Floating Points aka Sam Shepherd has been gaining massive props recently on numerous website and print magazines, so I thought i'd do my own showcase for anyone passing by my blog:-
I've included an interview he did for FACT Magazine : -
Hey Floating Points. Introduce yourself to FACT…
"Hello, I'm Floating Points. I'm from Manchester, living in London."
How did Floating Points start making music?
"This is long: I forcibly had piano lessons since I was eight - hated it. I joined Manchester Cathedral Choir as a choirboy, and as a result got into Cheethams School of Music across the road, where I studied jazz piano and composition. The composition teacher let me use the old analogue studio as much as I liked, 'cause they just got a fancy digital studio, which they're probably still trying to figure out!
"This meant I'd spend endless time trying to get an MS20 to stay in tune, making tape loops with the reel to reel, getting arthritic on the S-90 and electrocuting myself on the patch bay. This plus jazz plus choral music and Manc record shops moulded me into a mess of love for so many sounds…"
How did you get from there to where you are now?
"When I finished school, I was gonna go to Royal College of Music to continue studying classical composition, but by this point I was so jaded and bored with classical education that I went to UCL and studied pharmacology instead, and just did my own thing musically…"
Where are you coming from when you make music - is there anything you're particularly trying to get across, any particular aims or intentions?
"With the dancier stuff the intention is pretty simple - I make that stuff pretty quick, I fear that if I spend too long on it it steals away from its visceral impact. That's why a lot of the house stuff sounds a bit messy… 'Cause it's unquantized, one take recordings. The other instrumental stuff is a bit more considered, but that ain't been heard yet."
Your tunes are all over the place, in a good way. Do you consider what you make House? Hip Hop? Some new mutation of bass music?
"It's a right mess. Everything man..."
The name - is it the maths thing? Those spots that floating across your eyes when you're tired? Or something else?
"It was actually the name of a tune I did when I was well young. I think some peeps thought that was my name and it just stuck."
There's a real space vibe going on your record sleeves, and your myspace pic - is that something you're interested in?
"Er... being a scientist by day I'm fascinated by the unknown. Our label Eglo has a very talented art director at its helm with Kay Shin and A&R/label honcho man Alex Nut. We share a mutual interest in the unknown... [laughs]"
Your tunes are all over the place, in a good way. Do you consider what you make House? Hip Hop? Some new mutation of bass music?
"It's a right mess. Everything man..."
The name - is it the maths thing? Those spots that floating across your eyes when you're tired? Or something else?
"It was actually the name of a tune I did when I was well young. I think some peeps thought that was my name and it just stuck."
There's a real space vibe going on your record sleeves, and your myspace pic - is that something you're interested in?
"Er... being a scientist by day I'm fascinated by the unknown. Our label Eglo has a very talented art director at its helm with Kay Shin and A&R/label honcho man Alex Nut. We share a mutual interest in the unknown... [laughs]"
Interview originally posted by FACT Magazine.
You can check out his profile further on his artist site here.
He is a mix for Fabric he did -
Tracklisting:
Various Production - Lost (Actress Remix)
Falty DL - To London
Marcellus Pittman - There's Somebody Out There
Omar S - Psychotic Photosynthesis
Brothers' Vibe - Step Into It
Pangaea - Bear Witness
Martyn - Vancouver (2562's Puur Natuur Dub)
DOWNLOAD HERE.
