First Floor #69 – The Case for Mastering
a.k.a. An interview with mastering engineer Matt Colton about what he does and why it's important.
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
Who knew that mastering could be such a controversial topic?
For those who don’t know what I’m talking about, last week’s newsletter included an interview with Sinjin Hawke and Zora Jones, two artists who argued against the continued necessity of mastering in the modern music-making process. The opinions they shared—some of which definitely run counter to the prevailing “rules” about how things are “supposed” to be done—prompted a lot of conversations (and ruffled some feathers) amongst artists, producers and engineers, and also underscored the fact that wider explorations of these kinds of topics (i.e. articles and discussions that go deeper than the usual forum chatter or “Artist X shares their production secrets”) simply don’t happen all that often.
Even before I published the interview with Sinjin and Zora, I’d been thinking that it would be interesting to also speak with a mastering engineer and ask some questions about not only what they do, but why it’s valuable. As I said last week, I myself am not a mastering skeptic (even though I, like many people, admittedly don’t totally understand what it involves), and while I do think Sinjin and Zora raised a lot of interesting questions, I’m also a believer in the value of expertise and specialization. Given that, I reached out to Matt Colton, a London-based mastering engineer (and cutting engineer) with more than 20 years of experience.
If you’ve been following electronic music from the UK with any level of dedication during the past two decades, there’s a good chance that Colton has mastered something (or many things) in your collection. He’s worked with labels like Warp, Hessle Audio, Houndstooth, Ninja Tune, XL, LuckyMe and others too numerous to list, and for those with broader tastes, he’s also been enlisted to master records by chart-topping acts like Arctic Monkeys, Coldplay, Thom Yorke, George Michael, James Blake and Manic Street Preachers. (Seriously, take a look at the guy’s Discogs page—he’s got an impressive body of work.)
My conversation with Colton—which took place over the weekend—is not meant to be some sort of rebuttal to last week’s interview with Sinjin and Zora. Before we talked, he made clear that he couldn’t (and wouldn’t) speak for all engineers, and that his thoughts about mastering were strictly his own. At the same time, he was very open, honest and refreshingly non-dogmatic; Colton has a lot of knowledge—and plenty of opinions, too—and was happy to cover a lot of topics, including what his work entails, how he collaborates with clients, why it’s okay to try to “fix” tracks during the mastering process, how vinyl fits into the equation and what he ultimately brings to the music-making process.
The interview, which has been edited for length and clarity, can be found here.
(PLEASE NOTE: the link to the interview will be open to all for the next 48 hours, but after that, it will be available to paid subscribers only.)
REAL QUICK
A round-up of of the last week’s most interesting electronic music news, plus links to mixes, articles and other things I think are worth sharing.
If last week’s “Mastering Is a Myth” interview didn’t provide enough Zora Jones for you, the Fractal Fantasy co-founder also participated in a lengthy video interview with Martha Pazienti Caidan for the latest edition of the RA Exchange.
Cherie Hu is a journalist whose work has been referenced numerous times here on First Floor, and last week she shared some behind-the-scenes info about her Water & Music platform, along with some thoughts on where the music industry is headed, in an interview with Mark Stenberg for his Medialyte newsletter.
Tom Gray isn’t a journalist, but the UK musician (and his #BrokenRecord campaign) has become one of the loudest voices advocating for reform in the music industry, particularly in regard to the distribution of streaming revenues. Last week, his efforts were highlighted in this New Statesman article by Ellen Peirson-Hagger.
Montreal producer Martyn Bootyspoon is one of dance music’s most fun-loving figures—you may remember that I profiled him last year for Electronic Beats—and his new mix, a two-hour session he’s titled 40 Love (That’s the Game), is the latest offering from Finn & Local Action’s Mixtape Club project.
Dubstep pioneer Mala is on the cover of the latest issue of DJ Mag, and the accompanying feature—which was penned by Lauren Martin—is now available to read online.
Oriol Riverola (better known as John Talabot) put together a special mixtape to help celebrate the 10-year anniversary of Barcelona record shop Discos Paradiso. The Sang Suor i Llagrimes tape, which focuses on ’80s freestyle and was put together under the moniker DJ BonClient, is only available for purchase in the physical store, but the entire mix can be heard online here.
