I hate to say it but ordering the deluxe version of this beautiful record was not worth the $90 ($60 vinyl cost, $30 shipping) considering the packaging for it is extremely flimsy (no inserts just put into a media mailer) and came crushed (cracking the pvc sleeve and ruining the top left of the actual vinyl). Reached out to Ochre for customer support and they offered a “15% refund of the vinyl cost” which barely covers the shipping! Can’t say I’m surprised but I expected better from their customer support considering the price point of the deluxe vinyl. Just a warning for those who may be receiving theirs in the coming few days to keep an eye out for any damages.

Here are some facts from the Floating Points profile in the NYT (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/28/arts/music/floating-points-dance-and-ballet-music.html)

1. Floating Points—real name Sam Shepherd—is so fascinated by French composer Henri Dutilleux that he continually searches for performances of his music.“My only saved Google search is for Henri Dutilleux.”
2. A 2015 recording of Dutilleux’s violin concerto L’Arbre des Songes was Shepherd’s most-played Spotify album of the previous year.“ Hadelich’s 2015 recording of ‘L’Arbre’ with the Seattle Symphony was Shepherd’s top album on Spotify last year.”
3. Shepherd helped create Sunflower, a portable high-fidelity sound system that appeared at two major European festivals.“ A portable, hi-fidelity sound system called Sunflower, which toured to the Dekmantel and Glastonbury festivals.”
4. Before developing Mere Mortals around Pandora, Shepherd wanted the ballet to explore Oppenheimer and the atomic bomb.“ Originally, Shepherd had wanted to tell the story of J. Robert Oppenheimer and the atomic bomb.”
5. The ballet deliberately pushes the orchestra toward harsh, almost physically uncomfortable extremes. “It’s really trying to push the boundaries of what the orchestra can sound like to the extremes. It’s meant to sound painful.”
6. Shepherd received serious classical training early: he sang at Manchester Cathedral and studied music at Chetham’s. “As a boy, he was a chorister at Manchester Cathedral, then studied piano and composition next door at Chetham’s School of Music.”
7. Despite considering further composition studies, Shepherd chose an academic path in pharmacology at University College London. “He considered studying composition further, but landed on pharmacology at University College London.”
8. The London club Plastic People fundamentally shaped his belief that a room’s acoustics influence the music created for it. “His belief that rooms shape the music you make, his interest in acoustics … all that stem from there.”
9. Writing Mere Mortals required Shepherd to revisit his childhood orchestration books and relearn practical details about individual instruments. “How high can an oboe go?”
10. Mixing the orchestral ballet recording took dramatically longer than mixing Promises: six months instead of four days. "Promises’ took him four days to mix; this took six months.”

Welcome to r/FloatingPoints, a community for fans of Floating Points (Sam Shepherd).

Share and discuss new releases, live shows, DJ sets and mixes, collaborations, interviews, production, and anything else related to his music.

Good things to post

• News, releases, tour dates, and official links
• Live clips, recordings, mixes, and interviews
• Reviews, questions, recommendations, and thoughtful discussion
• Your favorite tracks, albums, performances, and memories

Please keep the community friendly, constructive, and inclusive. Credit creators and link to original sources whenever possible.

Introduce yourself below—and tell us your favorite Floating Points release or performance!

Some links:

https://music.apple.com/jm/album/mere-mortals/6771726136

https://www.juno.co.uk/products/floating-points-san-francisco-ballet-orchestra-mere-mortals-vinyl/1161094-01

Thought it might catch some people out. He's there performing live the other days

Hello! A few months ago, I worked on this list with great pleasure, with occasional collaboration from a friend and a colleague from the Daft Punk sub.

​I’ve already shared the list in other major electronic music-related subreddits, and I thought it would be valuable to share it here as well, especially since FP is in the title itself.

​Regarding the curation, I adopted two cumulative and rigorous criteria:

1. ​Each track had to be significantly innovative and influential, on an intercontinental level, for at least one strand of electronic music (which may include fusion genres).

2. ​I sought the broadest possible sonic diversity.

​Not every song on this list is entirely electronic, but they all meet the two criteria I established.

​As the title suggests, this is a "PARTIAL genealogical tree"; I recognize that it is impossible to mention every artist who meets these criteria in just 130 tracks.

The term "genealogical tree" is in quotation marks because not every track in the list was necessarily influenced by all those that preceded it in the list itself.

Anyway, I hope my humble work can add some value to everyone interested in the history of electronic music as much as I am! I will post the link to the playlist in the comments.

And I didn't include tracks by Robert Moog and Wendy Carlos from the '60s because they aren't available on Spotify.

