First Floor #294 – Making Some Changes
Kicking off the new year with a few tweaks to the newsletter's format, plus a round-up of the latest electronic music news and a fresh slate of recommended new releases.
Happy new year, and I hope you had a restful (or at least somewhat pleasant) holiday season. I have to admit that I very much enjoyed not being glued to my inbox and social media during the past few weeks, but now that the calendar has flipped to 2026, First Floor is back, and I have a little bit of news to share:
There are going to be some changes around here.
During the past six-plus years, the newsletter has effectively been a one-man operation, and while I’ve taken a certain pride in that, the audience—and, if I’m being honest, the workload—has grown to a point where that’s no longer sustainable. Writing, editing and publishing upwards of 5000 words (or more) each week is borderline madness, and when all of the research and other behind-the-scenes stuff is factored in, not to mention the time spent searching and listening to new music, it becomes extremely difficult to maintain both the pace and the quality of the content.
A saner person might recognize that and decide to scale things back, but from where I’m sitting, the comprehensive nature of First Floor is a big part of what makes it a valuable resource. So rather than slowing down, I’ve decided to recruit a little help, in the form of other writers. In the weeks and months ahead, you’re going to start seeing some other bylines popping up in the newsletter, mostly in the write-ups about new releases, but also with the occasional long-form contribution as well. (And yes, they are all going to be paid for their work.)
To be clear, my voice is still going to be the primary one around here, and my editorial vision will continue to guide the rest of the publication, but there are a lot of excellent writers out there, and I’m excited to see what they can bring to First Floor.The newsletter has always devoted a lot of real estate to new music recommendations, but those recommendations have up until now been focused on highlighting standout tracks from the latest releases. That approach originally stemmed from First Floor’s beginnings as a radio show (a medium where selecting individual tracks is required), but as the years have gone on, it’s increasingly felt like a strange way to talk about new releases—and one that unfortunately adds to the mass decontextualization of music that the streaming and social media era has ushered in.
Simply put, I don’t want to focus on single tracks anymore—unless something is specifically released as a standalone single, that is. Artists and labels work hard to put together albums, EPs, 12-inches and a bunch of other formats, and I want to respect that by shining a light on the complete works that I like the best. And in an effort to make that light even brighter, I’ve created a new section of the newsletter, Recommended Releases, where each release write-up is given its own individual post. This section will be continually updated throughout the week, but those who don’t wish to make a habit of visiting the First Floor site on a daily basis don’t need to worry: a round-up of the latest recommendations (which includes brief excerpts of all the accompanying write-ups) will continue to appear in the weekly Thursday digest.Speaking of the Thursday digests, there’s no denying that they have become incredibly long, to a point where they are often too big to fit in a standard email. As a result, I know that even the most dedicated First Floor readers often end up skimming, skipping over or outright missing some of the content, which somewhat defeats the purpose of putting together the digest in the first place. Again, a saner person would address this by simply cutting back, but I’m going in a different direction. Namely, I’m going to take the weekly guest recommendations (i.e. the “Better Taste Than I Do” section, which is routinely one of the newsletter’s most popular features) and start publishing them on Wednesdays as their own dedicated mailouts. The way I figure it, if someone whose work I respect is going to be kind enough to put together a special guest recommendation for me, they shouldn’t be lost in the shuffle of a massive digest—they deserve the audience’s full attention.
That’s about it. I should stress that for most readers, the First Floor experience isn’t going to seem all that different. It’s possible that some additional tweaks and fine-tuning will be needed in the months ahead, but in the meantime, please feel free to drop me a line and let me know what you think, regardless of whether the feedback it’s good or bad. (I’m also open to suggestions about additional changes—this thing is very much a work in progress.)
Otherwise, let’s dig into today’s digest. Although electronic music did slow down somewhat over the holidays, the past three weeks weren’t exactly quiet. Read on and you’ll find a healthy batch of news items, new release announcements, suggested reading links and the aforementioned round-up of this week’s recommended releases.
Let’s get started.
WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING
A round-up of the most interesting electronic music news from the past few weeks, plus links to interviews, articles and other things I think are worth sharing.
After years of decrying generative AI platforms as an existential threat to the industry and hubs of mass theft, the majors pulled a sudden about face last year, and that has continued in earnest in recent weeks, with Universal Music Group (a.k.a. the largest label in the world) leading the way. In December, UMG announced that it had teamed up with Splice to “collaborate on joint exploration of the next generation of AI-powered music creation tools,” and this week it unveiled a new agreement with chipmaking giant Nvidia to “pioneer responsible AI for music discovery, creation and engagement.” The announcements are littered with pledges to “respect intellectual property,” “fairly compensate creators” and “leverage AI in order to protect artists’ work and ensure proper attribution of music-based content,” but given the lack of concrete details about what tools and systems these agreements will spawn, or how those things will actually work, all of the promises made should probably be taken with a very large grain of salt.
Spotify’s already shaky reputation took another hit last month when online activist group Anna’s Archive announced that it had “backed up” approximately 86 million tracks from the streaming platform, along with 256 million rows of track metadata. Claiming that these songs represent 99.6% of the listens on Spotify, Anna’s Archive says that it intends to create a “preservation archive,” which will be accessible to the public via torrents. In response, the streaming company told press outlets like Music Ally and The Guardian that the files had been obtained via “unlawful scraping,” and said that in an effort to stand against piracy, it had “implemented new safeguards for these types of anti-copyright attacks and [would be] actively monitoring for suspicious behaviour.” In the meantime, however, Anna’s Archive hasn’t cancelled its stated plan to release the tracks into the world, though the group’s exact timeline has not yet been revealed.
