Skip to main content

Flying Lotus

103
Flying Lotus

Flying Lotus
Flying Lotus (or FlyLo for short) is the brain-child of Steven Ellison. His first album was 1983 (released in 2006). Rarely does an artist come straight out of the gates with their sound so fully formed and hit it out of the ballpark- on the heals of his rookie season. (OK, I don't know why I felt the need for all the baseball analogies there, but that's how good his debut album is. [Pitchfork described it as: "IDM-influenced sounds from this talented architect of instrumental hip-hop."]) FlyLo went on to release two more amazing albums (2008's Los Angeles & 2010's Cosmogramma) before I had ever heard his name. Cosmogramma made many end-of-the-year best-of lists, so it is safe to call that his breakthrough album... that's when he entered the pop culture zeitgeist and officially came onto my radar. So it was with naivety but open-mindedness I finally check out FlyLo with 2012's Until the Quiet Comes. It was like entering a soundscape I had known never existed- a trippy, balanced world of jazz & EDM living as one, living in harmony... with beautiful melodies... and complex tones. Whatever the subconscious sounds like- this is it! This is the closest I can tell to what music would sound like if there was one conductor of this train we call life. And if that doesn't make sense- that's okay- it also doesn't make sense that this chaotic music can sound so freakin' awesome. To get that feeling of chaos must take some serious composing, arranging, and knowledge as a recording artist. Since I came on board, FlyLo has released two other amazing albums: 2014's You're Dead! & 2019's Flamagra. Flying Lotus is a man of many capes. He dips his toes into other multi-media projects. He's directed some freaky-horror videos. He also creates most of the music for the Adult Swim programming, you know- that late night channel with the cartoons? He has his own radio station in the Grand Theft Auto games. He keeps good company, having worked with Kendrick Lamar, Thundercat, Thom Yorke, and many more (here's a list of His 10 Best Collaborations). He also uses the pseudonym Captain Murphy when he feels like stepping back from behind the beat-making and picking up the mic as a rapper. Finally, and maybe coolest note of all: his great-aunt is the legendary Alice Coltrane. How cool is that? Talk about keeping the legacy alive. He is the man with the most-est...
It's...
Flying Lotus

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Band

19 The Band The Band First known as the Hawks, the Band got their initial fame as Bob Dylan’s backing band. Remember when Bob Dylan sold out and went electric, angering fans so much that they called him “ Judas ”? Well, you can thank all of that to the Band. For a band that sounds so fucking American (seriously- no band has done the whole Americana roots music better than the Band) it’s pretty funny most of them were Canadian. After finally branching out on their own in 1968, the Band would release some of the best music ever recorded… and if you thought the Beatles had a hell of a run- check out the Band’s discography: 1968’s Music From Big Pink , 1969’s self-titled The Band , 1970’s Stage Fright , 1971’s Cahoots , 1972’s live-album Rock of Ages , 1973’s Moondog Matinee , 1975’s Northern Lights -Southern Cross , and 1977’s Islands. Lynard Skynard may have taken the crown for greatest southern rock band, but for a band full of Canadians and Americans, the Band really embraces a...
Post a Comment
Read more

Crystal Castles

61 Crystal Castles Crystal Castles If you ever wondered what it would sound like if the video-game character Mario was catapulted through a plate-glass window- you'd get close to describing Crystal Castles. Cut up vocals and soothing waves of synth, live shows known for "fan riots, crowd surges, and metal barriers destroyed" Toronto electronic-punk-bleep-pop duo Crystal Castles is music that could only be made in the post-modern / post-millennium era, with a fan base that remembers the 8-bit era. Some dance music is meant to be played in the dark, but few dance bands bring their own darkness. This is dance music for sociopaths. Crystal Castles is the brain-child of Ethan Kath. The band began as a Kath solo project in 2003, but the producer recruited a 15-year-old Alice Glass to add vocals. Glass recorded rough soundcheck vocals for five tracks, which were secretly recorded by an en engineer, and Kath uploaded the material un der the name Crystal Castles. After rele...
Post a Comment
Read more

Cake

43 Cake Cake What you need is some CAKE. The late 90's were primed for CAKE. When the emotional hangover of the grunge scene was too much, we got CAKE. This isn't a gag joke. In fact- your gag reflexes are in need of some CAKE.  Despite CAKE's quirky surface, singer John McCrea's deadpan delivery and Vince Di Fiore's mariachi trumpet playing, CAKE is as real as it gets. And with more than 25 years as a band and still going strong, they have nothing left to prove. It all started with 1994's Motorcade for Generosity with the single " Rock 'n' Roll Lifestyle " which mocked trust-fund rebels. Then came 1996's Fashion Nugget with the all-time classic " The Distance ." 1998 gave us Prolonging the Magic, a high-water mark. I got on board in 2001 with Comfort Eagle . I was big on disco at the time and their cover of " I Will Survive " caught my attention, and then I saw the " Short Skirt, Long Jacket " video o...
Post a Comment
Read more