electronic music news and a fresh slate of new track recommendations.
I suppose that almost everyone is a little embarrassed by the stuff they liked when they were a kid. Music, movies, television shows, clothing … when I think back to my younger days, there was a whole lot of stuff that I thought was SO COOL that in retrospect was actually rather bland, or in some cases, downright terrible.
Big beat falls into that latter category.
Earlier this week, I revisited the genre here in the newsletter, curious to see how it had held up during the past few decades. As much as EDM is often pinpointed as the moment that electronic music broke into the US commercial mainstream, I’d argue that the “electronica” boom of the mid-to-late ’90s, which made big beat artists like Fatboy Slim and The Chemical Brothers into household names, had a similarly transformative effect on American culture.
Here’s the thing though: A lot of the music was so, so bad.
If you want to see just how bad, you can find my deep dive below—and yes, the paywall is currently (albeit temporarily) down. But even if you don’t particularly care to immerse yourself in the big beat canon, today’s First Floor digest also has plenty of other goodies to keep you busy. The industry seems to have finally awoken from its post-holiday slumber, as a rash of upcoming releases were announced this week. You’ll find a round-up of those announcements below, along with news items, suggested reading links and a batch of new track recommendations, all of them plucked from releases that dropped during the past week. Beyond that, there’s also a special guest recommendation from writer / editor Nyshka Chandran, one of the few electronic music journalists who brings some serious reporting skills to her craft.
Let’s get started.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
Every Tuesday, First Floor publishes a long-form piece that’s initially made available to paid 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 look back at big beat, one which re-examines many of the ebullient genre’s defining tracks and questions not only why they’ve aged so poorly, but what they can tell us about the cultural moment in which they first appeared.
FIRST FLOOR ON DUBLAB BCN
Last Thursday I headed over to dublab for my monthly First Floor radio show, and the episode—which includes music from Rhyw, Al Wootton, Voice Actor & Squu, Pavel Milyakov & Lucas Dupuy, Ulla (as U.e.) and a number of other artists—has since been archived here.
REAL QUICK
A round-up of the most interesting electronic music news from the past week, plus links to interviews, articles and other things I think are worth sharing.
The Longform Editions label announced that it will soon be shutting down. Launched in 2018, the Australian outpost quickly carved out a unique niche, enlisting artists from across the ambient and experimental spectrum to put together standalone compositions with runtimes of no less than 20 minutes. Contributors have included Caterina Barbieri, claire rousay, Grand River, Carmen Villain, Sam Prekop, KMRU, Ulla, perila and others too numerous to list, and the imprint’s final batch of releases is due to arrive on February 12. In an interview with Ryan Dombal that was published this week on Hearing Things, founder Andrew Khedoori looked back at Longform Editions’ evolution over the years, explained why he’s decided to close up shop and revealed that one of the label’s final releases is from Fennesz.
Shackleton is still making a whole lot of music, but even as his catalog grows, the borderline unclassifiable UK producer continues to keep a low profile, eschewing social media and only rarely speaking to the press. He did, however, recently agree to pen the latest edition of The Quietus’ Baker’s Dozen series, sharing songs from King Tubby, The Stooges, Bob Dylan, Suicide and other artists that profoundly shaped his musical worldview.
Next week, Bruce will be officially launching his new Poorly Knit label with a two-tracker called The Price / Mimicry, and ahead of the record’s arrival, the UK producer has appeared in two separate interviews, both of which were refreshingly open and honest. The first, a conversation with journalist Ben Cardew on the Line Noise podcast, touched on Bruce’s artist moniker, his recent forays into vocal-centric electronic pop and more. (For those who prefer reading to listening, some excerpts of the chat were published in the latest edition of the Line Noise newsletter.) The second interview, which surfaced in Philip Sherburne’s Futurism Restated newsletter, covered some similar territory, but it also went deep into Bruce’s upbringing, his musical evolution and his (at times quite delicate) psyche.
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.
