Hi, I'm Sam. I make music as Floating Points.
I'm at Amoeba in L.A. and this is 'What's in My Bag.'
I've got a bunch of records here that
some of them are for friends back home who are kind of looking for these records.
It's quite easy to find a lot of stuff over here, like Pharoah Sanders.
This one is a record we used to play at a club in London called Plastic People.
There's a tune called 'Love is Everywhere'
which is like 20 minute long.... joyous...
It's jazz but then it's kind of uptempo
and people, in the right context, will dance to this record
Yeah, really beautiful, good value, so that's for my friend Mafalda
This one is a label called Ebonite Records, which was one of these tax scam labels.
I think, in America, back in the mid-seventies
major labels found a loophole where they could open a subsidiary label
and write off their catalog and say they manufactured thousands of copies
but actually only did a few, and they'd say it was a massive loss
and so they're usually digging up demos and
records that probably wouldn't have normally got released, and put them out
and some amazing records, like Mad Cliff
which is the guy Chris Hill from Players Association
had a record on that, and it's just amazing demo versions
of records he was going to release in the future
This is a record on Ebonite, which put out a lot of really good dance floor stuff
and so I'm taking a risk on this one
The reissue of 'The Edge of Daybreak'
This record I go on about to everyone I meet
and the Numero Group, a label based in Chicago
they're amazing guys, they go around the States digging up often unreleased music
from tapes, from people who have them in their vaults
and everything on Numero is worth checking out.
This one is
a record that was recorded in Richmond, Virginia
a correctional facility, Virginia State Penitentiary
It was recorded at a studio outside. They were allowed out to record it
You can't help but hear the sense of imprisonment.
I think, on the back of the original, it says something like,
'This record is dedicated to
everyone that is incarcerated, and is a prayer to the day we'll all be free.'
I think everyone should hear this record, it's stunning.
Another reissue, this is Mary Clark, so...
this is another record I obsess over, that I found in Japan
Actually, as I was leaving the record shop in Osaka
the dealer, who I know quite well, was like, 'Oh you might like this'
and I was like, 'I've gotta go, gotta go.'
I was listening to it and was like, this is exactly my thing.
Patrick Adams production, who's a producer from New York
who's really influential in the birth of disco.
The way he would mix records was
in my opinion, the geatest of all disco mixes
That Jesse Gould 'Out of Work' is just so powerful
The drums sound better than any drums on any disco record I've ever heard
and this is no exception.
Mary Clark 'Take Me I'm Yours.'
and this is a reissue which has an instrumental on the flip
which my copy doesn't have
and there was a bootleg that was done maybe 5 years ago
There was no dot after the 'mfg' on there, on the bootleg, so
apparently this is an official reissue
and that's how the sort of record nerds... not that I am one
Doesn't sound like it, does it.... But
that's how you tell if it's a bootleg
This is my friend's band
Joel Stone has a shop in New York called Tropicalia in Furs
and this guy was, for me, an amazing educator
in Brazilian music, and I'm obsessed with Brazilian music
and he's really into the psychier side of things
and this is a record he made with some friends, and so I'm going to get this
and that's for me.
I don't know this record, this is Gunter Hampel
but in the band is Anthony Braxton
who's a really influentially important jazz musician
and the father of Tyondai Braxton, who also makes music, so I'm a big fan of
both Tyondai and Anthony's works, so it's a nice...
I'll check that out.
This one is for a friend, it's Charles Earland
This record I play a lot in clubs. There's a tune called 'Van Jay.'
'Van Jay' is the one, if I ever DJ this record
I sort of go into a trance
I kind of lose my marbles when Charles does his organ solo, right at the end of the tune
and it's kind of a pretty straight organ jazz record
but the performances are wicked and the lineup is super-heavy
like Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard... you can't go wrong.
And another gift for someone, this is Ornette Coleman
'Science Fiction,' which has a tune called 'Lawyers'
This is a tune that I used to play when I was at school
had a little band and we used to play 'Lawyers'
so whenever I see this record, I try to pick it up
because, again, I don't really see this very often in the UK.
Masabumi Kikuchi & Gil Evans
Gil Evans had recorded previously a tune called 'Priestess' and this is with an orchestra
It's beautiful version of this tune
but it's not only that, there's something about the recording that's just super-open.
It kind of reminds me of the time in my life when I first moved to London
one of the first records I bought from a shop called 'If Music'
to see it again, which I... I don't really see this record out
so I was like, Yes! Wicked. Good to see that.
Chick Corea and Return to Forever
one of the first five records I ever had in my entire life
Every tune on this, 'You're Everything,' 'Light as a Feather,' 'Captain Marvel'
It's a beautiful jazz record.
I used to just try and copy Chick Corea's solos
and just play along with this record
and the tune 'You're Everything' has got Flora Purim.
I think she recorded this vocal in one take
whilst breastfeeding her newly born son.
They had a singer slated to do it
and then Chick was like, 'No I need Flora.'
and she was like, I've just given birth, I can't get on a plane.'
and he was like 'I need you here,' and they recorded it in London.
This record is wicked. I love this.
I say they're for other people but actually, I just get home and I lose them immediately
so that's how it really works.
Thanks for having me. It's nice to
get records I've already got.