First Floor #311 – Shamelessness As a Marketing Strategy
Music discourse is focused less and less on actual music, plus a round-up of the latest electronic music news and a fresh bundle of recommended new releases.
I can’t promise that I will never mention Geese again in the newsletter, but believe me when I say that I really, really didn’t want to talk about them, even when the story initially broke about the shiesty marketing outfit they’d hired to promote their music. As much as First Floor is ostensibly in the “takes” business, the idea of weighing in on every single bit of discourse—especially when that discourse revolves around the cultural mainstream—has never been interesting to me. One of the nice things about having a newsletter is that I can write about whatever I want, so why would I want to discuss the exact same topics that everyone else is already talking about? I get why people do it—the algorithm most definitely rewards that sort of behavior—but as a general rule, I’d rather leave it to others to chase the zeitgeist.
Having said all that, I did admittedly touch upon what I’ve seen others refer to as Geese-gate in an essay I published earlier this week. (Sorry about that.) That essay—which honestly spends very little time discussing the band or their marketing tactics—focuses on the way that music discourse has shifted in recent years, increasingly moving away from traditional editorial (e.g. reviews, artists interviews, etc.) and instead offering a veritable tidal wave of deep dives and think pieces about the inner workings of the industry and the general state of the culture. There are plenty of reasons why that’s happening—and yes, those reasons are explored in more detail in the essay—but at least some of it can be chalked up to just how brazen the industry’s bad behavior and extractive practices have become.
To return to Gesse (briefly, I swear), one of the most interesting things about the whole controversy is that is essentially stemmed from a podcast interview, recorded at this year’s SXSW, in which marketing company Chaotic Good not only talked to Billboard’s On the Record, but openly touted their “trend simulation” tactics. Shamelessness, it seems has become a standard part of the music business, and it was even more apparent in last week’s On the Record episode, in which Luana Lopes Lara, the co-founder of Kalshi and a literal billionaire, spends an hour explaining why prediction markets are supposedly a great—not to mention profitable—new addition to contemporary music culture. Along the way, she makes sure to assert that prediction markets are not a form of betting (the only problem is, they most definitely are) and also sprinkles in a few user success stories, including that of a public school teacher who got himself out of student loan debt by leveraging his “expertise” on all things Ariana Grande. (Stories of other users losing their shirts via the Kalshi platform were, crucially, not part of her narrative.)
While the music industry has always been full of ghouls, they at least used to make an effort to obscure their predatory behavior. Now they go on podcasts, broadcasting to the world just how profitable amorality can be. With folks like this assuming more and more control over the music realm, and the general public seemingly unable (or uninterested) in doing much of anything about it, is it really any wonder that music discourse is so full of gloomy prognostication and “the sky is falling” rhetoric?
Again, you can find some more of that rhetoric in my aforementioned essay. There’s a link to that below—and yes, the paywall is temporarily down—and if you keep on scrolling, you’ll find the rest of today’s First Floor digest, which I promise is a (mostly) Geese-free zone. For all of my handwringing about the big picture, electronic music remains the newsletter’s primary beat, and I’ve once again assembled a round-up of news items, new release announcements and suggested reading links for your perusal. And for those of you who simply want some good new music to listen to, First Floor has also got you covered, as you’ll find a fresh batch of recommended releases to dig through.
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 which surveys the current landscape for music discourse. With more and more writers and comment creators zeroing in on music industry machinations and examining the culture through a wider economic / political / social lens, the piece takes stock of who’s doing the talking, and why the conversation has shifted so dramatically.
FIRST FLOOR ON DUBLAB BCN
Regular readers likely already know that First Floor has a monthly radio show on dublab BCN, and my most recent episode was broadcast live last week. Those who missed it, however, can now listen back at their leisure, as the show has now been archived—with a complete tracklist—on both the dublab website and Mixcloud. As always, the show featured an hour of new-ish electronic music, including tracks from artists like Xylitol, Tristan Arp, MJ Guider, ex_libris, Pan-American and many others that have previously appeared here in the newsletter.
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.
Aside from being a talented writer and editor, Matthew Schnipper is someone who’s never been afraid to put himself into the narrative, and he’s done it in a particularly hilarious fashion in the latest dispatch from his Deep Voices newsletter. In it, he describes a recent experience where he got up on a weekend morning, played with his daughter for a bit and then popped over to a hedonistic warehouse rave that was happening in his neighborhood. It’s something of a classic “fish out of water” tale, but as a fellow geriatric raver, I was very amused by observations like this: “Everyone at this event was wearing barely any clothes, and what clothes they did have on were made of little strips of leather, wisps of shirts, hints of underwear. I was wearing corduroy pants.”
Speaking of hilarious reads, BUTT magazine published a very NSFW interview with Ashland Mines, the artist formerly known as Total Freedom who these days goes by the name Bobby Beethoven. In it, he talks about his life as a touring DJ, making no effort to sugarcoat how ridiculous it can often be, but he also opens up about his other profession as a sex worker, a job that comes with its own set of unusual dynamics. Along the way, he also shares tidbits of his upbringing, his personal life and his love of circuit parties, and makes a lot of hilariously snarky observations about the current state of gay culture.