Fans of Jóhann Jóhannsson should take note that Berlin music journalists Kristoffer Cornils and Thaddeus Herrmann have begun a new conversation series for Das Filter that’s focused on examining the catalog of the late Icelandic composer. Entitled Jóhann Jóhannsson – A User's Manual and set to proceed over the next two years, the series will consist of monthly discussions, each one focused on a different major work from Jóhannsson’s career. The first installment—which is available in both English and German—dives into the artist’s 2002 debut album Englabörn.
The R&S label (and, more specifically, its co-founder Renaat Vandepapeliere) has been accused of racial discrimination and unlawful dismissal by former freelance employee Raj Chaudhuri (a.k.a. Raji Rags). The label has denied the claims, and is said to be considering the filing a defamation claim in response, but in the meantime, Chaudhuri has already filed his claim with the UK employment tribunal. That claim hasn’t been shared publicly, but many of its details have already been reported in the press by such outlets as the BBC, The Guardian, Resident Advisor and Pitchfork.
UK funky fans surely remember the name iLL BLU, and although a decade has passed since the London duo was releasing music on labels like Hyperdub and Numbers, they’ve never stopped producing, and have segued into the UK’s burgeoning drill scene. Last week, they were interviewed by Denzil Bell for The Quietus, and talked at length about both their music and Routine Check, a documentary they created focusing on the impact of Black youth being disproportionately stopped by police in the UK.
JUST ANNOUNCED
A round-up of noteworthy new and upcoming releases that were announced during the past week.
Leon Vynehall has a new album on the way. Entitled Rare, Forever and slated for release on Ninja Tune, it won’t arrive until April 30, but two of its tracks, “Ecce! Ego!” and “Mothra,” can already be heard here.
A Motor City techno veteran whose extensive body of work often gets overlooked, Terrence Dixon will soon be releasing a new full-length, Reporting from Detroit. Before it drops on May 3 via Rush Hour, the LP’s lead track, “On 7 Mile All Night,” is streaming here.
Speaking of Detroit techno, the legendary Robert Hood is restarting his Perpetual Masters reissue series by re-releasing Underestimated, an EP that first came out back in 1998 on his M-Plant label. Preview clips of the newly remastered record can be heard at a number of different online shops, but here’s a link to the release on Phonica.
Australian artist KUČKA specializes in an R&B-infused strain of electronic pop—the Mssingno remix of her song “Ascension” was one of my favorite tracks of 2020—and she’ll soon be releasing her long-awaited debut album on the LuckyMe label. Wrestling was originally supposed to come out last year, but it’s now slated to appear on April 30. Before then, several of its tracks can already be heard here. (For what it’s worth, I quite like “Drowning.”)
Nico, a Mexican producer who’s previously contributed to labels like Timedance and also dropped an excellent mini-album last year called Six Rooms, has put together a new EP for Midnight Shift. The Driving Rain will be released on April 9, but its final track, “Wolfram (Dub),” is available now.
Pleasure Jail, a new collaboration between Braille and Heathered Pearls, will soon debut with a self-titled EP that’s due to arrive on March 12 via Hotflush. Its closing song, the appropriately titled “Lockdown,” is already online.
Last September, Lucrecia Dalt released the No Era Sólida album on RVNG Intl., and now the avant-garde Colombian artist has shared a companion piece entitled No Era Sólida (Outtakes). The cassette version, which also features outtakes from her previous Anticlines LP, is already sold out, but the digital version can be found here.
Dial Records co-founder Lawrence has a long history of making delicate, melody-rich house and techno, and he’ll soon be releasing a new full-length. Written specifically for Studio Mule, the new Tokyo-based audiophile listening bar owned by Toshiya Kawasaki, the LP is called Birds on the Playground and is scheduled to arrive on March 26 via the Mule Musiq label. Preview clips can be heard here.
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.
Yann Novak “Finding a Way to Live” (SUPERPANG)
Hello. This is the sound of crystals forming in a J.G. Ballard-esque jungle dreamscape, slowly petrifying and immortilising everything as they spread across the lush terrain. Maybe that description is a little too poetic, but if you listen to this 23-minute piece, which was apparently inspired by Novak’s desire “explore humanity’s instinctive, never-ending drive to recalibrate in order to endure an ever-changing world,” I think you’ll understand what I mean.
