Floating Points

Floating Points, 22 year old Sam Shepherd from London, is a young and promising producer/DJ. He has managed to forge a very distinct sound over the past 12 months, with a blend of boogie-house, glitch-hop, jazz and dubstep beats merging in his work, resulting in a wonderful 80's electro-house sound with an old-school disco tone embedded within the tracks as well. As well as producing great records and djing, Shepherd is also working on a PhD in pharmacology in London. This guy isn't talented at all.

Emerging in the past 12 months, Shepherd has four releases to his name under the guise of Floating Points, as well as having recorded mini mixes for the likes of Giles Peterson and Mary Anne Hobbs. His first release came in April 2009 on the R2 label with the 'Love Me Like This' single, an electro-funk remix of the Real 2 Reel original, which was backed by 'Shangrila'. This was followed up by the 'J&W Beat' single, backed with 'K&G Beat and released on the well known Planet Mu label. His first EP came in the form of 'Vacuum', released on Eglo Records in September 2009. This EP is a great listen, with the highlight being the track 'Vacuum Boogie', although 'Truly' and 'Argonaute II' are treats as well. His most recent release has come on Eglo Records again in the form of the 'People's Potential'/'Shark Chase' single, released on the 19th April. For me this is his best work yet, once again discovering a great balance between 80's disco-house and experimental dubstep beats.

As well as producing, Shepherd regularly DJ's and has recently recorded a mix XLR8R. Shepherd has made what he has labelled the 'My Plastic People' mix as a tribute to the well known nightspot Plastic People based in East London, which is facing closure over license issues. The mix sees Shepherd's musical knowledge come to the fore, with numerous 70's/80's jazz and funk tracks mixed together with newer material in the form of Darkstar and Shepherd himself. To stream this brilliant mix, just click here.

'My Plastic People' Tracklist:

01 Flora Purim "Encounters" (Milestone)
02 Deniece Williams "Slip Away" (Columbia)
03 Esther Philips "Home Is Where the Hatred Is" (KUDU)
04 Windy City "(So You Think) Somethin's Missin'" (Chi Sound)
05 James Brown "Mind Power" (Polydor)
06 Gil Scott-Heron "Lady Day and John Coltrane" (Flying Dutchman)
07 Brian Auger & Oblivion Express "Whenever You're Ready" (RCA)
08 Willie Bobo "Sixty-Two Fifty" (Columbia)
09 Chick Corea & Return to Forever "Captain Marvel" (Polydor)
10 Kuniyuki "Precious Hall (Dub)" (Natural Resource)
11 Larry Heard "Missing You" (Track Mode)
12 Herbert "Suddenly" (Studio !K7)
13 Darkstar "Aidy's Girl Is a Computer (Kyle Hall Oats B So Deep Remix)" (Hyperdub)
14 Floating Points "Shark Chase" (Eglo)
15 Pharoah Sanders "Greeting To Saud (Brother McCoy Tyner)" (Impulse)

I must also apologise in advance, I am taking a short break (at most until next Friday) due to an essay which I must start writing. I know this is a poor excuse, but I don't really fancy getting kicked out of university for failing my first year, so I'll be back in a few days, hopefully Wednesday or Thursday if I'm lucky.