FLOATING POINTS Vinyl & CDs

Review: The fifth Flaoting Points album Cascade is a culmination of creative evolution. In late 2022, Shepherd found himself in the California desert, crafting a new sonic journey via his acclaimed Promises, where he ventured into airy dreamscapes with saxophonist Pharoah Sanders and the London Symphony Orchestra, earning a Mercury Prize nomination and a sold-out Hollywood Bowl show in 2023. With Cascade, Shepherd returns to his electronic roots, craving the pulse-racing communion of the dancefloor. This album serves as a sequel to Crush, diving deeper into ravey, experimental realms, unexplored due to lockdown cancellations. Tracks draw inspiration from Manchester's record shops and California's desert landscapes, blending Buchla rhythms and glitching melodies. Shepherd's journey, from orchestral collaborations to laptop productions, underscores his relentless pursuit of innovation.

Review: Floating Points' new album, Cascade on Ninja Tune pushes the cult producer's sound into all new territories. The eight tracks, each up to eight minutes long, allow his to explore sounds and grooves in full form while a subtle homage to Manchester runs through the album. Tracks like 'Afflecks Palace' featuring harp melodies and electronic bleeps, and 'Key 103,' named after a beloved local radio station, is another delight. Nearly a decade after his debut Elaenia, Floating Points has masterfully integrated his experimental ventures beyond club music into these expressive dance floor creations and remains in a class of one as a result.

Review: Floating Points, also known as Sam Shepherd, returns with a new album that pushes his sound even further into exciting new territories. This album, consisting of eight tracks, offers expansive explorations of sounds and grooves, with each piece allowed to develop and evolve over up to eight minutes. Nearly a decade after his acclaimed debut Elaenia, Shepherd continues to blend his experimental inclinations with dancefloor appeal, a fusion that has become a hallmark of his style. Cascade is conceived as a follow-up to Shepherd's rave-reviewed second studio album, Crush from 2019. While Crush introduced listeners to Shepherd's more introspective side, Cascade aims to bring the traditional Floating Points experience back to the dancefloor. Bursting with Buchla rhythms and glitching melodies, it should be more in line with his dance singles. Shepherd describes the album as a continuation, which is reflected in the vibrant artwork by Akiko Nakayamaia colourful sleeve with fluid imagery that mirrors the album's dynamic soundscapes. The album's evocative title, Cascade, suggests movement, beauty and pressure, themes that resonate throughout its paces.

Review: A new album from Sam Shepherd AKA Floating Points is always cause for celebration, but even by his standards "Crush" is rather special. Largely eschewing the ambient jazz soundscape shuffle of 2017's "Reflections - Mojave Desert", it sees the Shepherd showcase his musical dexterity in stunning fashion via cuts that wrap shimmering neo-classical strings around what sound like modular electronics and rhythms that variously touch on broken beat, off-kilter experimental D&B and Autechre-style IDM. Of course there are ambient and experimental soundscapes showcased, but it's the fact that the album contains a swathe of formidably dancefloor-focused cuts in the style that first made him standout that pleases us most. Highlights include recent single "LesAlpx", the dreamy "Anasickmodular" and the "People's Potential" style deep house intricacy of "Last Bloom".

Review: We've been waiting on this one since "J&W Beat" six years ago; there's something about Floating Points sound that instantly lends itself to full-length album immersion. It's clear he feels this way too; using the album to delve deeper into electronic deconstructions and delicate ensemble arrangements. At its most adventurous and contemporary classical "Argente" is up there with Frahm, at is dreamiest and jazz-influenced "For Marmish" is a deeply cosmic affair with disparate chords making more sense than they perhaps should. At its most traditional Floating Points we hit the finale "Perotation Six" where the brushed drums are buried under layers of sound and elements in a way that's not dissimilar to Radiohead. Well worth the wait.

Review: Last October, acclaimed saxophonist Pharoah Sanders turned 80 years young, and his input on this album is testimony to the fact he has clearly aged like a fine wine. Not that this is to suggest preceding outings were anything less worthy than this collaborative project, which sees Sam Shepherd, the British electronic artist better known to most as Floating Points, write nine spectacular arrangements which are then performed by said brass legend, alongside The London Symphony Orchestra.

The results are spectacular, and wildly far-reaching, albeit firmly rooted in jazz with classical undertones. From the movements that made this final cut, some are whisper quiet and delicate to the point of risking breaking off if you were handling haphazardly. Others are booming loud, musical jumbo jets landing at the end of another great crescendo. Whether hushed or monumental, though, we can feel every note and bar of this masterpiece.

Review: RECOMMENDED
Last October, acclaimed saxophonist Pharoah Sanders turned 80 years young, and his input on this album is testimony to the fact he has clearly aged like a fine wine. Not that this is to suggest preceding outings were anything less worthy than this collaborative project, which sees Sam Shepherd, the British electronic artist better known to most as Floating Points, write nine spectacular arrangements which are then performed by said brass legend, alongside The London Symphony Orchestra.

The results are spectacular, and wildly far-reaching, albeit firmly rooted in jazz with classical undertones. From the movements that made this final cut, some are whisper quiet and delicate to the point of risking breaking off if you were handling haphazardly. Others are booming loud, musical jumbo jets landing at the end of another great crescendo. Whether hushed or monumental, though, we can feel every note and bar of this masterpiece.

Review: Over the years, Sam Shepheard's work as Floating Points has become increasingly ambitious, moving further away from his dancefloor roots and closer to spiritual jazz, new age and neo-classical. Even so, it was still a surprise when Shepheard announced Promises, a 46-minute piece in 10 "movements" featuring the London Symphony Orchestra and legendary saxophonist Pharoah Sanders. It's an undeniably remarkable piece all told; a constantly evolving fusion of neo-classical ambience, spiritual jazz and starry, synthesizer-laden soundscapes notable not only for Sanders' sublime sax-playing and Shepheard's memorable melodic themes, but also the intricate, detailed nature of the musical arrangements. It's a stunningly beautiful and life-affirming piece all told, and one that deserves your full attention.

Review: Sam Shepherd AKA Floating Points has long been known as a producer, DJ and selector with a staggeringly good record collection. It's for this reason that his edition of "Late Night Tales", a series dedicated to the joys of post-club home listening, has been so eagerly anticipated. The resultant mix is a triumph, with Shepherd showcasing a largely rare and obscure mix of new age ambient, high-grade jazz, sumptuous folk-soul (see Abu Talib's impeccable "Blood Of An American"), psychedelic soul weirdness, intergalactic jazz-funk, Satie-style piano movements and the drowsy, liquid electronics of Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith. The set also includes a handful of exclusive tracks, including a wonderful new Floating Points cover of Kenny Wheeler's "The Sweet Time Suite (Part I - Opening)". In a word: essential.

Review: Sam Shepherd AKA Floating Points has long been known as a producer, DJ and selector with a staggeringly good record collection. It's for this reason that his edition of "Late Night Tales", a series dedicated to the joys of post-club home listening, has been so eagerly anticipated. The resultant mix is a triumph, with Shepherd showcasing a largely rare and obscure mix of new age ambient, high-grade jazz, sumptuous folk-soul (see Abu Talib's impeccable "Blood Of An American"), psychedelic soul weirdness, intergalactic jazz-funk, Satie-style piano movements and the drowsy, liquid electronics of Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith. The set also includes a handful of exclusive tracks, including a wonderful new Floating Points cover of Kenny Wheeler's "The Sweet Time Suite (Part I - Opening)". In a word: essential.