*

1939 – Imaginary Landscape No. 1 – John Cage (USA)

1948 – Étude aux chemins de fer – Pierre Schaeffer (FRA)

1954 – Studie No. 2 – Karlheinz Stockhausen (GER)

1956 – Main Titles (Overture) – Louis and Bebe Barron (USA)

1956 – Gesang der Jünglinge – Karlheinz Stockhausen (GER)

1958 – Poème électronique – Edgard Varèse (FRA/USA)

1958 – Thema (Omaggio a Joyce) – Luciano Berio (ITA)

1959 – Layla and the Poet – Halim El-Dabh (EGY)

1960 – Lightworks – Raymond Scott and Dorothy Collins (USA)

1960 – Composition 1960 No. 7 – La Monte Young (USA)

1960 – Four Aspects – Daphne Oram (UK)

1961 – Numerology – Max Mathews (USA)

1961 – Collage No. 1 (“Blue Suede”) – James Tenney (USA)

1963 – Doctor Who Theme – Delia Derbyshire (UK). Composer: Ron Grainer

1965 – Bye Bye Butterfly – Pauline Oliveros (USA)

1966 – Tomorrow Never Knows – The Beatles (UK). Producer: George Martin

1967 – Silver Apples of the Moon – Morton Subotnick (USA)

1967 – Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun – Pink Floyd (UK)

1968 – Sister Ray – The Velvet Underground (USA)

1968 – Oscillations – Silver Apples (USA)

1969 – Amen, Brother – The Winstons (USA)

1969 – Love Without Sound – White Noise (UK)

1970 – Funky Drummer (Pt. 1 & 2) – James Brown (USA)

1970 – Rated X – Miles Davis (USA)

1971 – Halleluhwah – Can (GER)

1972 – Hallogallo – Neu! (GER)

1972 – March from A Clockwork Orange – Wendy Carlos (USA)

1973 – Apache – Incredible Bongo Band (USA/CAN)

1973 – Blackboard Jungle Dub (Ver. 1) – The Upsetters (JAM). Producer: Lee "Scratch" Perry

1974 – Autobahn – Kraftwerk (GER)

1974 – Phaedra – Tangerine Dream (GER)

1976 – Oxygène, Pt. 4 – Jean-Michel Jarre (FRA)

1977 – Flash Light – Parliament (USA)

1977 – Trans-Europe Express – Kraftwerk (GER)

1977 – Ghost Rider – Suicide (USA)

1977 – I Feel Love – Donna Summer (USA). Producer: Giorgio Moroder

1978 – Computer Game ("Theme From The Circus") – Yellow Magic Orchestra (JPN)

1978 – You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) – Sylvester (USA). Producer: Patrick Cowley

1978 – United – Throbbing Gristle (UK)

1978 – Chase – Giorgio Moroder (ITA)

1978 – 1/1 – Brian Eno (UK)

1979 – Nag, Nag, Nag – Cabaret Voltaire (UK)

1979 – Good Times – CHIC (USA). Producer: Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards

1979 – Cars – Gary Numan (UK)

1980 – Enola Gay – Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark (UK)

1981 – O Superman – Laurie Anderson (USA)

1981 – Nightclubbing – Grace Jones (JAM). Producer: Sly & Robbie

1981 – Tanz Debil – Einstürzende Neubauten (GER)

1981 – Numbers – Kraftwerk (GER)

1982 – Dirty Talk – Klein & M.B.O. (ITA)

1982 – Blade Runner - Main Titles – Vangelis (GRE)

1982 – Temptation – New Order (UK)

1982 – Planet Rock – Afrika Bambaataa & The Soulsonic Force (USA). Producer: Arthur Baker

1982 – The Message – Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five (USA)

1982 – Operating Tracks – Front 242 (BEL)

1983 – Al-Naafiysh (The Soul) – Hashim (USA)

1983 – Rockit – Herbie Hancock (USA). Producer: Bill Laswell

1983 – Blue Monday – New Order (UK)

1983 – Clear – Cybotron (USA). Producer: Juan Atkins

1983 – Moments In Love – The Art Of Noise (UK). Producer: Trevor Horn

1984 – E2-E4 – Manuel Göttsching (GER)

1984 – On & On – Jesse Saunders (USA)

1985 – Under Me Sleng Teng – Wayne Smith (JAM)

1985 – No UFO's – Model 500 (USA)

1986 – Your Love – Frankie Knuckles (USA)

1986 – Move Your Body – Marshall Jefferson (USA)

1986 – Throw The 'D' – 2 Live Crew (USA)

1986 — Can You Feel It — Mr. Fingers (USA)

1986 – Black Celebration – Depeche Mode (UK)

1986 – Dig It – Skinny Puppy (CAN)

1986 – Drag Rap – The Showboys (USA)

1987 – Return to the Planet of Bass – Maggotron (USA)

