Tracklist
A1. île Flottante
A2. Central Park
A3. Crystal Snowflakes
A4. Katamaran
B1. Low Tide
B2. Cedar Sunset
B3. Ocean Spray
B4. Dance Of The Dolphin

Île Flottante is Mr. Beatnick´s 5th album, following 2023’s Joy In Variation (including the notorious cover of Love on a Real Train) and his well-received off-beat collaboration with London-based avant-garde agitator Richard Greenan – Coasty – this is his first contribution to the International Feel trademark. Probably best known for some big deep house revivalist tunes circa 2013 on the now dormant Don’t Be Afraid record label, Beatnick now converts that aural quality and dimensionality into the Balearic system.
Île Flottante takes its name from the tastiest French pudding of Mr. Beatnick’s childhood holidays. The name, also a jeux de mots - floating island - hinting at the album’s inspirations and sense of identity, as a danceable soundtrack to a fictional island. Explored with high intensity and over a yearlong process, the sounds of the well-worn, but never failing Balearic universes were a mind expanding influence. Think of genre staples like Software, Manuel Goettsching, Mark Barrott, Len Leise, Don Carlos, Gaussian Curve, Joan Bibiloni or Yasuaki Shimuzu.
„I spent a year listening to a lot of synthesized island music, and marveling at the many twinkling wonders of the Balearic musical universe. Struck by a sense of belonging that had often eluded me on my musical journey thus far, as the weirdo at the back of the club who had orbited many scenes for 20 years, but never felt like I fitted in, I found music that made me feel like I had come home. The songs that came out of this process are presented in the order that they were written - an open book of ocean hymns, honest and spoken from the heart.“
Île Flottante tries its very hardest to avoid being any one thing in particular. At one point, it is a gentle beach walk accompanied by polyrhythmic drum plod and flourishes of Guzheng. At another, the infamous James Yancey septuplet swing is repurposed against a marimba melody that wouldn’t be out of place in one of Link’s forest adventures.
Elsewhere, there are the bellows of distant whales, touches of Italian dream house and a splash of vintage madchester, all working to create a space that feels both familiar and loaded with well worn tropes, but with its own quirky sense of personality, facets which are often attributed to Mr. Beatnick’s holistic b-boy approach. This is his understanding of a Balearic (b-boy) stance. Just with a float instead of a freeze.


Short:
Île Flottante is Mr. Beatnick´s 5th album and first contribution the Balearic system of International Feel. Full of ocean hymns and forest adventures, it includes marimba melodies, the bellows of distant whales, touches of Italian dream house and a splash of vintage madchester, all working to create a space that feels both familiar and loaded with well worn tropes, but with its own quirky sense of personality. This is his understanding of a Balearic (b-boy) stance. Just with a float instead of a freeze. For fans of: Software, Manuel Goettsching, Mark Barrott, Len Leise, Don Carlos, Gaussian Curve, Joan Bibiloni or Yasuaki Shimuzu.






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Track list:
A1. Tropics

B1. Born Again ft. Laura Roy
B2. Japanese Knives


Highlight:

This EP kicks off a run of four releases from different artists to mark the 200th outing of Will Saul's influential Aus Music. It is an era-defining label that has platformed some of the scene's brightest stars way before they broke out. Since launching in 2006, the label has remained dedicated to releasing club-ready music with a cultured edge from deep and melodic house to the earliest bass-driven post-dubstep fusions.

Opener 'Tropics' is a fully live disco workout created by some of New York's best session musicians. The perfect celebratory single kicks off the 200 series with irresistible bounce and funky basslines. Dancing keys overflow with feel-good vibes while the chords have subtle hints of a Marshall Jefferson classic. The stirring 'Born Again' is a lush and sweeping groove packed with exuberant live musicianship, distant cosmic arps and splashing cymbals. Soaring up top are the beautifully pained and emotive vocals of Laura Roy, a Grammy-nominated talent who blends 70's folk and 90's r&b into her own style. After the instrumental version comes closer 'Japanese Knives' with its paddy kick drums and organic hits, tumbling fills and heart-warming chord work. It's a classy house vibe for cosy and loved-up 'floors.
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