Elaenia is fated to become one of those albums that inspires ritualistic listening parties held by small groups of audiophiles. That shouldn't be held against it.
What makes his debut so appealing is that Shepherd never sounds too rigidly loyal to any genre or sound, making Elaenia a fascinating and confident debut from a tenured rookie.
As befitting a music obsessed neuroscience graduate, the sounds here are as eclectic as much as they are cerebral, with Kenny Wheeler, Toru Takemitsu and Moreton Subotnick all cited as influences.
Elaenia acts as a brilliant encapsulation of a huge talent.
Following the example of Four Tet’s excellent There Is Love in You, Shepherd has broken away from the dance floor to craft a confident and fulfilling electronic record meant to be enjoyed in quieter spaces.
What I most enjoy about this record is in how the music draws me deeper and deeper into each track with the final track finding me in full groove mode and left... Gasping. It's akin to a dream you find yourself fully immersed within and its a very good dream... Very surreal and pleasant. I mean, you want to stay in the dream. You don't want it to end and then it does. It just ends. "Elaenia" is one of those electronic music accomplishments that sounds a bit simplistic until you ... read more
After nearly 6 years of anticipation, Floating Points' debut album Elaenia came out to loads of critical praise. I feel this is the point where Floating Points really started finding his niche area for music and where a lot more of his music clicks with me, I am usually not too fond of progressive electronic but Floating Points manages to make it so mesmerizing to watch the sounds unravel around you into this blossoming soundscapes. I was throughly impressed by Floating Points inclusion of ... read more
1 | Nespole 5:08 | 89 |
2 | Silhouettes (I, II, III) 10:42 | 98 |
3 | Elaenia 7:14 | 81 |
4 | Argente 4:34 | 81 |
5 | Thin Air 3:59 | 77 |
6 | For Marmish 5:46 | 85 |
7 | Peroration Six 5:14 | 91 |
#1 | / | Resident Advisor |
#2 | / | XLR8R |
#3 | / | Mixmag |
#5 | / | NOW Magazine |
#6 | / | Bleep |
#9 | / | Dummy |
#12 | / | Loud and Quiet |
#14 | / | Piccadilly Records |
#16 | / | The Guardian |
#17 | / | Time Out London |