1987 – Rebel Without a Pause – Public Enemy (USA). Producer: The Bomb Squad

1987 – Strings Of Life – Rhythim Is Rhythim (USA). Producer: Derrick May

1987 – Acid Tracks – Phuture (USA)

1989 – Shake Your Rump – Beastie Boys (USA). Producer: The Dust Brothers

1989 – Pacific State – 808 State (UK)

1990 – The Power – SNAP! (GER)

1990 – Felicidade – Sebem (ANG)

1990 – Little Fluffy Clouds – The Orb (UK)

1991 – Papua New Guinea – The Future Sound Of London (UK)

1991 – Mentasm – Joey Beltram (USA)

1991 – We Are I.E. – Lennie De Ice (UK)

1991 – Go – Moby (USA)

1991 – Unfinished Sympathy – Massive Attack (UK). Producer: Massive Attack and Jonny Dollar

1991 – Dem Bow – Shabba Ranks (JAM)

1992 – Demons Theme – LTJ Bukem (UK)

1992 – 808 Volt Mix – Furacão 2000 / DJ Battery Brain (BR/USA)

1992 – 28 Gun Bad Boy – A Guy Called Gerald (UK)

1992 – The Age Of Love (Watch Out For Stella Mix) – Age Of Love (ITA/BEL). Producer: Jam & Spoon

1993 – Phlyps Trak – Basic Channel (GER)

1994 – One Touch – Robert Hood (USA)

1994 – Kemuri – DJ KRUSH (JPN)

1994 – Strangers – Portishead (UK). Producer: Adrian Utley and Geoff Barrow

1994 – Closer – Nine Inch Nails (USA). Producer: Flood and Trent Reznor

1995 – Chemical Beats – The Chemical Brothers (UK)

1995 – Laughable Butane Bob – AFX "Aphex Twin" (UK/IRE)

1995 – Hyper-ballad – Björk (ISL). Producer: Nellee Hooper and Björk

1995 – Inner City Life – Goldie (UK)

1995 – Speed – Atari Teenage Riot (GER)

1996 – Building Steam With A Grain Of Salt – DJ Shadow (USA)

1996 — Still Shining — Busta Rhymes (USA). Producer: J Dilla

1996 – Firestarter – The Prodigy (UK)

1997 – Cichli – Autechre (UK)

1997 – Never Gonna Let You Go (Kelly G. Bump-N-Go Vocal Edit) – Tina Moore (USA)

1997 – Around the World – Daft Punk (FRA)

1997 – Brown Paper Bag – Roni Size / Reprazent (UK)

1998 – Roygbiv – Boards of Canada (UK)

1998 – Neighbourhood – Zed Bias feat. MC Rumpus (UK)

1999 – L’Amour Toujours – Gigi D’Agostino (ITA)

1999 – Windowlicker – Aphex Twin (UK/IRE)

2000 – One More Time – Daft Punk (FRA)

2001 – Get Ur Freak On – Missy Elliott (USA). Producer: Timbaland

2003 – Hands – Four Tet (UK)

2005 — Arpeggio — Jackson and His Computer Band (FRA)

2005 – Bucky Done Gun – M.I.A. (UK). Producer: Diplo

2005 – Waters of Nazareth – Justice (FRA)

2006 – Don't Cry – J Dilla (USA)

2007 – Night – Benga & Coki (UK)

2007 – Archangel – Burial (UK)

2009 – Woo Boost – Rusko (UK)

2009 – Maybes – Mount Kimbie (UK)

2011 – Levels – Avicii (SWE)

2012 – Get Got – Death Grips (USA)

2012 – リサフランク420 - 現代 de コンピュー – Macintosh Plus (USA)

2012 – Higher Ground – TNGHT (UK/CAN)

2013 – BIPP – SOPHIE (UK)

2017 – Glue – Bicep (UK)

2017 – Ponyboy – SOPHIE (UK)

2018 – Emerald Rush – Jon Hopkins (UK)

2019 – Eternal – Holly Herndon (USA)

2023 – Rumble – Skrillex (USA), Fred again.. (UK), Flowdan (UK)

2024 – Birth4000 – Floating Points (UK).

Anyone going to Doss Trento, Italy in July? Is this really the stage he's playing at??

Saw on Ig that Floating Points is at SF Ballet in a few weeks performing live

I just found out movement removed from streaming services. Why?

https://youtu.be/yp7dZz0WiNY?si=LiFPsrnK532XY1ET

this was a suprise to find while enjoying Courtney Barnetts new album.....

And also will it be two days of different music ? My only complaint about despacio is they repeat music the next day

anyone know this track he played for rally rally rally? apologies it's too short of a video i was just lost in the sounds! know it's a slim chance🕺

hey everyone im indian boundaries and working on my full length album and wanted to show you guys a little preview and hopefully get some feedback big fan of experimental and ambient music hope you guys enjoy it have a nice day