First Floor #62 – Streaming, The Music Press and the Lingering Effects of Poptimism

a.k.a. Why are independent music journalists still propping up the mainstream?

Dec 08, 2020

Hello there. I’m Shawn Reynaldo, and welcome to First Floor, a weekly electronic music digest that includes news, my favorite new tracks and some of my thoughts on the issues affecting the larger scene / industry that surrounds the music. This is the free edition of the newsletter; access to all First Floor content (including the complete archive) requires a paid subscription. If you haven’t done so already, please consider signing up for a subscription (paid or unpaid) by clicking the button below. Alternately, you can also make a one-time donation here.

ON MY MIND

Just a few weeks ago, I wrote a whole newsletter about how I was actually looking forward to this year’s crop of “best of” lists, as I figured that the utter strangeness of 2020 would lead to some similarly strange (or at least more adventurous than usual) year-end selections on the part of music writers and editors.

So far, that hope hasn’t really come to pass. I don’t want to name names, and there are still lots more lists to come (especially from the electronic music realm), but from what I’ve seen so far, it looks like a lot of folks found solace in the musical mainstream this year. Perhaps that makes sense—given the chaos and widespread uncertainty that defined 2020, it’s hard to fault people for not digging deeper.

Still, it’s disappointing that even in a pandemic, and even during a time when conversations about fairness and the dangers of corporate consolidation within the music industry are louder than they’ve been in years, so many professionals—including ones whose chosen beat is independent or “underground” music—are still enthusiastically championing records from the Top 40.

Go here to continue reading this essay. (PLEASE NOTE: the link will be open to all for the next 48 hours, but after that, it will be available to paid subscribers only.)

ANOTHER THING I WROTE

I do recognize the irony of sharing this right after the above essay, but I made a small contribution to Pitchfork’s rundown of The 100 Best Songs of 2020, which went live yesterday. There’s not too much electronic music on there (and yes, there’s a whole lot of pop music), but if you’re not already suffering from list overload, you can find my writeup of India Jordan’s glittering “For You,” which impressively landed at number 21.

REAL QUICK

A round-up of the last week’s most interesting electronic music news, plus links to mixes, articles and other things I think are worth sharing.

In response to the onslaught of Spotify Wrapped graphics that flooded all of our social media feeds last week, the incomparable Liz Pelly penned another must-read article for The Baffler that lays out the absurdity of the company’s annual year-end Wrapped campaign and how it reflects the inherently exploitative nature of the current streaming landscape. And for the Spanish speakers out there, Noelia Ramírez explores similar themes in this piece for El Pais, focusing on how Spotify’s viral marketing efforts prey upon our collective insecurities.
Hoping to encourage more Spotify users to actually purchase their favorite music and more directly support artists, popular blog / website aggregator Hype Machine unveiled a very handy new online tool last week. It’s called Merch Table, and when users drop in a link to a Spotify playlist, their site automatically generates a list of Bandcamp buy links. Let’s hope folks actually use it.
Speaking of Bandcamp, it’s not often that the company will publicly tout the arrival of a particular label on its platform, but Warp Records isn’t the average imprint. The announcement came last week that the storied electronic music hub had joined the Bandcamp fray, and its massive catalog—which includes big guns like Aphex Twin, Boards of Canada, Autechre, LFO, Squarepusher and other too numerous to list—is available for purchase here.
Vivian Host (a.k.a. Star Eyes) is an excellent journalist who I’ve had the pleasure of working with at numerous places over the years (including XLR8R and RBMA), and she’s just launched a new podcast called Rave to the Grave. Her first episode features AC Slater, and given that Vivian is quite literally a lifelong raver with decades of party experience under her belt—not to mention a fantastic host / interviewer—I’m expecting very good things to happen on this show in the months ahead.
Like most festival promoters, Dekmantel was forced to scrap its 2020 event calendar, but the Amsterdam crew has put together an online happening called Dekmantel Connects, a 10-day series that includes a full slate of workshops, panel discussions, artist conversations, live performances, DJ sets, radio shows and more. Those kick off on December 14, but ahead of that, they’ve been publishing a series of insightful articles, including this “Sharing Knowledge” piece by Angelina Nikolayeva. Described as a “toolkit for artists and musicians,” it enlists experienced industry figures to shed light on the following topics: booking, publishing, artist management and funding. (It’s worth noting that one of those figures, Donelle Kosch of The Collective Studio, was also interviewed on First Floor earlier this year.)
Planet Mu is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, and marked the occasion with a new compilation, PlanetMµ25, which came out last Friday. The day before that, this interview with label founder Mike Paradinas (a.k.a. μ-Ziq) was published on Electronic Beats. Written by Angus Finlayson, it provides a nice overview of one of electronic music’s most important outposts, and also details how the label has fared during the pandemic, along with where things are headed in 2021.

