Hello there. I’m Shawn Reynaldo, and welcome to First Floor, a weekly electronic music digest that includes news, interviews, 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
It’s a weird time for electronic music. Granted, it’s a weird time for the whole world (and has been for more than a year now), but even if we set the pandemic and global political strife aside, electronic music (and dance music in particular) is still in a very odd place. With vaccinations rolling out in earnest (at least in the US and UK, and to a lesser degree in Europe), people—especially folks who work in the music industry—are increasingly focused on the future. Lineups are once again being announced in bulk, and in select (and admittedly privileged) places, events are already starting back up, and although they usually still require limited capacities and / or seated crowds, the possibility of some kind of “normality” feels more tangible now than it has in quite some time.
Of course, normality is a terribly loaded word, and given all of the conversations that have taken place during lockdown about racial and social injustice, sustainability and other big-picture topics, it’s easy to feel disillusioned (or at least disappointed) by what increasingly looks like the resumption of business as usual. At the same time, there’s a lot of excitement and enthusiasm in the air, and even if it’s not entirely appropriate, it’s hard to begrudge the fact that people—especially young people—are eager to simply get out of the house and have some fun.
In the meantime though, that fun is still hypothetical. People may be marking dates on their calendars, but until those dates actually arrive (without some COVID-related flareup derailing everyone’s plans), it feels like we’re all in a bit of a holding pattern. And unlike the previous holding pattern of lockdown, which often felt formless and veritably neverending, this current period is bursting with anticipation. For music professionals and fans alike, it’s like we’re back in elementary school, toiling through the last few weeks before summer vacation; most of us are still going through the motions of our daily routines, but what we’re really thinking about is what’s next.
Given that, when it comes to electronic music, it weirdly feels like not a whole lot is going on right now. (Unless you count festival announcements, which I don’t.) When the time came to write this week’s newsletter, I went through several ideas, but ultimately, most of them felt like attempts to conjure a “story” or “narrative” out of thin air. Maybe that’s just my subconscious making an elaborate excuse—which is totally possible—but regardless, today’s First Floor doesn’t have a lengthy essay or an interview. I did, however, put together an extra-large (i.e. bigger than usual) batch of new music recommendations, although it’s only available to paid newsletter subscribers. (New releases are one thing that have never stopped—or even slowed—during the pandemic, even during this current pause I’ve just described.)
Otherwise, all the rest of the usual newsletter goodies are below. I think you’ll find that there’s still plenty of things to keep you occupied in the days ahead.
ANOTHER THING I WROTE
Penelope Trappes won’t be a new name for regular First Floor readers, and last week I reviewed her new Penelope Three album on Houndstooth. A dazzling effort that puts Trappes’ vocals in the forefront, the LP employs a sort of gothic theatricality as its creator ruminates on femininity, motherhood and the challenges of growing older in a culture that’s obsessed with youth, particularly when it comes to women. (As you can probably tell, I rather liked it, but go ahead and read the review anyways.)
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.
Aside from my Pitchfork review, Penelope Trappes was also the subject of multiple pieces during the past week, including a Bandcamp feature written by Jemima Skala, an American Songwriter profile by Tina Benitez-Eves and an article on Self-Titled where the artist herself breaks down each of the songs on her new Penelope Three LP.
With Moby releasing both a new album (Reprise, which features classical re-imaginings of many of his best-known songs) and a new documentary (MOBY DOC) last week, the veteran artist was also the subject of an interview with Gabriel Szatan for Tidal, which touched upon his music, his legacy and his (undeniably awkward) relationship with fame and the public.
Vivian Host’s Rave to the Grave podcast has been mentioned in the newsletter before, but it’s worth highlighting again, as her most recent episodes have explored some choice (and often overlooked) slices of early rave history. Her interview with Harry DiY (of Nottingham’s DiY collective) looked at the dawn of UK rave culture and the birth of the free party circuit, while part one of her conversation with Kurt Eckes (of Drop Bass Network and the Furthur festival) provided a first-hand account of the early-’90s rave explosion in the American Midwest (and beyond).