Discography:
For You (7") Eglo Records 2009
"The producer of the deepest phat B-Lines around is gonna big. Championed by Patrick, Jean-Claude,Gilles,Benji and even Mary Anne is getting in on the act.Watch out Flying lotus this bwoy iz comin' at ya haaard!! YOU NEED THIS 7" (If Music Website)Side 1 - For You
Side 2 - Radiality
J&W Beat (12") Planet Mu 2009
"Since the start of the year Floating Points has been on the lips of every beat head from Alexander Nut to Mary-Anne Hobbs. The classically trained producer has brought a lush wave of releases with him on his own Eglo imprint and the established House outlet R2, sweetly covering everything from Thriller style 80's soul edits to Flylo style digital psyche-beats with ease. Planet Mu have obviously spotted the potential in this fella and signed his 'J&W' and 'K&G' beats, providing a lighter counterpoint to the heavyweight rinsers from Brackles also out this week. 'J&W Beat' has the UK Broken Beat flexibility of Bugz In The Attic mixed with a tangy relish of IDM-indebted electronics, but unfortuantely that track is destined to be ingnored by everyone once they reach 'K&G Beat' on the flip. Possibly the most lush concoction of psyched-soul and Burial-set 2-step we've heard this year, it's a guaranteed spine chillah and comes very highly recommended - ESSENTIAL TWELVE!!!" (Boomkat Website)Side A - J&W Beat
Side B - K&G Beat
Love Me Like This (12", Single) R2 Records 2009
"Unless you've been living in a shed with no internet for the last 6 months, you'll have probably caught a whiff of the hype around Floating Points. With a background as a classically trained musician and a fervent love for the deepest strains of jazz, soul and funk, Floating Points has rightly picked up a full wagon of support for his productions which have drawn favourable comparisons to Flying Lotus and Dilla. Appearing on the well-cool London house imprint R2, he's catered to their style with a sumptuous electro-soul edit on 'Love me Like This (Nonsense Dub), a longtime fave on his myspace now edited into an eight minute trip of the deepest red light vibes with a subtly modulated synthline squirming through the whole thing. If you've been loving the Thriller edits, this is highly recommended! The shorter cut 'Shangrila' is the reason so many beat heads have been tweaking their nipples in glee of late, with a cut reminiscent of his awesome debut 7", almost beating Flylo at his own game with psychedelically screwed analog synthlines curling around a reverant organ sunken in the mix over slip-swung beats. Like we said before, if you're into Flylo, Mike Slott, Hud Mo or the Thriller cats, you'll be all over this. Sick!" (Boomkat Records)Side A - Love Me Like This (Nonsense Dub) (8:05)
Side B1 - Shangrila (3:39)
Side B2 - Love Me Like This (Radio) (6:39)
Vacuum EP (12", EP) Eglo Records 2009
"It's hard not to be bowled over by the joyful productions of Floating Points over the last six months or so. He's quickly become one of the most talked-about producers operating within the parameters of boogie house and electronic soul in the UK and quite rightly caught the ears of everyone from Gilles Peterson to Mary Anne Hobbs. 'Vacuum Boogie' is the second release on his delightful Eglo imprint and by far the best thing from the producer yet, kicking off with the ecstatic soul of the title track, sucking dub house styles in a boogie disco vortex with enough room for dancefloor slickness but leaving the room breathless after the intense peaks and ass grappling bass are done with you. 'Truly' contrasts with a gradually phasing groove, shifting between electronic minimalism and heavy smudged disco soul like few others out there, leaving 'Argonaut' to emerge from the dubjazz echo chamber with a Drexciyan melody to die for. The production levels are just exceptional, making for one of the most enjoyable twelves of the year so far, ESSENTIAL PURCHASE." (Boomkat Records)Side A - Vacuum Boogie
Side B1 - Truly
Side B2 - Argonaute II
Tracks Also Appear On:
Brownswood Bubblers Four: Peroration V (Brownswood Recordings 2009)
Mary-Anne Hobbs: Wild Angels: - Esthian III (Planet Mu 2009)
Rinse: 08 - Peroration V (Rinse Recordings 2009)
The Mu School: - K Beat (Planet Mu 2009 )
Floating Points has also just completed an outstanding Remix as well:
Bei Bei - Beauty And The Beats 10" (Ubiquity records 2009)
"Bei Bei and Ubiquity producer Shawn Lee marrying a unique blend of ancient tradition with studio tickery and spiritual jazz. This uplifting, genre-bending, soundclash recalls the afrocentric harping of Dorothy Ashby, the hypnotic style of Alice Coltrane, and the organic electronics of Fourtet and Quantic. Bei Bei and Ubiquity producer Shawn Lee marrying a unique blend of ancient tradition with studio tickery and spiritual jazz. This uplifting, genre-bending, soundclash recalls the afrocentric harping of Dorothy Ashby, the hypnotic style of Alice Coltrane, and the organic electronics of Fourtet and Quantic." A1. Make Me Stronger ft. Georgia Anne Muldrow (Floating Points Remix)
A2. Make Me Stronger
B1. East
B2. Make Me Stronger (Instrumental)
More Recently....Floating Points performed live at the Roundhouse:
Floating Points Live At The Roundhouse Turning Point Festival 8th May 2009
AND ALSO......
"Last week, Gilles Peterson’s Worldwide broadcasted the the Maida Vale Session by the Floating Points Ensemble. Since earlier today, you can listen to an excerpt from that session on FPS’s SoundCloud page....." (Nutriot Website)
Floating Points Ensemble BBC Maida Vale Session CLIPS by floatingpoints
Floating Points Ensemble:
Voice - Fatima
Trumpet/Flugel - Freddie Gavita
Alto Sax - James Bateman
Violin - Tsze Yenn Yong
Violin - Mariko McTier
Viola - Matt Kettle
Cello - Magda Pietraszewska
Cello - Michelle So
Guitar - Billy Adamson
Bass - Olly Buxton
Keys/Composition - Floating Points
Drums - Josh Blackmore
Percussion/Vibraphone - Chris Marshall
There is also a rip from the show available HERE