Neither Justin Bieber nor Coachella are really part of the editorial mix here at First Floor, but Jeff Weiss’ dispatches from the desert are always must-read affairs. His latest piece, which went live on Passion of the Weiss this week, provides a brightly colored (and, at times, stomach-turning) window into the Biebermania that coursed through this year’s festival, but that’s ultimately just a starting point, as Weiss—as he does better than pretty much anyone—spins his observations into a commentary on the sickness and absurdity of modern life, dropping bangers like “Everyone is micro-dosing celebrity” and “The last Great Gold Rush is for the cannibalization of the self.”
Writing for the Financial Times, Liz Pelly has weighed in on the kerfuffle around—you guessed it—Geese and marketing firms like Chaotic Good, delivering a piece which briefly rehashes the controversy, but then pivots to a much more important issue: the explosion of undisclosed advertising in the music ecosystem, and the effect that’s having on both the industry and the broader culture.
Over in The Guardian, Daniel Dylan Wray has penned an article examining the worrying economic landscape for indie labels. Talking to representatives of imprints like Hyperdub, Rhythm Section International and Sub Pop, he highlights the degree to which these labels are increasingly being encroached upon by corporate actors, and dispels some myths around the supposed revival of the vinyl market.
Although this Water & Music article was already mentioned in this week’s First Floor essay, it’s worth highlighting on its own, as it’s written by Cherie Hu, who’s long been one of the music world’s most reliable sources of well-researched music industry analysis. Entitled “Why superfan subscriptions are dying out,” the piece is pretty self-explanatory, and it makes a compelling case that the superfan model, which in recent years has been touted as a kind of silver bullet for the industry’s ills, is no longer being seen as “the answer” by the powers that be.
Festival season is approaching, and with many organizers around the globe now supplementing their line-up announcements with statements about politics, international conflict, colonialism and a myriad of other systemic concerns, it’s worth examining what exactly they’re trying to do. Rami Abadir (a.k.a. ABADIR) does exactly that in the intro to his latest new release round-up for Ma3azef; the piece is in Arabic, but it’s worth popping his prose into a translator, as he compellingly calls into the question the motives of (mostly European) festivals that have largely stayed silent in the face of the genocide in Gaza, but continue to book Arab artists and otherwise tout their commitment to diversity and liberal values. As he points out, “the colonial mindset seeks to extract the resources of colonized peoples—their food, music, dances, fashion and arts—without acknowledging their policies or showing solidarity with them.”
With Olof Dreijer about to release his Loud Bloom album, the Swedish artist is popping up all over the place this week, including the latest installment of Mixmag’s The Mix series, which includes both an exclusive new mix and an interview with journalist Christian Eede. For The Quietus, he’s done a Baker’s Dozen feature, walking Gemma Samways through a tour of some of his favorite albums of all time. He’s also appeared on a new episode of Ben Cardew’s Line Noise podcast for Radio Primavera Sound, and the Barcelona-based scribe shared a lightly edited version of the chat via his newsletter of the same name.
Colombian Drone Mafia (a.k.a. TraTraTrax co-founder Nyksan) also has a new record dropping this week, and he talked to Philip Sherburne about it in a wide-ranging new interview that’s appeared in the latter’s Futurism Restated newsletter. Much of the conversation, which was also published in Spanish, focuses on the genesis of the new release and the evolution of the Colombian Drone Mafia project as a whole, but it also touches upon the larger lineage of ambient and experimental sounds that have come out of Latin America.
Yu Su’s new Foundry LP has been greeted with rave reviews—in fact, you can find it in First Floor’s Recommended Releases below—and the Chinese-born, London-based artist has also been doing the interview rounds lately, engaging in some quick Q&As with both Nina and the Flow State newsletter.
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.
Over the past year or so, gyrofield has become one of the most hotly tipped producers in bass music, and this week the Hong Kong-born, Netherlands-based artist launched their own label, Field Research, with a brand-new EP. Entitled Your Fight, it’s said to represent “power casting outwards—the rebellion, repossession and various actionable energies we need,” and it’s available in full now.
Batu and Donato Dozzy make for something of an unlikely pair, but the Bristol bass alchemist and Italian techno sorcerer have joined forces on a forthcoming collaborative album. First coming together via a B2B set at 2023’s Draaimolen festival, the duo eventually linked up in Rome at Dozzy’s studio, and began to work on what eventually became the Exhale LP. The !K7 label will be issuing the record on June 30, but in the meantime, the song “Drift” has already been shared.
International Feel bossman and Balearic torchbearer Mark Barrott has completed a new full-length. Invigorated by a return to Ibiza following a stint living on the Spanish mainland, he’s titled the new record The Exit Diaries, and though Ajunachill will be releasing the full album on June 19, two tracks are already available here.
