Floom Sounds Three

Listen to the Floom Sounds Spotify playlist here! We'll update it with every new instalment.

…and the forest began to sing - royksopp

This is the first track from an all-instrumental, rather moody album that you might have missed amongst the more populist synth-pop we’re used to hearing from these guys. Its an all-too-brief scene setter, as the crackle of vinyl gives way to floaty keys and synths: pretty, lilting melodies appear here and there before disappearing into the ether again and the whole thing builds to a very gentle crescendo before falling away again into crackling ambience.

small poppies - courtney barnett

Courtney Barnett is one of those songwriters who manages to wring profundity from the mundane in the most gut-wrenching of ways that’s kind of impossible to sum up in words on a page. ‘Small Poppies’ sits just before her best song ‘Depreston’ on her first full-length album and before building to a climax of crunchy guitars and repeated vocal motifs, you get a wistful first verse about her garden: ‘I stare at the lawn, it’s Wednesday morning / It needs a cut but I leave it growing / All different sizes and all shades of green / Slashing it down just seems kind of mean…’

treetop - clams casino

Clams Casino was briefly a certified big deal way back in 2011, when his instrumentals Mixtape dropped and everyone was flipping out (or more accurately, mellowing out) to the likes of Main Attraktionz, Squadda B, Lil B and other even less memorable acts who fell under the ‘cloud rap’ umbrella. There was some genuinely great stuff amidst all that and pretty much all of it was produced by Clams, or following a template that he made his own. This track comes from the Rainforest EP (put out on the excellent Tri Angle label) that Clams released before blowing up with Instrumentals, and there’s a pretty nature-specific theme to the whole thing as you might expect. Here, he marries earthy, organic textures and very rainforest-y found sounds to synth lines that both undulate and buzz over a nice and fuzzed out beat.

new grass - talk talk

Laughing Stock was Talk Talk’s final album and their finest - one of the great art-rock albums of all time that took some time to be accepted as such, being both way ahead of its time in many respects and also created by a band who started out making a cross-eyed take on Duran Duran synthpop . The six tracks that comprise the record are perfectly formed little worlds, and every single element - from the ridiculous to the sublime - sounds gorgeous (‘gorgeous’ might seem trite but really, there’s no other adjective to better describe them). ‘New Grass’ is no exception: electric organs and chiming guitar glide blissfully over drums that feel somehow shuffling and motorik at the same time. All the while Mark Hollis’ haunted intonations sew a gossamer thread of words into the heart of the collage. It’s an album that alienated a hell of a lot of fans upon its release (at least, those who weren’t already alienated by its almost-as-brilliant predecessor Spirit Of EdenI), and its genius might not be readily apparent if this is your first exposure. Give it time though. Immerse yourself.

flowers (sunship remix) - sweet female attitude

I’m writing this on a Friday afternoon so forgive me the brief excursion into turn-of-the-millenium-one-hit-wonder nostalgia… Actually, forget that. I’ve just fired up Youtube and its still an undeniably great garage track. Obviously no one needs to hear it in a club ever, ever again but there is certainly a time and place for it still and that time and place is probably now, as the end of the working week edges into the beginning of the weekend and everyone in the office is eyeing each other furtively as they crack open cans of ready-mixed Jack Daniels And Coke under their desks, unable to contain their widening grins and nodding heads as they race to finish off that last spreadsheet on- ohforgetitI’LLBRINGYOUFLOWERRRRSINTHEPOURINGRAIIIIIIIIN