Floating Points

It’s Saturday night and Eglo Records – the label responsible for putting out my favourite track of the year, Vacuum Boogie – has taken control of Plastic People.

It’s very dark and Floating Points is in the club…somewhere… I assume… and it’s all very exciting…

Steve J aka FunkInEven has kicked off with some old-skool beats and it reminds why I usually avoid the hip-hop club dynamic. For the first time in about five years, I am sluggishly bobbing around while uncoordinated girls grind one another. Tiresome. Still, the tunes sound good and they gradually make way for some really smooth, juicy Boogie… muuuuuch better!

Prince Erotic City does the job and as the dancefloor builds up so does the tempo; due to an enthused Floating Points popping up occasionally to drop some absolute vintage disco / funk. The boy’s brimming with talent on the controls as well as in the studio – dropping One Nation Under a Groove is evidence.

The muzos are out in numbers (as usual) doing the Plastic People stance: standing facing the front knowingly admiring the tunes but refusing to even move their heads (surprised they haven’t brought note pads so they can tick off their ‘wishlist’).

Steve J has hung back to programme some Boogie production for Fatima on the mic. This girl has a voice like Erykah Baddu, Jill Scott, and Angie Stone rolled up into a pancake dripping with caramel. An irresistible voice you can actually taste.

I’m in the toilet. Some guy has gone into the store cupboard and found a tin of pink Dulux and some sort of massive T-shaped brush apparatus. He is aimlessly slopping pink gloss over the walls (see photo) much to the amusement of the three people at the urinal. This guy is so fucked he looks and thinks like Bob the Builder – just replace the hard hat and overalls with the obligatory Shoreditch plaid shirt and Newera hat.

The graceful Fatima has made way for not so graceful Seiji who lays down some Funky, which becomes Dubstep, which then becomes all-out, no holds-barred Grime/Bashment/Dancehall. Great skills, just a bit much, time to sit down for a while.

The floor has emptied a bit – might have something do with to the fact the current DJ’s choice of tunes are a bit jarring after such a soulful start. But Floating Points is due back soon, so it is worth staying.

For some reason the police are standing about by the bar, now they are in the cupboard next to the decks. Amusingly, Alex Nut is on the mic: “Yeah just keep enjoyin’ it, don’t let them stop Eglo take you over…” (or something along those lines anyway).

FPs first tune is his upcoming release. It’s deep and housey. Imagine Get Physical meets Strictly Rhythm. Bouncy and blissed-out with vocal samples, it has the dancefloor bending its knees. This tune is going to be big.

FP back to back with Steve J, we get some of the best tunes of the night. Some soul from Fatima on the mic over some 90s house records is the vocal equivalent of a cherry on top – could have done with this at peak time.

A bit later, Underground Resistance Timeline and Gino Soccio There’s a Woman are just two out of a bunch of epic selections that get the few left on the dancefloor shocking out. Only it is a shame there aren’t more of us. With any luck, next time Eglo will keep the booty-bass dancehall down to a minimum.