Kevin Richard Martin (a.k.a. the birth name and ambient-focused moniker of veteran bass warrior The Bug) dropped a surprise new album last week. Entitled Blue Loops, it’s out now via his own Intercranial imprint, and each track on the record is apparently a deep dive into a different “simple, single feedback loop,” all of which Martin recorded during his post-gig downtime in hotel rooms around Europe. (The aforementioned deep dives into those loops, however, happened at his studio in Brussels.)
In a little more than two years, Outside Time has established itself as one of Washington DC’s premier outposts for experimental, avant-garde and ambient music, so it’s no surprise that the label this week announced that it would soon be releasing an album from Lifted, the ever-evolving, genre-blurring group headed up by Andrew Field-Pickering (a.k.a. Max D) and Matt Papich. The upcoming LP, Movie, also features contributions from More Eaze, Mezey, Motion Graphics, Duncan Moore, Dustin Wong and Jeremy Hyman, and though it’s scheduled to land on June 5, lead track “The Ice Chewers (Opening Credits)” is available now.
Remixes are obviously commonplace in the electronic music realm, and artists have spent decades loading up entire EPs and albums with other producers’ reworks of their material. The forthcoming The Foel Tower (Bruce’s Versions), however, is something far less common, as it’s an effort where the band Quade have given a single artist, fellow Bristolian Bruce, free rein to remix their most recent album. The resulting effort, which is described in part as “an exploding supernova of dub and noise,” is slated to drop on May 29 via Bruce’s Poorly Knit imprint, but his version of the song “Canada Geese” has already been shared.
Few artists do slow-brewing bass music better than Forest Drive West, and the dubwise UK producer will soon be releasing a new album. Returning to Delsin’s Mantis imprint, he’s titled the record 1920, and has enlisted both Patrick Russell and DB1 to make an appearance. The whole thing will be available on June 5, but LP cut “Circuit” is out now.
Fresh off his Beyond the Rave album from February, not to mention the slew of older releases he’s been reissuing via Bandcamp during the past year, Move D last week offered up yet another self-released full-length. Entitled Musik für Flugbegleiter (translation: Music for Flight Attendants), it’s out now, and though it surfaced with no additional context or explanation, it finds the German deep house veteran exploring loungier ambient sounds.
Back in 2024, Loula Yorke started up a series of monthly mixtapes, with each one showcasing some of the latest creations coming out of her modular rig. That series came to an end last year, but the UK artist apparently got the mixtape itch once again, as she last week released aym mixtape, a 31-minute long “psychedelic audio journey blending field recordings, voice notes and original modular synthesis.” It’s available now through her own Truxalis label, and those wanting more details about its contents can also check out the detailed liner notes that Yorke has published online.
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.
Seefeel – Sol.Hz (Warp)
… Make some room on your sofa for Sol.Hz, which is described in the press blurb as the group’s sort-of “dub” album, a claim no doubt owing to the record’s sense of space, vapor trails of delay, and the dub-techno currents that rattle like skeleton bones on penultimate track “Until Now.” [LISTEN + READ THE FULL WRITE-UP]
Yu Su – Foundry (Short Span)
… As a listening experience, the album flows with a curious logic of its own. Noisy overtones and pronounced low-end undulations somehow bind together the record’s separate threads, but it’s ultimately Yu Su’s affinity for many different strands of music that gives the album a sense of coherence. [LISTEN + READ THE FULL WRITE-UP]
Ana Roxanne – Poem 1 (kranky)
… Channeling heartache into music, she’s accompanied by little more than a piano (and sometimes strings) on standout tracks like “Berceuse in A-flat Minor, Op. 45,” “Untitled 2”—which almost feels Beth Gibbons-esque in its fierce fragility—and the startlingly beautiful “Keepsake.” [LISTEN + READ THE FULL WRITE-UP]
Andy Martin – Tierra de Nahuales (Animalia)
… Plodding along with the force of a glacier cutting through a mountain, the track slowly fills out; phones ring, birds chirp, voices appear and gorgeous dub techno chords arrive, setting the stage for a final act in which a synth pattern transforms the song’s dense terrestrial density into something celestial. [LISTEN + READ THE FULL WRITE-UP]
goldenstar – Chamber Music (OST)
… This is moody, meditative music, and though it technically resides within the rock canon, goldenstar are far more interested in slacker melancholy than guitar heroics. [LISTEN + READ THE FULL WRITE-UP]
The Dengie Hundred with Emma Blackshaw – Days in Pieces (Tain)
… Much like its predecessor, not to mention the recent “Songs For Isserley” that dropped earlier this year on Somewhere Press, the new record could technically be categorized as dream pop, but that descriptor doesn’t feel quite right. The UK duo largely shy away from that genre’s lush textures and cozy energy, opting instead for sparse expanses and a kind of somnambulant drift. [LISTEN + READ THE FULL WRITE-UP]
Pépe – 0*0*0*0 (Self-released)
… At the other end of the record, “01010101” is a tranquil ambient suite that’s been bathed in a thick glaze of soft static, while the vibrant “02020202” plays out like a Ryuichi Sakamoto tribute, letting loose a vibrant procession of chime-like tones. [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.