"V/A - Floating Point 4"

[Trance2MoveU]

 

 

Artist: Various

Title: Floating Point 4

Label: Sofa Beats

Date: June 2007

 

 

Shen - Jagiya

Krusseldorf - Bud Luvin

Fingertwister - I Remember Jah (Ooze Remix)

Koan - Warm Evening In Paris

Excession - Just For You

Sundial Aeon - Mysanthia

Phutureprimitive - Luminous Feat. Alyssa Palmer (Former Self Mix)

Kliment - Planet Dissolver

Rena Jones - Blueshift

Irina Mikhailova - Falling (Omnimotion Remix)

 

 

Sofa Beats is the downtempo sub-label of Iboga Records and they hit one out of the park with the Relax Mode compilation. Looking at the tracklist, my mouth starts to water as it is a virtual who's who in the downtempo genre. The covers for the Floating Point series have never been very striking, but this one is spectacular. It is of a brilliantly red sea creature (oceanographers help me out here) against a stark yellow and brown background. It immediately catches the eye. And isn't that what covers are supposed to do?

 

1. Shen is Noah Pred who has already been on several comps and put out a full length album. The thumping kick hits with the force of a sledgehammer as electronics spiral above. When the bass jumps in, there is an air of mystery supplied. Not a bad way to start an album

 

2. Krusseldorf drops a reggae-style beat presumably because he loves the "bud." Not a bad track, just a little noisy for my taste in downtempo.

 

3. Ooze remixes a Fingertwister track in a dubby style. There is a lot of chopped up samples without much in the way of melody until a calming break. After that it's just a mish-mash of sounds to me.

 

4. Koan delivers a breakbeat number that leans more towards the lounge side than his usual fare. Crystal clear, but not my style.

 

5. "Just For You" brings us the first singing on this compilation over another breakbeat. More melody and the undercurrent of a 303 gurgling beneath the surface. Not bad.

 

6. Sundial Aeon's album "Apotheosis" was awesome, so hopes are high for this one. I would say this had a far off, spacey feel with sounds floating over a crunchy breakbeat. It's ok, but not what I would choose.

 

7. The track by Phutureprimitive has more singing, but it's soulful over a downtempo groove. It's slow and entrancing, but again not for me.

 

8. "We are symptoms of the kind of system we are living. And our appearance in the system...tells us about the system." Kliment supplies a steady downtempo groove with pensive pads and glass like leads. The variety of sounds increase as the track progresses but it never sounds too busy. When the music gets to the above sample, the track changes direction and really flourishes. My favorite here.

 

9. This sounds a LOT like something Aes Dana would do. Soft tones above a glitchy percussive element. Unfortunately, I found the beginning to be the most captivating part of the track.

 

10. Omnimotion remix and Irina Mikhailova track with piano and trip hop sensibilities. Again, there is more singing (that is what Irina does!) but with a breathless, sad quality. This is the shortest track and is a good way to end the compilation.

 

Well, what can be said, but this was a decent compilation. If you are looking for beatless ambient, keep on walking. If you are looking for middle eastern themed downtempo, also keep walking. However, if you are searching for some singing amidst music that can go from reggae to breakbeat to downtempo to trip-hop, then you have come to the right place. I have heard better compilations and also a LOT worse. Worth a listen, definitely.

 

Mdk

[recursion loop]

Love this Floating Point series, sadly there were only four parts. Not all tracks are great, but I still think there is much more soul and substance in this music than in most downtenpo released today (or maybe this world just was a different place 10 years ago  ).

 

2, 4 and especially 5 are just effing incredible.