JUST ANNOUNCED

A round-up of noteworthy upcoming releases that were announced during the past week.

As mentioned in my interview with Nathan Micay from last week’s newsletter, his soundtrack for the HBO / BBC series Industry was released last Friday via LuckyMe. (Just FYI, it’s only a digital release for now; the vinyl won’t be ready until 2021.) There was, however, an additional surprise, as Micay let loose some additional vinyl copies of Capsule’s Pride, his reimagined Akira soundtrack from 2016. Unfortunately, the records are already sold out, but the digital version is still available as a “name your price” download on Bandcamp.
Speaking of LuckyMe, the label has kicked off its annual “advent calendar,” counting down to Christmas with a series of 12 songs, all of which will be available as “name your price” downloads on Bandcamp. The first track? A new one from Jacques Greene called “Thaw.”
This year’s Bandcamp Friday events have prompted many producers to clear out their old hard drives, but few have dug as deep as Space Dimension Controller, who cobbled together a staggering 91 tracks from his archives for a digital-only release, the simply titled Ambient Collection 2008-2020.
Speaking of sprawling collections, LA label Juke Bounce Werk dropped JBDUBZ Vol. 8 last week, a 45-track compilation that includes music from Kush Jones, Nikki Nair, DJ Earl, Itoa and many, many others.
New music from Grouper is always cause for celebration, and she’s contributed a song, “Little Gray Cat,” to a new benefit compilation for Clatsop Animal Assistance, an all-volunteer organization that assists homeless pets in Clatsop County, Oregon. Entitled Let It Come to You, the collection also includes music from Mary Lattimore, Lawrence English, Rafael Anton Irisarri and others.
Aftertouches, the brilliant 2015 album from Kara-Lis Coverdale, has been issued on vinyl for the first time. Originally released on a limited-edition cassette, it’s now available on wax—grab it here—via Coverdale’s own Gate imprint, and digital versions can still be found here.
“I Need a Freak” is a delightful (and playfully suggestive) electro-funk gem that first came out in 1982 and then led off an album of the same name the following year. On January 15, however, that LP—which was credited to a Cleveland artist who went by the (purposely misspelled) name Sexual Harrassment—will be getting a full reissue courtesy of Dark Entries.
An online version of the annual Nyege Nyege festival took place over the weekend—dozens of the performances can still be viewed here—and the Ugandan crew marked the occasion by releasing a massive compilation, L'Esprit de Nyege 2020. Featuring 46 tracks from a global list of performers that includes Slikback, Duma, Menzi and many others, it’s available as a “name your price” download for one month only, so grab it now—all proceeds will be split 50-50 between the festival and the artists on the release.

MY WIFE HAS BETTER TASTE THAN I DO

My wife Dania is a wonderful person, but she has little regard for my taste in electronic music. Head of the Paralaxe Editions label, she often describes the music I like with words like “cheesy,” “simple,” “predictable,” “boring” and, worst of all (in her mind), “happy.” In contrast, I think she has a fantastic ear, and I’m constantly amazed by the obscure gems she unearths, both from record bins and the dark corners of the internet. Given that, I’ve asked Dania to share some of her finds with the First Floor audience. Each week, she highlights something that she’s currently digging, and adds some of her thoughts as to why it’s worth our attention.

