First Floor #310 – Reckoning with Rave Tourism
The Pyramids and other heritage sites have become high-priced party destinations, plus a round-up of the latest electronic music news and a fresh slate of recommended new releases.
Tomorrow is Bandcamp Friday. I don’t even particularly like Bandcamp Friday—First Floor readers may remember that I devoted an entire essay to the question of whether it should be retired back in 2022—and I’m already dreading the inevitable onslaught of new release emails that will be flooding my inbox over the next day or so.
All that said, if you’re going to spend some money on Bandcamp tomorrow, or anytime throughout the weekend, I’d suggest that you direct it toward one of the 30+ labels who’ve banded together to raise money for those who’ve been displaced by Israel’s continuing assault on Lebanon. (Alternately, if you’d rather just make a direct donation, you can do that here.)
Don’t let the current ceasefire fool you. Israel is still attacking targets in Lebanon and occupying a large swath of the country’s southern territory, and a full-blown humanitarian crisis has taken hold, with more than 1 million people having been forced out of their homes. In other words, not much has changed since I first wrote about Lebanon and its experimental music scene a few weeks ago, but for those wanting to hear from someone on the ground, check out this brief video from Lebanese musician Julia Sabra (who’s affiliated with Tunefork Studios and is also a member of the bands Snakeskin and Postcards).
While the fundraiser is underway, the participating labels will donate their entire portion of Bandcamp sales to Beit Aam, a Beirut-based organization that usually provides support for arts organizations in the wider MENA region, but during the war has pivoted to helping those who’ve been displaced by the conflict. (A detailed report of how Beit Aam spent the donations it received during March can be found here.)
Considering how little attention has been given to what’s happening in Lebanon, even in supposedly progressive independent music circles, a fundraiser like this one does at least feel like a step in the right direction. Yet when it comes to the Middle East, the music world still has a fairly horrendous track record, and one specific piece of that track record was highlighted in an article that First Floor published earlier this week.
Written by April Clare Welsh, the article examines the growing tide of large-scale electronic music events that have been happening at the Pyramids in recent years. Talking to a string of Egyptian archaeologists, activists and artists, she highlights how these events not only pose a very real threat to one of the world’s most celebrated historical sites, but also fit into a larger global trend of heritage sites being transformed into party destinations for monied Westerners.
It’s a sobering piece, and you can find a link to it below. (And yes, the paywall has been removed—temporarily.) Keep on scrolling, and you’ll also find the rest of today’s First Floor digest, which attempts to sum up all of the most important happenings from the always-hectic world of electronic music. There’s a full complement of news items, new release announcements and suggested reading links, along with a fresh crop of recommended new releases.
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 article about the increasing volume of large-scale “raves” happening at the famed Pyramids of Giza in Egypt. Highly commercial and far too expensive for most locals to enjoy, these events are part of a troubling global trend, and beg the question of who—if anyone—has the right to party at the world’s heritage sites.
WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING
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.
Although First Floor has done its best to steer clear of all Geese-related discourse, the recent hubbub around the indie band’s clandestine marketing techniques has been virtually impossible to ignore. And while debating whether those techniques constitute a “psy-op” has made for good algorithm fodder, what’s far more interesting is how that conversation has shined a light on the way that marketing campaigns, even in the “indie” realm, have evolved in an era where the traditional music press has remarkably little influence and the public is instead relying primarily on social media and streaming platforms to discover new music. In a compelling new feature for The Guardian, writer Shaad D’Souza takes a detailed look at the current music marketing landscape, which is not only rife with fake fans, paid influencers and artificial narratives that have been designed to go viral, but opportunistic firms who claim to know the secret to cracking the algorithm. Whether those firms’ techniques actually work is far from clear, but as D’Souza points out, that hasn’t stopped artists and labels from spending big in hopes that they do.
Speaking of inescapable discourse, conversations about AI are currently happening all over the music ecosystem. That’s fine for tech nerds and people who obsessively read every headline that pops up on Music Business Worldwide, but Pitchfork, smartly realizing that a lot of the listening public probably has only a vague handle on the music AI landscape and its major players, has this week published a rather handy “Idiot’s Guide to Music AI Companies.” Written by Hattie Lindert, it provides an entry-level overview of the key platforms, touching on who they are, what they do and, crucially, what other labels and companies they’ve struck deals with (or, alternately, are being sued by).
Universal Music Group, which is still considering a recent $64 billion takeover bid from American hedge fund Pershing Square, announced yesterday that it will be selling 50% of its stake in Spotify for $1.4 billion. The company plans to use the proceeds to help fund its ongoing share buyback plan, which was launched a few weeks back in an effort to boost what UMG sees as its undervalued stock price.
Corporate consolidation has effectively become a permanent feature of the music industry, and it continued this week with the announcement of a merger between conglomerates BMG and Concord. The news has prompted some to tout the joint entity as a new major label, and though that might be overselling it, the new venture will be the industry’s fourth-largest music company, and is already marketing itself as the largest “independent music company in the world.”
As a general rule, First Floor doesn’t spend a lot of time talking about reissues, but I was very happy to see a deep dive into Marc LeClair’s Musique pour 3 femmes enceintes on Stephan Kunze’s zensounds newsletter. With the 2005 ambient techno LP resurfacing this week as a joint release between In Sheep’s Clothing Hi-Fi and Community Music, Kunze detailed the album’s slow-burning trajectory, and also had a conversation with LeClair (who’s better known for his work as Akufen), getting the skinny on what inspired the record, along with how exactly he made it.
