Awesome pick! I was considering his new EP for my club this week. FlyLo is far and away my favorite Electronica artist. Similar to Coming On Strong, I appreciate the selection in his discography. This always felt like the final album in his adolescent psychedelic sound before he moved into a more cinematic, thematic approach for his studio work. Really looking forward to revisiting this one.
@Jangles it’s interesting tou feel this way - I always found the later stuff a little lacking in the beautiful kaleidoscopic nature of this… they feel a little considered and narrower as a result. An amazing artist whichever way you see it, but I feel this is really the pinnacle of his career. Once you have painted something so broad, you can only really zoom in.
@BlackPlastic definitely two sides of the same coin. I can see your point of view in the breadth of his early work. I suppose my take on the "thematic" approach moving forward is narrowing the aperture on the kaleidoscope. As you said, an amazing artist that continues to find new ideas and explore new ground.
Flying Lotus' music feels so hard to describe. I find it to be more of a meditation than an active listen that demands dissection. The influences are so eclectic and the vibe is so underground it's truly hard to compare. His influence on the electronic, hip-hop and jazz community through Low-End Theory in LA says volumes, though. He feels like your favorite artist's favorite artist. This album, to me, feels like FlyLo as a teenager. He's grown up from the simple, quirky beats of Adult Swim (shout out Sangria Spin Cycles!), but he hasn't quite arrived at his more conceptual maturity of Until the Quiet Comes. When I'm in the mood this one always hits, but I find myself gravitating towards later work these days. Awesome pick that I hope turns some folks onto his work.
@BlackPlastic curious if you have any other artist recommendations that similarly channel the cosmos, slice open the head and open the brain up a bit?
@Jangles Great question! I instinctively veer towards jazz for that sort of thing… Coltrane’s A Love Supreme is truly transcendental. I also always revisit Music For Airports, which never fails to affect me. And Steve Reich’s Music For 18 Musicians is similarly brilliant. These also naturally connect to Vijay Iyer in my brain - a modern jazz musician. He has an album called Accelerando, which includes a cover of FlyLo’s MmmHmm AND a frankly staggering cover of Michael Jackson’s Human Nature. Not sure if any of these will be your thing - it will depend on how you feel about jazz and ambient. They definitely open my mind up though.
@BlackPlastic Great recommendations. Have always been pulled towards Giant Steps rather than A Love Supreme, so will have to revisit. I was recently introduced to Music For Airports through an ambient club here. Sort of blew my mind. Will definitely give Vijay and Steve's music a spin. I like to dabble in jazz - Django Reinhardt, Herbie Hancock, Dave Brubeck, as well more modern stuff like Domi and JD Beck - but find recommendations the best way to discover new and old artists. Thanks for the suggestions!
This inspired me to pull out some of his vinyl. Currently running through Until the Quiet Comes and You're Dead! while working on some site updates.