Speaking of blatant copyright violations, Resident Advisor’s Michael Lawson put together an eye-opening investigative report on Revibed, an online music shop where users can crowdfund the purchase of a rare release, which is then copied and digitally distributed to those who donated before the music is subsequently made available for purchase via the site’s public store. There’s just one problem: Revibed doesn’t actually have permission to be doing this, and one of its co-founders, Anton Khodos, admitted to RA that they are operating in a legal “grey zone,” though he justifying the company’s actions by saying that relatively few artists have so far complained about their work being distributed in this manner.
Conversations around the current health of nightlife are almost uniformly negative in tone, and while there are unquestionably plenty of numbers to back up that sentiment, a thought-provoking new article by writer Ed Gillett in The Quietus considers whether the relentless drumbeat of dire proclamations A) obscures positive developments in the culture and B) ultimately makes things harder for those working to keep the industry going. By design, the piece is specifically focused on the UK, but many of its takeaways could be applied elsewhere, particularly when it comes to the way that social media shapes public perception, and how negative vibes, despite their seeming intangibility, can have a very real economic and political effect.
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 few weeks.
Shackleton has a new album on the way. Entitled Euphoria Bound, it’s actually a double album from the veteran UK artist, who describes the record’s trajectory as “the irresistible pull towards dissolution, the gradual erasure of memory, the self rendered irretrievable.” AD 93 will be issuing the full LP on January 30, but in the meantime, the song “Crushing Realities” has already been made available.
A few days before Christmas, Martyn returned to his Gabe & Jude alias and offered up a new self-released single called “Super Psy Bolt >>>>>.” Available now, it’s been released with just a single line of cryptic text, which states, “The defining element that distinguishes the original from the copy is the untouchable expression of human emotion.”
Speaking of surprise holiday singles, the anonymous ambient / experimental artist Romance resurfaced late last month with “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” Given the project’s penchant for sampling and distorting pop divas, it’s possible that the song is a reworking of the famed Mariah Carey tune of the same name, but all that can be said for sure is that the track is currently available as a name-your-price download on Bandcamp.
Continuing his custom of wrapping up each year with a brand-new album, Anthony Rother dropped EXIT UTOPIA a few weeks back. It’s out now on the German artist’s own 3MULATOR BOY imprint, which he says is an outlet for exploring the “technobeat-electro style.”
Adding to his growing library of television and movie soundtracks, Clark has shared the score he created for We Bury the Dead, which he describes as an “Australian arthouse zombie film.” Made in Perth over the course of three days while sitting with the director, watching the film on repeat and composing live, the complete score is available now on Clark’s own Throttle label.
Bruce has completed a new mini-LP, four more then four, and true to its title, it contains four new originals along with four remixes by the likes of Untold, re:ni, fka boursin and dj_2button. The full package is slated to arrive on February 6 via the Bristol mainstay’s own Poorly Knit imprint, but in the meantime, he’s already shared Untold’s “Mirabelle Mix” of the song “Dham’s Jam.”
Kenyan bass music polymorph Slikback has launched his own label, Xternal Domain, and he officially kicked it off with a trio of releases: Exposed Functional Elements from No Author x 2wrist, Silviculture by MedianWage and Smelting by worse. All three are currently available as name-your-price downloads on Bandcamp.
RECOMMENDED RELEASES
The following is a summary of First Floor’s favorite new releases that came out during the past few weeks. Each one has been published with a brief excerpt of the accompanying write-up; to view the full text for an individual release (and listen to the actual music), click the “Read More” link, or you can also just head over to this convenient Buy Music Club list if you prefer to listen to all of the selections in one place.
Al Wootton - Glorias (Lith Dolina)
Utilizing both field recordings of the Spanish countryside and samples of Spanish composers who were exiled in the aftermath of the war, Glorias carries an obvious historical and psychic weight, yet the music veers away from the UK producer’s usual dark and dubby meditations. [READ MORE]
Vladimir Dubyshkin – jane doe’s secret (trip)
In a time when most tastemaker types are excitedly extolling the cloudy murk of dub techno and true-school classicists continue to bring a stone-faced seriousness to the genre, a vibrant album like Vladimir Dubyshkin’s jane doe’s secret provides a refreshing blast of color. [READ MORE]
Placid Angles - A Detroit Summer (Kalahari Oyster Cult)
As Placid Angles, he takes a decidedly melody-driven approach to techno, and A Detroit Summer—his debut for the trendy Kalahari Oyster Cult imprint—offers up a variety of flavors, from the slow-motion psychedelia of “Who We Are” to the symphonic synths of “That Feeling Again.” [READ MORE]
Baltra - In the Afterglow (96 and Forever)
The record is deeply rooted in the UK hardcore continuum, and the post-dubstep sounds of the late 2000s and early 2010s in particular (e.g. shuffling garage rhythms, wobbly basslines, cooing R&B vocal snippets), but Baltra has found a way to distill those sounds into potent, pop-adjacent nuggets that feel as vibrant on the 12th listen as they do on the first. [READ MORE]
Martinou - Always There (Nous’klaer)
Though it’s not specifically being sold as tech house or prog—the Nous’klaer label has opted for “dream-inducing dance tracks”—its patient drums and shimmering synths evoke memories of early James Holden and the cosmic ’90s journeys piloted by Sasha & Digweed. [READ MORE]
Christina Vantzou, John Also Bennett and Oliver Coates – Death, Reverb and Decay (Editions Basilic)
The piece is a patient and relatively sparse lament, one in which Bennett’s bass flute and Coates’ cello engage in an elegant back-and-forth atop Vantzou’s looming drones. [READ MORE]
That brings us to the end of today’s First Floor digest. Thank you so much for reading the newsletter, and remember, you can find all of this week’s recommended releases on this handy Buy Music Club list. (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.