During the past 24 hours, multiple people have sent me this Instagram video from The New Yorker, in which writer Kelefa Sanneh essentially teases his recent article for the magazine, “How Music Criticism Lost Its Edge.” I don’t think most people who forwarded me the video realized that I actually wrote extensively about Sanneh’s article in last week’s newsletter. That’s fair enough, as not even the most dedicated fans of First Floor read every single edition, but as the link to the video landed in my inbox again and again, a far more troubling thought crossed my mind:
I don’t think many of these people actually read Sanneh’s article.
To be fair, I don’t think that many of the more than 29,000 people (and counting) who liked the video on Instagram read the article either, and neither have the vast majority of the hundreds (thousands?) who left a comment. This, sadly, is what the “discourse” has largely become, even among the supposedly erudite crowd that pays attention to The New Yorker. Why bother reading an article when you can just watch an abbreviated trailer, get a general idea of what the piece is about and then leave your own half-baked take in the comment section?
What’s also interesting is that the video stars Sanneh himself, and while his “performance” is perfectly fine, it’s definitely strange to think that media has reached a point where this legitimately accomplished and acclaimed writer is being cajoled to go on camera and basically cut a promo clip for his work. Maybe he enjoyed it? I honestly don’t know. I’m sure at least some writers out there relish the chance to put themselves front and center, but that’s ultimately beside the point. Just a few years ago, this was not a normal part of a music journalist’s job, but it seems that the field, even at its highest levels, has been caught up in the ongoing influencerization of seemingly everything.
That phenomenon was a big part of an essay I published earlier this week, which examined a music ecosystem in which journalists are increasingly expected to play a starring role. And it’s not just that; in a system dominated by algorithms and social media platforms, punditry and presentation are taking precedence over thoughtful critique and actual reporting, and the nature of the music conversation is changing as a result.
A link to that essay is below—and yes, the paywall is currently (albeit temporarily) down. Otherwise, read on for the rest of today’s First Floor digest. Now that the calendar has flipped to September, the music industry has awakened from its annual summer slowdown, which means a whole lot of news is hitting the wire. In an effort to point you toward the good stuff, I’ve put together a round-up of news items, new release announcements and suggested reading links, along with a fresh batch of track recommendations—all of them plucked from albums and EPs that dropped during the past week. As an added bonus, there’s also a special guest recommendation from LA-based artist, label head and IDM enthusiast RamonPang, so make sure to give that a look.
Let’s get started.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
Every week, 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 open to everyone, and it’s an essay about the changing nature of music journalism. More specifically, it examines how writers and critics—who were once quasi-anonymous figures that largely stayed in the background—are now being pushed to step into the limelight and actively put themselves into their work.
ANOTHER THING I’M DOING
Next week I’ll be traveling to Oslo to take part in the conference portion of long-running Norwegian festival by:Larm. On Friday, September 12, I will be hosting two different talks:
The first one is with Eric Farber, co-founder of Nina Protocol, who will be talking about the online platform—which, crucially, doesn’t see itself as just a platform—and its efforts to challenge industry norms while directly empowering both artists and music communities.
For the second talk, I’ll once again be speaking to Liz Pelly, author of this year’s must-read music industry book, Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist. Aside from diving into the streaming giant’s not-so-noble origins (spoiler alert: they weren’t actually interested in saving music) and the company’s multitude of exploitative business practices, we’ll touch on the recent firestorm around Spotify CEO Daniel Ek’s investments into military tech, and consider potential alternatives to the current streaming landscape.
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.
AI-related news is rarely encouraging these days, but a new Billboard article by Richard Smirke is particularly damning. Laying out the findings collected by ICMP—a global trade body representing the music publishing industry—over the course of two years, the piece shares extensive evidence that major tech companies, including Google, Microsoft, Meta, OpenAI and X, “scraped copyright-protected music from millions of songwriters, composers and artists to train generative artificial intelligence systems.” Pilfering music, artwork and lyrics from a variety of online sources, these companies have engaged in what ICMP director general John Phelan categorizes as “the largest IP theft in human history,” with “tens of millions of works being infringed daily.” The piece goes into much greater detail, but it seems pretty clear that once again, for-profit tech corporations are building multibillion-dollar platforms via the exploitation of work by artists that they have no real intention of fairly compensating.
In a new article for The Guardian, writer Deborah Cole details how rising rents and creeping gentrification are threatening Berlin’s famed club scene. The impending closure of Renate is the main focus, and the story admittedly has some “normie writing about nightlife” vibes, but it provides a solid snapshot of how even the most famous clubbing destination in the world is struggling to keep its venues open.