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.
Enayet “Chokkor” (SLINK)
Enayet “Bhir (Cassius Select Enemy Mix)” (SLINK)
These tunes have some serious swagger. NYC party SLINK launched its label arm back in October, but Chokkor is the young imprint’s first artist EP. Written by SLINK resident Enayet during a trip home to Dhaka in Bangladesh, the record tours through a variety of off-kilter rhythms, but is at its best on the title track, a crunchy, corroded slammer that kicks down the door and charges headfirst into a pool of sludgy basslines and sci-fi mayhem. (My gaming days are long behind me, but something about “Chokkor” reminded me of battling swarms of demons during late-night sessions of Doom.) Things aren’t quite as hectic on Cassius Select’s rework of “Bhir,” but the hotly tipped Hong Kong producer still hits awfully hard, cooking up some booming basslines and delightfully crooked drum patterns along the way. Bass music has been expanding beyond the boundaries of the UK for years now, but SLINK—and Enayet in particular—is a testament to the genre’s strength as a truly global enterprise.
Love Horses “K-Den” (Lith Dolina)
Whylie “AMN15-05” (Lith Dolina)
Bot1500 “Seabird 2” (Lith Dolina)
I’m not a big fan of compilations. I literally wrote a whole newsletter about it back in October 2019. But every once in a while, a compilation comes along that really blows me away, and I can honestly say that Brabuhr Q-ih is the best one I’ve heard since PAN’s seminal Mono No Aware came out in 2017. The debut offering from Lith Dolina, a new offshoot of the AD 93 label, the 11-track collection has been released with little accompanying information and even less fanfare. No narrative or backstory has been given, and the new imprint hasn’t been launched with any sort of stated objective, but if Brabuhr Q-ih is any indication, the label’s musical orientation appears to be a thrilling combination of deep IDM, raucous jungle, Workshop-style techno and cinematic ambient.
Clearly inspired by the club but largely unusable on all but the most adventurous of dancefloors, these are heady offerings to be sure—albeit without the snoozy quality that descriptor usually implies—and the release is made all the more powerful by the fact that its four artists are all relatively unknown. Truth be told, there are a lot more than three quality tracks here, but the moody “K-Den” starts things off on a high note, its robust tones briefly giving way to a joyous burst of percussion before retreating back toward a sort of extraterrestrial comedown. “AMN-15-05” is an insistent rumbler, but the song’s fluttering textures are what makes it truly transcendent. Then there’s “Seabird 2,” which closes the compilation on a pensive note, its plinking keys and woozy melodies sounding both hopeful and melancholy. It’s fantastic stuff, and makes me very excited to hear whatever Lith Dolina does next.
Tower Block Dreams “Truss Me” (Time Is Now)
Speaking of new-ish labels, Time Is Now has been around for little more than a year, and the Shall Not Fade offshoot has already become one of the hottest imprints in the UK. To kick off a new series of white-label releases, they’ve tapped Madrid-based Londoner Tower Block Dreams to put together the simply titled Time Is Now White Vol. 1, and though much of the record focuses on the bouncy UK garage rhythms the label is known for—and does it well—“Truss Me” is both an outlier and a standout. An energetic, four-on-the-floor club cut, its primary riff sounds like a souped-up take on Inner City’s classic “Good Life,” and while it’s not a ripoff or anything approaching that, the song does tap into a similar sort of infectious, early ’90s pop-techno energy, which Tower Block Dreams has smartly fortified with a subby (and distinctly British) bassline. If you’re looking for a party record, this is the best one I heard all week.
Once again, additional track recommendations are available to paid subscribers. This week’s selections include new music from labels like Dekmantel, Livity Sound, Sneaker Social Club, Bedroom Community and more.
To sign up for a paid subscription and gain access to all First Floor content, including the full newsletter archive, please click the button below.
That’s all I’ve got for today. As always, thank you so much for reading the newsletter and I do hope you enjoyed the tunes.
Back next week.
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.