// We love . . . Sam Shepherd AKA Floating Points //

The first instance we heard of this young mans talent was on Tensnake’s Resident Advisor mix last year. The track featured was “Vacuum Boogie” and it shuffled along beautifully in a spacey acid jazz style groove which reminded me of Glenn Underground’s work in the mid to late 90’s. Since then we dug a little deeper into his works and quickly become big fans of his ability to float to and from multiple genres whilst turning heads and pricking up a number of well educated ears. His competence and ability seemingly beyond his years can be vindicated by his time studying classical composition and jazz piano in Manchester at Cheltham’s School of Music.

Still in his early twenties, Shepherd has had tracks and remixes released on labels like R2, Planet Mu, Ninja Tune, Domino, Gilles Peterson’s Brownswood and his very own label Eglo which he runs with Rinse Fm’s Alexander Nut. Another astonishing achievement occurred in May 2009 when Shepherd and fellow collaborator Fatima conducted a 13 piece Floating Points ensemble at Camdens Roundhouse to great success.

Stand out tracks for us are: - Love Me Like This (nonsense dub) on R2 Records, a synth drenched bump along with riding piano. - The flip side “Shangrila” with its panning keys, effects and future break beat/electronica. - K & G Beat on Plant Mu and Peroration V on Brownswood , proper broken beat atmospherics with the latter a collaboration with Fatima. - Our particular fave "Shark Chase" recently released on Eglo, a jazzy techno trip full of cheeky little surprises.

I would strongly suggest you have a peek at this geezer's busy schedule and check him out live if your lucky enough to have him in your manor in the near future >>> myspace.com/floatingpoints

Words by soundcanvasmusic.