PLAYING FAVORITES: Floating Points – Nuits Sonores (2014) [deep house]

[Editor's Note: This was either the second or third post I ever wrote on my Wordpress blog. Needless to say, it's about as long as that new Floating Points track that I talked about here. Check out Floating Points' latest epic track in previous post on my page]

These days, I tend to be pretty picky when it comes to house music. Years ago, when I first started DJing, I used to buy whatever sounded good to me, regardless if it was good dance floor fodder or not. But these days, now that I am a part of a regular house event, I tend to lean more towards what will get people moving, rather than what makes for good listening, all while still playing music that I like. Which brings me to Floating Points 12″ single, Nuits Sonores, released late last year. Not only does it make for some great after hours, late-night listening, but thoughtfully placed in a house set, it’ll definitely get bodies moving too.

One of the standout points of the title track is just how organic the progression of the song sounds. Making a house track sound loose and organic rather than sequenced and programmed is quite the feat, as most dance music comes off as a tad predictable (not in a bad way, necessarily). The standard progression of the average dance track is generally intro/build/drop/build/second drop/then outro-progression. The London-based producer/DJ/record nerd still uses this basic foundation but has put his own personal spin on it, making both familiar and fresh at the same time.

Nuits Sonores starts off in a rather quiet, with the bass and drums nearly completely filtered out while haunting synths hang in the background. As the approaching-menace bass line/melody begins to swell and takeover the song, it slowly mutates into the meat of the song. The bass then takes center stage, accompanied with some intricate drums and percussion that help lay the foundation of the track. In the midst of this, jazzy, synth stabs sneak in and out of the mix, adding another layer of texture to the track all before leading into what I love the most: the nearly 3 minute, second breakdown and drop. Instead of giving the listener what they want when they expect from the drop, Floating Points lovingly teases the listener, allowing for anticipation to build and build for a most satisfying pay off. And with that, the track seemingly exhausted with itself, the song finally closes out but not before having one last go around. With a perfect sense of progression, movement and musical drama, it surprisingly never overstays it’s welcome over the course of it’s 12 minute run time.

As it is 12″ single, there is b-side track called Nectarines, which is a solid track in its own right. But put next to the epic that is the title track, it just can’t compete. This was hands down, one of the best songs I heard from last year and I can’t recommend listening to it enough. In fact, over the course of writing this post, I’ve listened to already about 3 times and surprisingly I’m still not sick of it. Also, brief little anecdote: despite being so densely packed with ideas, layers, and sounds that you would think it was labored over by someone suffering with OCD, according to a friend and occasional DJ partner, Four Tet, the song was made on a flight to a festival and then mixed down while DJing to the crowd at the festival! That’s pretty impressive.

But I feel like I’ve said enough. Now, I want to hear what you have to say about it. Did you listen to the track? Did you like it? Did it irritate you? Do you have any thoughts on house music in general? Anything you wanna say, please leave a comment and hopefully you’ve enjoyed what will become a reoccurring segment on this blog. Thanks again for reading!