Matrixxman is one of electronic music’s most versatile (and quotable) weirdos, and while he’s best known as a techno producer, he refuses to be hemmed in by the orthodoxy which surrounds the genre. He touched on this in a First Floor interview back in 2023, but in an entertaining new Mixmag feature, he goes even further, talking to journalist Michael McKinney about his early days producing hip-hop, last year’s drill- and garage-heavy Identity Crisis LP and why he never wants to get stuck in the “techno gutter.”
Saint Etienne is calling it quits. That news has actually been circulating for a few months, but with International—the beloved UK outfit’s 13th and supposedly final album—scheduled to drop tomorrow, the band is about to officially leave the stage for good. Before that, however, the trio spoke with writer Jude Rogers for a new installment of The Quietus’ The Strange World of… series, revisiting 10 key releases from their 35-year career. (And yes, they explain how Andrew Weatherall wound up remixing their seminal version of “Only Love Can Break Your Heart.”)
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.
When Carrier was interviewed by First Floor back in April, the Belgium-based British artist mentioned that he was in the middle of finishing a full-length album, and apparently he completed it, as details of that LP were officially unveiled earlier this week. Entitled Rhythm Immortal, it features contributions from Voice Actor and Memotone, and is slated for an October 24 release on the Modern Love label. One track from the record, “Wave After Wave,” has already been shared via various streaming platforms, while the complete album is currently on presale at Boomkat.
After teasing a return to his ambient-leaning Car Culture alias with June’s excellent Nothingburger EP, Daniel Fisher (a.k.a. Physical Therapy) has today shared the news that a full album is on the way. Rest Here includes contributions from Patrick Holland, Priori, J. Albert and others, and it’s scheduled to drop on October 9 via the naff imprint. In the meantime, the LP’s title track has been made available, along with the songs “Nothingburger” and “Coping Mechanism,” which previously appeared on the aforementioned Nothingburger EP.
Fifteen years have passed since Blawan released his debut record, and though he’s built up a rather sizable discography since then, he’s never released a proper solo album. That will soon change, however, as he this week announced the forthcoming arrival of SickElixir, a full-length effort that’s said to channel “grief, family trauma and seismic life shifts.” XL will be issuing the record on October 10, but the song “NOS” is available now.
Fueled by a desire to return to the more rhythmic feel of her 2018 debut album, Ultraviolet, Kelly Moran has prepped a new LP called Don’t Trust Mirrors. Described as “10 tracks of magnificent timbral refractions,” it relies heavily on synths and prepared piano, and will be released digitally on October 1 via Warp Records. (A physical version will follow at some as-yet-unannounced future date.) Ahead of that, the NYC-based pianist and composer has already shared the song “Echo in the Field,” along with its accompanying video, for which she collaborated with a choreographer so that she could do a bit of on-camera dancing.
Having tried his hand at proper “songs” (with an assist from Thom Yorke) on 2023’s Sus Dog and Cave Dog albums, UK veteran Clark is apparently getting back to his more rave-oriented roots on the upcoming Steep Stims. Announced this week and due to arrive on November 7 through his own Throttle imprint, the LP is something of a throwback to the days when samplers had limited memory and dance music was often made in a hurry. One track from the record, “Blowtorch Thimble,” is available now.
Tim Reaper has never been shy about collaborating, and the UK junglist—who was interviewed by First Floor last year—has teamed up with fellow Londoners Mantra and Decibella for a new EP on the FABRICLIVE label. It’s actually the trio’s second go-round, as they worked together on 2023’s FR016 for Reaper’s Future Retro London imprint. The new EP is called Sage, and though it won’t officially land until October 17, a stream of opening track “Charades” has already been shared.
Doc Sleep has a new record on the way, her first for the long-running dolly imprint. Billed as a “hot house bomb,” it’s entitled Small Rituals, and includes remixes from both label founder Steffi and DJ AGITATED. Ahead of its September 19 release, more info about the record can be found here, and preview clips of all four of its tracks can be heard here.
Bass fiends will always scramble to hear new music from The Bug, and last week he linked up with like-minded low-end specialist Ghosts Dubs on a split release called Imploded Versions. The record is said to showcase a new strain of dub, one that’s “darkly hypnotic, punishingly physical and utterly addictive for zonal headz and Babylon seekers alike,” and it’s available now through The Bug’s own Pressure label.
