SHOW 019
AIR DATE: JUNE 12, 2021
Set 1
This week’s show was all about Sam Shepherd, the Manchester, England-born electronic artist, DJ, and composer known as Floating Points. In the first hour, we listened to his debut album from 2015, Elaenia, in its entirety.
Shepherd studied piano at Chetham's School of Music before receiving a PhD in neuroscience and epigenetics at the University College London. He also worked as a DJ at Plastic People, a London club, in the late 2000s.
My first introduction toFloating Points was from my pal Eric. He invited me to Output, a now closed club in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, to see Shepherd DJ. That night, he played what he became well known for: DJ mixes titled “You’re A Melody” that explored the deep deep library of global funk, disco, and soul music. I became entranced. One of the best nights of dancing, ever. You can listen to these mixes on Soundcloud here:
A solid nine hours of excellent dance music right there.
As for his other work, Shepherd creates incredible electronic soundscapes and compositions. Elaenia utilizes mostly analog synthesizers, pairing them with live instrumentation: electric bass, guitar, piano, live drums, and strings. Best to turn up your stereo to really hear the full dynamic range of this piece. better yet, listen with headphones! Shepherd has cited Talk Talk as an inspiration, and you can hear the influence of albums like 1991’s Laughing Stock.
Set 2
In the second hour, we take a look at Shepherd’s latest release: 2021’s Promises, a nine Movement composition featuring Pharoah Sanders and the London Symphony Orchestra. This is Sanders’ first album of new work in nearly two decades, which Pitchfork called a “clear late-career masterpiece.” Pharoah Sanders, born Ferrell Sanders in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1940, was a member of John Coltrane’s groups in the 1960s. He has released over 30 albums as a leader. Sanders is known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on the saxophone.
In a 2020 interview with The New Yorker, Sanders, said he hadn’t been listening to records for a while. “I listen to things that maybe some guys don’t,” he said. “I listen to the waves of the water. Train coming down. Or I listen to an airplane taking off.”
From that same Pitchfork review: “Shepherd composed the music, played various instruments, electronic and otherwise, and enlisted the London Symphony Orchestra to perform it. Sometimes the piece is so quiet you might check your volume setting to see if it’s still on, and other times, when the strings hit a crescendo, it’s earth-shaking. In the middle of this tapestry is Sanders, his warm tone and fluid technique undiminished even at 80 years old, listening to his surroundings and finding brilliant patterns to stitch the work together and thus elevate it...Promises is about melody, harmony, and texture. There’s patience and focus to this piece, all powered by Sanders’ horn.”
Listen for the opening motif of notes that reappears throughout the entire piece, setting the rhythm for the music swirling around it. This motif is almost like a spirit floating around the space of the composition. The strings first appear in Movement 3, and in Movement 4, Sanders trades his horn for wordless vocal sounds. In the sixth movement, the strings reach their climax with rising crescendos that overpower the mix; the orchestra then dissipates into the background at the movement's conclusion. Shepherd and Sanders resume their running performance, veering into an "abstract psychedelia" direction. The central motif ultimately fades from the mix during the eighth movement. After a series of false endings, the piece finally concludes with its ninth movement.