Various Artists Eglo Records Vol. 1

Once, as I stood in a South London club pondering whether I should invest my remaining shrapnel in a bottle of water or a shot of whiskey, and if my keys felt more comfortable in my left or right trouser pocket, the highly acclaimed British musician Four Tet squeezed past me. If you’ve never had Four Tet squeeze past you, I’d recommend it. His curly barnet provides a playful tickle on the way and he carries a facial expression that reads, “I really am very sorry to be invading your personal space. Please accept this hair tickle by way of my most sincere apologies”.

Watching his ‘fro disappear into the crowd, and realising that my keys in fact felt best in the left pocket, I noticed that Eglo Records chieftan Sam Shepherd, aka Floating Points, was following close behind. In an impressive show of awareness considering the hour of night, I did what his eyes were clearly crying out for and forcibly stopped him in his tracks to tell him that he was the best producer in the whole world. He smiled coyly, indicated after Four Tet, and said, “I dunno, he’s pretty good”. I disputed his claim, gave him a pat on the back, and switched my keys back to the right pocket.

To this day, I would attest to Floating Points’ standing as one of the greatest and most underrated electronic producers of the past decade, with his own Eglo imprint the usual place for his jazzy deep house masterpieces. Four years since its inception, the label that he co-runs with Rinse FM DJ Alexander Nut releases a retrospective compilation featuring some of his finest creations, alongside several gems from the imprint’s other artists.

Nestled among these cuts are four previously unheard exclusives. The best of these is ‘Visit You’ by Eglo stalwart Fatima, who delivers mesmerising vocals over rising producer Budgie’s crisp, glistening funk. Eglo’s other soulful songstress, Shuanise, provides a classical jazz vocal coupled with a sloping beat on ‘Mercy’, The Abstract Eye (aka LA’s Gifted & Blessed) soundtrack a DMT-fuelled Tardis ride to the year 2830 on ‘Reflexes’, whilst Floating Points Ensemble stay true to form on ‘Wires’, stepping back from the dancefloor to deliver an odyssey of percussive, string-laden jazz.

Incorporating FunkinEven’s idiosyncratic brand of UK acid alongside ARP 101’s grime inflected aquatic boogie, as well as representing the label’s sizeable female contingent, these are two discs that demonstrate the continued understated brilliance of Eglo Records. Long may they reign.