When it comes to ’80s dance music, pretty much everyone is familiar with new wave, but what do you know about new beat? In a new guide for Bandcamp Daily, Andy Thomas recounts the history of this distinctly Belgian sound, highlighting the genre’s origins—it involved intentionally playing records at the wrong speed—along with many of the artists, labels and clubs who pioneered the music and then spread it around the world.
This isn’t exactly news, but a First Floor reader tipped me off to a recent announcement by Dancecult, which describes itself as a journal of electronic music and dance culture. With a new edition being planned for 2027, the journal’s editors have put out an open call for submissions, asking writers to send in pitches for ideas that “expand and deepen scholarly discussion of the DJ set.” That discussion can take all sorts of different forms—and Dancecult has listed a number of potential themes, just to get the ball rolling—but anyone who’s interested should check the announcement for more details and take note that the deadline for proposed contributions is June 1.
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.
After years of sitting on the sidelines, Daft Punk co-founder Thomas Bangalter has thrown himself back into the music world during the past few years, and he’ll soon be releasing a new album. Continuing his forays into the world of fine arts, the upcoming MIRAGE - Ballet for 16 Dancers was originally made for a dance performance which debuted last year at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, and it’s said to be rooted in the lineage of experimental composer Iannis Xenakis. The LP is slated for a June 5 release via Warner Classics, but a nearly 10-minute excerpt of the record, “Mirage: Part II,” has already been shared.
The self-titled debut album from Verses GT (a.k.a. the duo of Nosaj Thing and Jacques Greene) dropped last September, but the dynamic duo didn’t wait long to follow it up with new material. Earlier this week, the pair reappeared on the LuckyMe imprint with a new double single, Devoted / Curve. More explicitly focused on the dancefloor than last year’s LP, both tracks are out now.
Hodge has a new two-tracker on the way. Wiggler / Trust is said to be the first installment of “a lot” of new music that the Bristol mainstay will be releasing on the Local Action label this year, and while it won’t be available in full until May 8, the song “Wiggler” has already been shared.
Keeping things in the UK, veteran bassbin-rattler Special Request last week offered up a surprise new record. Available now and entitled Uncanny Valley, it’s his first appearance on Batu’s Timedance label, and it includes remixes from gyrofield and Metrist.
Modular synth explorer M. Geddes Gengras has completed a new full-length, one in which he expands his practice and takes on a sort of bandleader role, collaborating with artists like Greg Fox, Peak Oil founder Brian Foote, WANDA GROUP, Otto Hauser, Colin Blanton, John Thayer, Meg Duffy, Zach Koeber, Ben Chasny and a litany of others. Guest List is the name of the LP, and while Hausu Mountain will be issuing the record on June 26, one track from the record, “The List Is Millions Long,” has already been made available.
Continuing a burst of activity that began with his breakthrough 2021 soundtrack for Candyman, Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe will soon be releasing a new album, Manifestations in the Shadow of an Unknown Land. Billed as “a meditation on memory, power, and perception,” with a specific focus on the “lived experiences of bodies and minds navigating the ambient violence of imperial structures,” the LP is due to land on June 12 via Kou Records, but ahead of that, the track “The Colony” has been shared.
RECOMMENDED RELEASES
The following is a summary of First Floor’s favorite new releases that came out during the past week. Each one has been published with a brief excerpt of the accompanying write-up; to view the full text (and hear the actual music) for an individual release, click the “Listen + Read the Full Write-Up” 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.
Wax – 11110 (Wax)
… The latest Wax offering, 11110, is similarly excellent, and it includes two slices of hazy, late-night dance music that manage to feel lush without ever seeming extravagant. [LISTEN + READ THE FULL WRITE-UP]
Sully – Model Collapse Remix / Proof (FABRICLIVE.)
… In recent years, the notion that Sully is one of the top jungle producers in the world has become commonplace, but with the UK veteran continuing to deliver slapper after slapper, maybe the time has come to declare that he’s simply one of the best producers in the world, period. [LISTEN + READ THE FULL WRITE-UP]
ZULI – The Screaming Abdabs (irsh)
… This time around, he’s pushed his rhythms to their absolute breaking point. Every static-encrusted drum hit on The Screaming Abdabs lands with an oddly satisfying digital crunch, and does so amid a sea of similarly misshapen melodies and vocal fragments. [LISTEN + READ THE FULL WRITE-UP]
Charbel Haber – May a soft sun bless your sky while you wait for the inevitable (Ruptured)
… It an ambient record, yes, and one which unfolds at a deliciously slow pace, but Haber has a clear majestic streak, filling his compositions with (tastefully) sparkling melodic drones and what feels like an almost devotional sense of reverence and calm. [LISTEN + READ THE FULL WRITE-UP]
Sentomea – Wonderment (M>O>S)
… The Wonderment EP is more than just a new record; it’s a return to the arena, and based on its contents, Sentomea’s skills haven’t slipped in the slightest during his extended break from dance music’s daily grind. [LISTEN + READ THE FULL WRITE-UP]
Juli Deák – Brisk (Thanatosis)
… As much as Brisk is heavily rooted in technique, Deák blows right past the stuffy trappings of classical music, exuding a palpable sense of freedom as her light-filled compositions evoke thoughts not of formal symphony halls, but verdant gardens and flocks of birds dipping and darting through cloudless azure skies. [LISTEN + READ THE FULL WRITE-UP]
Appleblim – Neolithic Neon (Sneaker Social Club)
… Even during the Skull Disco days, his music was never just one thing, and while his latest full-length is more interested in celestial luminescence than apocalyptic doom, its various twists and turns are all part of a potent and cohesive whole. [LISTEN + READ THE FULL WRITE-UP]
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
First Floor is published and overseen by Shawn Reynaldo, 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 other potential opportunities.