Mixtape Club released its latest mix: Azure Ultra, “an hour of scuffed up Balearic grooves & sunburnt techno” from UK artists (and Wisdom Teeth label co-founders) Facta and K-LONE. (On a related note, Mixtape Club co-founder Finn was interviewed about the project here in the newsletter back in April.)
JUST ANNOUNCED
A round-up of noteworthy new and upcoming releases that were announced during the past week.
Dead Rock, the ambient-ish album that Physical Therapy released under the name Car Culture less than a month ago, has now been quickly followed up by a new remix EP, Fitness Versions. Available now as a “name your price” download via Bandcamp, it contains five different takes on the song “Fitness,” each one credited to a different Physical Therapy alias.
It was only a few weeks ago that Koreless unexpectedly re-emerged with new music, and now the UK producer has announced the forthcoming release of his long-awaited debut album. Agor is due to arrive on July 9 through the Young label, and two of its songs—“Black Rainbow” and “Joy Squad”—are already available.
Working in collaboration with RFSU (Sweden’s Planned Parenthood equivalent), Studio Barnhus co-founder Kornél Kovács has released a breezy new single, “Szenzus,” a track he says is based on the organization’s research into “what sort of sounds Scandinavians find arousing.”
Mano Le Tough has a new LP on the way. At the Moment was crafted by the Irishman during the pandemic (which he spent at home in Zurich, where he’s been based for several years) and it will be his first full-length for DJ Koze’s Pampa label. The album is set to drop on August 20, but dubby first single “No Road Without a Turn” has already been shared.
Los Angeles harpist / composer Nailah Hunter has put together a new EP of covers called Quietude, which is due to appear on June 11 via Leaving Records. The three-track effort includes her takes on a Donovan song and a track from the famous last episode of The Twilight Zone, along with Radiohead’s “Talk Show Host.” The latter is available to stream here.
Few names loom larger in French club music than Teki Latex, and now he’s been tapped to head up the musical and artistic direction of Impossible City, a new label from Brice Coudert, the founder and former artistic director of Paris clubs Concrete and Dehors Brut. The young imprint’s first release will be Curiosity Is a Type of Youth, an EP from UK artist Renslink. It’s set for a June 11 release, but two of its songs—“!8” and the title track—are available to hear now.
Light in the Attic has built up a reputation as a top-shelf reissue outpost, and the Seattle label’s next project aims to put a spotlight on Leslie Winer, a musician, poet, author and model who emerged from NYC’s downtown art scene during the early ’80s and later laid the groundwork for what would come to be known as trip-hop. When I Hit You—You'll Feel It, which is scheduled to arrive on July 30, is a career-spanning anthology that includes collaborations with John Hassell, Jah Wobble, Jay Glass Dubs and others, and one of its tracks, “Skin,” is already streaming.
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.
Hollie Kenniff “Sunset Chant” (Western Vinyl)
“Sunset Chant” might be my favourite song of year so far. The preview track from Hollie Kenniff’s forthcoming album The Quiet Drift, it’s unpretentiously elegant, with dreamy synth swathes that she’s drenched in wordless ethereal vocals. Think Enya, but darker and more droney. In the notes for the LP, Hollie talks about growing up in a rural town and being an outsider, and the album is part of her effort to escape “pop-culture feedback loops” and also reconnect with nature. The Quiet Drift was artfully mastered by Rafael Anton Irisarri, and part of the proceeds from the album will go towards both The Nature Conservancy of Canada and a women's emergency shelter and halfway house.
Follow Dania on Twitter, or check out her monthly radio show on dublab.es.
NEW THIS WEEK: THE BIG THREE
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.
loscil “Clara” (Kranky)
loscil “Vespera” (Kranky)
loscil “Sol” (Kranky)
loscil has been releasing ambient-leaning music for more than 20 years, and I’ve always thought his work was… fine. Not bad, not great, but well executed, tasteful and totally acceptable. Given that, I wasn’t especially excited about the Canadian producer’s new album Clara, which I had figured would pretty much be “just another loscil record.”