Just days after they released For LA Vol. 1, a benefit compilation designed to help victims of this month’s Los Angeles wildfires, curators Hollie Kenniff and Keith Kenniff (a.k.a. Goldmund) unveiled a sequel, For LA Vol. 2. It features contributions from Lawrence English, Brendan Moeller, fields we found, Dylan Henner and a slew of other artists, but what’s most impressive is that the compilation includes two previously unreleased recordings from the late Ryuichi Sakamoto. The first is taken from a 2019 concert at LA’s Ace Hotel, while the other is a field recording he captured in the City of Angels back in 2015. For LA Vol. 2 is out now, and a third volume will reportedly arrive this week.
Joy Orbison—who happens to be the subject of DJ Mag’s latest cover feature—had one of last year’s biggest tunes (“flight fm”), and now he’s kicked off 2025 with a new standalone single, “bastard.” An introspective collaboration with UK rapper Joe James, it’s out now via XL and his own Hinge Finger imprint.
Sunju Hargun, who provided the guest recommendation in last week’s First Floor digest, has shared the details of his upcoming solo album. Entitled The Golden Triangle, it will be released in two parts via the Bangkok-based artist’s own Siamese Twins imprint. The LP’s first chapter, which includes collaborations with GiGi FM and Konduku, will land on March 1, though some preview clips of the record have already been shared.
Fresh off her ambient-leaning Strange Meridians album that dropped late last year, Dutch artist upsammy has prepared a new EP for Dekmantel. Billed as a dancefloor-ready “exploration of gleaming, sprightly drum & bass with a restorative center,” Open Catalyst will be issued on March 7. In the meantime though, lead track “Relict” is available now.
Jaymie Silk’s 2025 got off to a rough start when his Paris apartment was broken into, leading to the theft of his computer and the loss of “months of work and seven years of demos and musical ideas.” Looking to turn a negative into a positive, he’s now compiled a few demos he’d already sent via email to various friends and labels, and though that music wasn’t necessarily meant for release—at least not in that form—he’s put together a trilogy of EPs called Missing Tracks. The first volume is scheduled to drop on January 31 (i.e. tomorrow), and several tracks from it have already been shared here.
JakoJako has completed a new full-length. Recorded in Vietnam during the Tết Lunar New Year celebrations, the LP is called Tết 41, and it’s in part an effort by the Berlin-based artist (and noted modular synthesist) to connect with her own heritage. Mute will be releasing the album on April 25, but one track, “Li xi” (translation: “Lucky Money”), is available now.
Lucrecia Dalt re-emerged this week with a new song, “cosa rara,” which also happens to be the title track of a forthcoming EP for RVNG Intl. Few details of that EP have been revealed, save for its scheduled February 28 release date, but the “cosa rara” single—which also features English artist and former Japan frontman David Sylvian—is out now.
Marina Zispin is a a synth-pop duo featuring UK artists Martyn Reid and Bianca Scout—the latter’s Pattern Damage LP for Sferic was one of 2024’s underappreciated gems—and they’ll soon be releasing a new album called Now You See Me, Now You Don’t. Several tracks from the record can already be heard here, and the complete album will drop on March 7 via the Scenic Route label.
Egyptian artist Hassan Abou Alam is best known for his electrifying, drum-heavy take on bass music, but he recently unveiled a new alias, Hablam, which he says is “dedicated to creating melody-driven music designed to help you unwind.” The project’s first EP, Saya7an, is out now.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith has a new album on the way. Entitled GUSH, it’s set to be released by the Nettwerk label, though it won’t actually be arriving until August 22. Few other details have been shared, but the LP’s first single, “Into Your Eyes,” is available now, as is its accompanying video, which is filled with oddly satisfying images of fruit being squished in a variety of different ways.
NYSHKA CHANDRAN 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 Nyshka Chandran, a New York-based journalist who’s currently the Futures Editor at Resident Advisor. Yet Chandran, who was born in India and has lived in six different countries, brings more than a passion for electronic music to the table. She has some serious journalistic chops, having logged time at CNBC in Singapore and contributed to outlets like Al Jazeera, BBC, VICE, Foreign Policy and Vogue Business. Her interest in technology, economics and business colors much of her work at RA, where she spearheads much of the site’s industry-focused editorial and also authors the RA Pro newsletter. Here, however, it’s her taste in music that takes the lead, as she’s shared some blistering beats from Palestine.