Vlad Dobrovolski & Sugai Ken “Advanced Retrospective Shit-phonic” (Klammklang)

Hello. I’m in the jet-lagged twilight zone of mandatory quarantine in Australia right now. The experience is quite bizarre and a little on the Black Mirror spectrum—I feel as though I’m living through the Great Plague and someone has put a red cross on my hotel door. Okay, perhaps it’s not that bad, but it’s definitely surreal. I have managed to set up a very small studio here to keep me busy, and having 14 days to revel in my own introverted cocoon doesn’t seem so bad. Today’s choice is not for the faint of heart—a collaboration between vernacular sound artists Vlad Dobrovolski and Sugai Ken, “Advanced Retrospective Shit-phonic” is a three-minute hallucinogenic trip that sounds like a condensed dialogue between two sci-fi film scores from the 1960s.

Follow Dania on Twitter, or check out her monthly radio show on dublab.es.

NEW THIS WEEK

The following are some of my favorite tracks from three releases that came out during the past week or so. (Click on the track titles to hear each song individually.) An extended list of recommendations is available to paid subscribers only.

Kelly Moran “Helix III” (Hospital Productions)

Taken from Chain Reaction at Dust, Moran’s new split release with Prurient, “Helix III” showcases the NYC composer and producer at her sparkling best. Built atop a buzzing low-end hum, the song offers a array of twinkling melodies, fusing the organic with the electronic as its jabs of prepared piano flutter alongside Moran’s gleaming synthesis.

Shanique Marie & Finn “Lifey” (Local Action)

Shanique Marie & Finn “Movers” (Local Action)

Finn has pop music in his veins. Although the Manchester producer’s catalog largely consists of house and garage tunes, he’s always had a knack for highly addictive hooks, and that talent truly shines on his latest EP, a two-track collaboration with Shanique Marie. Best known for her work with inventive dancehall outfit Equiknoxx, she also deserves the credit for making these tunes pop, especially “Lifey,” a loveably breezy song that marries her sweetly soulful voice with a tropical melody and a vintage “It Takes Two”-style breakbeat. “Movers” picks up the pace significantly, joyfully channeling ’90s house vibes as Shanique Marie sings and toasts atop the track’s subby bounce. In a just world, these songs would be in heavy rotation pretty much everywhere, but even if they never manage to touch the Top 40, they’re both a whole lot of fun.

Hodge “The World Is New Again (Kush Jones Remix)” (Houndstooth)

There’s a lot of star power on Remixes in Blue, an EP which finds the likes of Surgeon, Anz, Facta & K-Lone, Shanti Celeste and AYA reworking tracks from Hodge’s excellent Shadows in Blue album, which dropped back in April. The best effort, however, comes from NYC producer Kush Jones, who completely transforms the woozy new age of the original “The World Is New Again,” delivering a symphonic footwork tune in which regal strings dance atop a fleet-footed (albeit understated) percussive skeleton. Music this fast is rarely described as beautiful, but there’s a real sense of elegance to this track, which nicely caps Jones’ star-making 2020. (Just FYI, he also released a new extended EP last week called Nice Day.)

Once again, additional track recommendations are available to paid subscribers. This week’s selections include new music from dBridge, DJ Swisha, Legowelt, Lady Blacktronika and more, including new tracks from labels like Running Back, Sneaker Social Club, Omnidisc, Duppy Gun and more.

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That’s all for today. I know I say this every week, but thank you so much for reading the newsletter, and I do hope you enjoyed the tunes.

Until next time,

Shawn

Shawn Reynaldo is a freelance writer, editor, presenter and project manager. Find him on LinkedIn or drop him an email to get in touch about projects, collaborations or potential work opportunities.