REVIEW: Flying Lotus Brings Us The “Cosmogramma”
Somewhere in-between mainstream Hip-Hop, and Indie/Backback, there’s a number of artists carving their own niche in Hip-Hop. If you’ve heard of artists like Madlib, Lamb and AFTA-1, then chances are you’d heard of Flying Lotus. Free from the confines of MTV and Clear Channel radio, these cats are taking elements from other forms of creativeness and rewriting the book on dope music.
I was first exposed to the ‘Lotus Sound’ in the form of those intermission beats in-between the shows on the Cartoon Network‘s Adult Swim set. After scrambling for weeks trying to find more information and music, I managed to get my hands on his 2006 release, 1983. Somewhere in that grey area where industrial music and hip-hop mesh, Flying Lotus managed to craft this unusually infectious sound coupled with bombastic, over modulated drumbeats. I was instantly hooked.
Four years later, Flying Lotus hasn’t let up a bit. With the release of Cosmogramma, he’s managed to fine-tune and update his joints without sacrificing that niche sound he has. It’s pretty easy to get lost in the minutia of copycats and remixers who tack on their flavor to the style, but one of the positive things you can say is you can spot a Flying Lotus track on first hearing it.
“Mmmhmm” featuring Thundercat has this updated 1960′s space-aged vibe. I love the mellowness and the vocals that take a backseat to the sound effects, which play a prominent role on top of the drumtrack.
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Flying Lotus - Mmmhmm feat. Thundercat |
My favorite cut is “Zodiac Shit” which comes off in this incredible industrial style, along the lines of AFTA-1 and Dam Funk. Flying Lotus has brought me head first into this sound.
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Flying Lotus - Zodiac Shit |
Then you get other songs like “German Haircut” that plays more like a standard impromptu jazz session, rich with ambient sounds and airy modulation. Flying Lotus manages to touch a number of different styles without straying from the foundation of his signature sound. For those of us who appreciate quality music that challenges our senses, I can’t see how you don’t pick this up.
Buy Cosmogramma @ One Of These Online Spots:
Warp Records | iTunes | Amazon (US) (UK)| Bleep | HMV
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I say this one is his masterwork so far. An excellent gathering together of the avant-garde/free jazz lineage that he was born into and the future-leaning beats that he’s currently pioneering. Excellent album.