Shabjdeed & Al Nather “Rad Saree3” (BLTNM)
This duo is all hits, no misses. The Palestinian rapper and producer extraordinaire last year released SULTAN, their magnum opus, and it didn’t get as much attention as it should have. I don't fully understand Shabjdeed’s bars, which are delivered in Arabic atop Al Nather’s fluid breakbeats, but the dystopian grime, drill and trap is tangibly powerful. The title track and “Nasheed” are some of my other favourites from the album, which is loaded with bassy club textures throughout. The record was a real exercise in world building—the SULTAN universe also encompasses a novella, flag and even a cigarette packet. Some describe it as “Arab futurism.” For more on their process, check out this interview.
LISTEN UP
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 “RIGHT TURN ON RED” (Magic City)
With her Magic City label turning 10 this year, Jubilee is putting the pedal to the metal with Jump Start, the high-octane first installment of what the Brooklyn-based artist promises will be a series of releases dropping throughout 2025. Although the UK tends to dominate the bass music realm, the boisterous “RIGHT TURN ON RED” is a speaker-rattling banger with a distinctly American sound palette, its relentlessly slapping drum attack pulling from multiple generations of East Coast club music. Adding to mayhem are the song’s blaring air-raid sirens, which nod to the countless nights a young Jubilee spent at South Florida raves, but also tap into the unshakeable sense of panic that’s part of the present political moment. In a world gone mad, cranking a tune like “RIGHT TURN ON RED” is not a bad way to stave off existential anxiety for a couple of minutes. (And for what it’s worth, those who prefer to salvage their sanity with crunchy, neon-streaked electro would be well advised to check out “GoGoGoGO!,” Jump Start’s similarly storming B-side.)
Sanna Mun “Second Act” (Repetitive Rhythm Research)
Unless it’s being made by a verified legend, “normal” techno rarely seems to generate much conversation these days, but the standard-issue, four-on-the-floor, 130-ish-BPM variant of the genre is actually in rather good shape, at least for those willing to look for it. “Second Act,” a track from Berlin producer Sanna Mun’s new Deus Ex Machina EP, fits right into that familiar zone, combining a blippy (and subtly spine-tingling) synth melody with a slightly underwater thump. It’s hypnotic and, most importantly, effective, and those who like the tune but want a little more low-end oomph can find that in the Force Reaction remix of “Second Act,” which closes out the record.
Studio “West Side” (Ghostly International)
What if Gang of Four had made an album in Ibiza? What if the Happy Mondays notorious 1992 trip to record in Barbados hadn’t been such a total disaster? Those questions can never really be answered, but West Coast—the newly reissued 2006 debut album from short-lived Swedish duo Studio—is a record that inspires these kinds of delicious hypotheticals. Post-punk, Madchester, dub, Krautrock, cosmic disco, house … all of those sounds are in there, and on this updated edition of the LP, they arrive not only remastered, but accompanied by a clutch of previously unreleased material. That material—which largely consists of alternate versions of songs from the original album—is perhaps more interesting than essential, although the beachy punk-funk of “Indo (CDR Version)” and Durutti Column-on-acid swirl of “West Side Part 2” are both rather enjoyable. Yet it’s hard to top the tracks that made West Coast a critical favorite back during the blog era, and “West Side” is especially choice, its moody vocals channeling Robert Smith at his early-’80s peak as the song’s chunky basslines settle into a sunny, slow-burning and undeniably funky groove.
