Review | Floating Action - Desert Etiquette
Named after a vintage Gretsch bass drum pedal, Floating Action is the pseudonym of Black Mountain, North Carolina-based musician, songwriter, and producer Seth Kauffman. Self-written, performed, produced and recorded, today marks the day Kauffman releases second album Desert Etiquette.
Titled for a Middle Eastern legend in which it is proper etiquette to leave a drinking vessel for the hypothetical next traveler near a remote oasis, Desert Etiquette is a dusty, stripped down sonic journey that is remarkably great to listen to.
The album has a great old feeling, its style is rather distinguishably indistinguishable, with elements of many styles, its a little bit surf, a little bit folk, but entirely lo-fi; an almost timeless sound that is lush and full of idiosyncrasies. I remember hearing the first sound of this album off a Park the Van CMJ sampler, the song Rincon has this old recording feeling, it pops and hisses, its full of wonderful layers of sound, guitars, guiro, claves, keys, that all fill in the sound and give this recording a real sense of originality.
It’s all really chill, a very west coast vibe on the entire album, from the sitar influence on Well Hidden, to the dusty, jangly Rincon, to the hazy Ambientador, this album’s got a lot to offer in a tight package. It might take a few listens to open pandora’s box on it, but it’s all well worth it.
Buy Desert Etiquette