Wata Igarashi and Polygonia are two of techno’s most innovative talents, and they’ve joined forces on a forthcoming EP. Set to arrive on October 6 via Dutch outpost Reclaim Your City, the four-track Cross Passage includes one original from each artist, along with two collaborative numbers. The second of those collaborations, “Fibre Axis,” has already been shared.
RAMONPANG 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 RamonPang, a Filipino-American DJ and producer who makes his home in Los Angeles. Co-founder of the Tabula Rasa Record Company—which he insists is not a record label, but “an art project currently in the shape of a dance music label”—Pang enthusiastically bridges the EDM-IDM divide, as eager to discover new music as he is to share knowledge with others. Much of that sharing happens online, where Pang has built up an impressive following with his short-form videos about everything from the legacy of Joy Orbison’s “Hyph Mngo” to the connection between The Powerpuff Girls and breakbeat culture. Yet it’s his own music that Pang is most passionate about, and his rapidly growing catalog already includes three full-lengths (Nature System, Third Places and Life Cycle Waves). His most recent release, however, is last month’s The Answer Breaks EP, a record that, much like the track he’s recommended below, owes a sizable debt to IDM.
Tom Hall “syntax anomaly” (Sonoptik)
For me, the most compelling “IDM” (a historically loaded term) is both cerebral and physical, and MaxMSP wizard Tom Hall is a master of that synthesis. He avoids the tempting pitfall of complexity for its own sake, instead infusing his experimental structures with an oily, robotic funk that’s rooted in the rhythmic pockets of modern dance music. His work has that same forward-thinking spirit that first drew me to artists like late-period Autechre, Aphex Twin and Dwaallicht, and his latest album, Trip Computer, is a fantastic expression of that experimental music tightrope. I’m specifically recommending “syntax anomaly” from that record because, on top of all that transient-laden intricacy, it delivers a powerful dose of pure, melodic euphoria with its plucky synth motif.
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.
buttechno “grey dungeons” (Psy X)
Pavel Milyakov has spent much of 2025 in the murk, opening the year with the dubby haze of HEAL—a joint effort with Lucas Dupuy—and then being hit with the unexpected passing of his close friend and longtime collaborator Yana Pavlova. By his own admission, her death has thrown the Berlin-based artist into bouts of severe depression and anxiety, yet he’s found a way to forge ahead, returning to both his buttechno alias and the dancefloor on the new X-berg dubs EP. True to its title, the record swaddles its contents in reverb, and while much of the release is devoted to a springy strain of dub techno, closing number “grey dungeons” is a technicolor slice of jungle. Built atop lively breakbeats and peppered with snippets of a cooing diva, the track taps into a litany of classic ’90s formulas, but its fluttering synths provide enough digital sparkle to ensure that the song is more than just another retro retread.
Submerse & Fluid Haunts “Do It Again” (Hooversound)
Though it opens with a beat that sounds like it was lifted from an ’80s hip-hop cut, “Do It Again”—the first track on Submerse & Fluid Haunts’ eponymous new EP—quickly reveals itself as a rowdy jungle ripper. Armed with a pitch-shifted vocal refrain (which provides the song’s title), some rambunctious drums and a sledgehammer-like bassline, the long-distance duo—Submerse makes his home in Tokyo, while Fluid Haunts hails from New Zealand—have crafted something that’s both heavy and a bit delirious. Borrowing from the freewheeling spirit of hardcore, “Do It Again” may have been made to slap ravers around a bit, but it’ll also leave them with a big fat smile on their face.
L own “Kindred Spirit” (Western Lore)
What would it have sounded like if the Happy Mondays had made a breakbeat techno record? “Kindred Spirit” is one possible answer, though the track admittedly contains nothing like Shaun Ryder’s half-slurred crooning, and there’s no sign of Bez going apeshit with a maraca either. Still, the song—which highlights L own’s new Daybreak Survivors Pt.1—is deeply ’90s-coded, its wailing diva clips, wafting saxophone riffs and life-affirming organ riffs channeling some of Madchester’s psychedelic spirit. It’s a vibrant tune, and an insistent one, but even during the song’s most chaotic moments, L own opts for bliss over aggression, inviting listeners to close their eyes and go along for the ride.
Konalgad “Gazelle (Tube Version)” (Self-released)
Earlier this year, Konalgad filled his debut album, Club Dream, with smudgy textures and subterranean, techno-adjacent grooves. His follow-up, Gazelle, explores much brighter territory, taking heavy inspiration from the brightly colored trance that soundtracked the French producer’s formative years. That said, the EP—which is currently available as a name-your-price download on Bandcamp—isn’t the work of someone doing their best Armin Van Buuren impression. Konalgad has ramped up the tempo, and by moving at a pace that’s more associated with drum & bass than trance, he’s infused his tracks with a sense of tripped-out mania. The standout “Gazelle (Tube Version)” bounds along like a jackrabbit, yet it also feels deeply psychedelic, as though its frantic rhythms and bassy wobbles are more concerned with cracking open the subconscious than stirring up the dancefloor.