I was wrong. Clara is a powerful LP, and that begins with its intriguing premise. Every sound on the album can be a traced back a single three-minute recording of a 22-piece orchestra in Budapest; their performance was lathe cut to a 7”, which was then “scratched and abused to add texture and color,” and that (damaged) record literally provided all of the source material that loscil used to create the album. On paper, that may sound awfully limiting, but Clara never feels claustrophobic or hemmed in.
There’s a sort of grandeur to these compositions, and though the music is technically ambient—in the sense that it contains only the lightest traces of percussion—it’s clear that loscil didn’t intend for this album to politely fade into the background. The LP’s title track is particularly expansive, its cinematic scope enhanced by towering, long-form tones that bring to might drone-metal giants like Sunn O))). The moody “Vispera” takes a more pensive approach, filling the air with scratchy reverb and airy strings, while the darkly dramatic “Sol” splits the difference by pairing ominous low-end rumblings with brightly fluttering melodies. From a purely technical standpoint, loscil has coaxed an incredibly varied sound palette from just a few minutes of music, and though that’s undeniably impressive, Clara shouldn’t be written off as merely a production showcase. It’s a vast and spacious sound world that would likely take weeks to fully explore, and as albums go, it’s so much better than “fine.”
Body San “No Drip” (Noumenal Loom)
Body San “Omni Fabrics” (Noumenal Loom)
Space age meets new age (with a dash of boogie) on Reborn While Shopping, the latest full-length from Body San. With its woozy grooves and ethereal melodies, the album might initially seem like it’s destined for the Balearic bargain bins of the future, but this Portland producer has struck gold by cleverly leaning into the inherent ridiculousness of the music. Stuffed with saxophones, flutes and a myriad of other “uncool” sounds, the LP embraces humor, but also exudes a level of fearlessness, never coming off as a mere joke.
On the infectiously playful “No Drip,” sun-soaked synths evoke images of luxuriously lounging by a pool, but the song’s rubbery funk bassline is closer to a fun-loving ’80s film soundtrack than something you’d hear at the local yoga studio. Album closer “Omni Fabrics” plays it a bit straighter, and though its dreamy chimes do seem to glide through the clouds, its goofy assortment of synthesized voices makes clear that Body San—who’s probably giggling his way through the track—still has his feet on the ground.
Rick Wade “Detroit Hustle” (Spectral Sound)
Rick Wade “Forgotten Track” (Spectral Sound)
Detroit will always be the birthplace of techno, but the city has also been responsible for a whole lot of top-shelf house music over the years. Rick Wade has long been one of the Motor City’s house music torchbearers, and his Late Night Basix Vol. 2 EP was first released on his own Harmonie Park label back in 1998. More than two decades later, it’s been reissued by Spectral Sound, and frankly, it still runs circles around most of today’s deep house offerings. “Detroit Hustle” is a cooly bumping cut with sweet strings and just a touch of piano; it’s the sort of track that’s lively enough for peak time, but also relaxed enough for a hazy late-night dancefloor. A similar spirit colors “Forgotten Track,” which doubles down on the piano and adds some sparkling, marimba-like melodies into the mix. Dripping with soul and just a little bit sad (but never morose), it’s a welcome reminder that house music can be just as emotionally complex as any other genre, especially when a Detroit OG is the one putting it together.
Once again, additional track recommendations are available to paid subscribers. This week’s selections include new music from artists like Ben Sims, Roza Terenzi & D. Tiffany, False Witness, Vivian Koch and more, along with tracks from labels like Metalheadz, Houndstooth, BAR, Sameheads and Blank Mind.
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 brings us to the end of this week’s newsletter. Thank you so much for reading First Floor, and I do hope you enjoyed the tunes.
Have a good 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.