Pas de Deux “Cardiocleptomanie” (STROOM)
Back in 1983, Pas de Deux was selected to be Belgium’s representative at the annual Eurovision competition, but they weren’t some slickly produced outfit aiming for mainstream success. The song they performed, “Rendez-vous,” was an avant-garde bit of post-punky pop, and while that helps explain why the group ultimately placed 18th out of 20 in the contest, the track later became an unlikely summer hit back in their home country. Unfortunately though, the trio’s follow-up single, “Mani Meme,” failed to gain much traction and Pas de Deux disbanded shortly thereafter. “Cardiocleptomanie” was the B-side of that single, and it’s not hard to see why the STROOM label has now elected to give it a fresh reissue, as the charmingly eccentric song sits somewhere between Altered Images and the no wave-tinged pop of Lizzy Mercier Descloux. Whimsical and just a little bit weird, it’s a prime example of why some of the best ’80s synth-pop was the stuff that colored outside the lines.
Black Taffy “Big Tiny” (Leaving)
Out Moon, the new album from Dallas-based producer Black Taffy, is in many ways a beat tape, but it elevates the form beyond the bedrooms in which static-flecked beats are often created. Employing gently plucked harps and lush string passages—or, more likely, samples of those things—the LP has an almost genteel sensibility, its nodding rhythms as well suited to a garden party as they would be for some dude’s earbuds on a late-night bus ride. “Big Tiny” embodies this duality, its warbling melodies and graceful textures unfolding atop a humble drum pattern and the persistent crackle you might hear coming out of an old radio.
Tendre Ael “Thousands of Silences” (Plor)
The Plor label is only a year old, and already it’s all but impossible to pin down exactly what the Dutch collective who runs it is all about. Words like “experimental” don’t really cut it, especially when the range of music on offer veers between IDM-infused techno, gaseous ambient and numerous points in between. Tendre Ael’s Thousands of Silences is the young imprint’s latest offering, and much of it dwells in chilly, windswept ambient and cloudy avant-pop that recalls PJ Harvey’s more lo-fi material. Full of reverb, shadows, moody strings and the sounds of gently lapping water, it’s above all a deeply textural record—and a beguiling one at that. On the title track—one of the EP’s many highlights—Tendre Ael is at her most vulnerable, belting it out atop jazzy drum bursts before retreating into an almost childlike whisper, her purring reminiscent of Vespertine-era Björk. It might be difficult to neatly describe the soundworld she’s created, but it’s fascinating to observe.
400 Lonely Things “Cloud Bringing” (Room40)
On paper, Children of Eidolon is not a cohesive album. Its songs were recorded between 2008 and 2024, and its final tracklist was selected not by 400 Lonely Things, but by Room40 founder Lawrence English, who was trusted to sift through “a large playlist … of random unreleased songs.” Some albums fail without the connective tissue of an overarching concept or narrative throughline, but Children of Eidolon is an engrossing collection of slow-brewing ambient, its gorgeous grey atmospheres and reverb-drenched tones billowing across a seemingly endless expanse. “Cloud Bringing” closes out the record on a rather epic note, its symphonic groans moving with an almost regal patience as they glide toward some unseen horizon.
Brueder Selke & Midori Hirano “Scale AA” (Thrill Jockey)
In a time when so much of the new ambient music being released is decidedly smudgy, Split Scale—a new collaborative full-length from German duo Brueder Selke and Berlin-based Japanese composer Midori Hirano—offers a refreshing reminder that blurry doesn’t necessarily mean better. The album’s clean lines and shining sound palette can be traced, at least in part, to the fact that everyone involved is a classically trained musician, and that background also fed the album’s conceptual backbone, as each track uses a different note (e.g. A, B, C, etc.) as a starting point and “tonal foundation.” Admittedly, the intricacies and implications of that process likely fly over the head of most listeners, myself included, but what matters is that Hirano and the Brueder brothers have crafted some elegant, and rather beautiful, music. Most striking is LP closer “Scale AA,” which pairs free-floating synth arpeggios with stately piano strikes and soft waves of cello. Meditative without being tedious and academic without being impenetrable, it’s a quietly dazzling composition.
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 Instagram—and make sure to follow First Floor on Instagram as well—or you can just drop Shawn an email to get in touch about projects, collaborations or potential work opportunities.