Sub Basics “Radius” (Animalia)
Like most dance music, “Radius” could accurately be described as nocturnal, but the song—which closes out UK producer Sub Basics’ new Wavelengths EP—is a lot closer to a midnight walk through a forest than a marathon session at the club. A bass-techno hybrid that’s reminiscent of artists like Konduku, or even the more meditative end of the Livity Sound catalog, there’s something strangely organic about the track, as though every nook and cranny is teeming with unseen critters and scuttling creepy-crawlies. In other words, “Radius” is a little spooky, but it also exudes a kind of calm beauty, a quality enhanced by the dusting of reverb that Sub Basics has applied to his wispy melodies and off-kilter drum patterns.
Rosarito ½ “Fuego para tocar” (Portal Sur)
A meditation on life and death, Rosarito ½’s new Luz que sabe morir album wrestles with some of the biggest questions humans have ever asked. The Colombian artist doesn’t necessarily provide concrete answers—or at least not any answers that can easily be deciphered from the record’s late-night beats and warbling ambient excursions—but he has created a rather mesmerizing soundtrack for pondering the mysteries of existence. The kaleidoscopic “Fuego para tocar” is a definite highlight; combining Mo’ Wax-reminiscent boom-bap with Boards of Canada-style psychedelia, the song hypnotically trundles along, its soft-focus, static-tinged melodies infused with an almost childlike sense of wonder.
secret third thing “Golden Arches” (Self-released)
Although the name secret third thing implies a certain level of shyness, the ever-versatile J. Albert seems newly determined to bring the loosely rock-oriented project out of the shadows, having released three new singles during the past few weeks. In truth, calling them “singles” might be generous; with a runtime of only 89 seconds, “Golden Arches” might be better described as a sketch. But what a sketch it is! The NYC-based artist—who, it must be said, is responsible for some of the best dubbed-out minimal and wonky beat science of the past few years—has a long history of experimenting with sounds that have little to do with the dancefloor, but here, he basically leaves the entire electronic realm behind, offering up a jaunty bit of lo-fi indie rock instead.
Bands like Pinback come to mind, as do the more minimalist variants of ’80s post-punk, and even though the fuzzy-voiced “Golden Arches” could easily be mistaken for an old four-track demo, it still manages to squeeze in some very potent pop hooks. Subtle and understated, it sounds more like a Y2K-era Pitchfork fave than the work of someone swinging for the Top 40, but it also makes clear that J. Albert is someone who can make magic happen with just a microphone and a guitar.
Angela Winter “erthe” (Past Inside the Present)
Considering that Angela Winter’s new Forbidden Questions in Space album is partially inspired by koans—which are unsolvable riddles or anecdotes that Buddhists use as a meditation tool—it’s somehow fitting the record’s contents seem to levitate above the ground, even as they convey a palpable sense of emotional weight. Delving into a drone-heavy strain of ambient, the North Carolina-based artist will inevitably draw comparisons to Enya, but Winter’s music is both darker and more introspective, most notably during the mesmerizing eight-plus minutes of slow-brewing LP opener “erte.” Elegantly gliding atop the low rumble of the song’s underlying thunderclouds, her voice takes on an almost ceremonial quality, as though she’s summoning an ancient force that’s better suited to help her make sense of the universe.
Galya Bisengalieva “Degelen (Kevin Richard Martin Reflection)” (One Little Independent)
Featuring remixes from The Bug, KMRU, Alva Noto, Aïsha Devi, Hinako Omori, Lucy Liyou and others, Polygon Reflections is a veritable all-star affair. Ironically though, the most captivating rework of Kazakh composer Galya Bisengalieva is the one that doesn’t appear on the vinyl version of the record. Kevin Richard Martin—for the uninitiated, that’s the birth name of The Bug, and also the alias he uses for his more ambient-inclined adventures—doesn’t radically alter the idyllic swirl of the original “Degelen,” but he does bring a little more tension to the proceedings, thickening up the song’s static-laden fog and employing the persistent chug of a plodding kick drum. What results is a kind of slow-motion ambient techno, and while its winding currents never actually slam into any rocks, Martin has sprinkled in just enough darkness to prevent those listening from getting too comfortable.
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.