Tag Archives: Flying Lotus

Flying Lotus – Pattern + Grid World

19 Jan

Hey everyone. I have a quick little post about a strange little Flying Lotus EP named Pattern + Grid World. First and foremost, this EP has probably one of the best album covers out there and needs some words about it.

The picture above is the said cover art. Is it a man hiding in bushes or a strange space monster? The level of detail is astounding up close, but as you move further away the pictures seems to change. The leaves fade away like an illusion and only the eyes are left staring at you from a blur. Pretty trippy is you ask me.

Released in 2010, Pattern + Grid World is considerably different from his previous release, Cosmogramma. Whereas Cosmogramma was out there and focused more around inflections of jazz,  Pattern + Grid World is simply out there. Take the first song for example:

“Clay” is only the spacey introduction to some cosmic drama. Once Flylo’s signature tribal sounding beat drops in it becomes a completely revolutionary experience. It hovers right there on the edge of being completely out there and bizarre, but just relaxing enough to listen to in any situation. The different melodies are interchanged frequently and partially drowned out by random sounds that really it just is an airy blur, sort of like the front cover art. It all makes sense!

The next song is the single. I put down below because musically it is much different from the rest, but it has a really cool and music video. Don’t forget to watch it, but now listen to this:

As aside from its completely cool name “Time Vampires” is in every way similar the first song yet bizarrely different. It begins with strange voices and again a nice beat. But this whistle begins to play that makes you begin to question your current situation. Like telephone hold music from hell, it mocks you by being pretty yet infuriating. Only a man like Flylo can pull something like this off.

“Jurassic Notion/M Theory” is definitely the weirdest song on the album. This song is the quintessential modern tribal experience. Rollercoaster noises, strange people cheering, and a bass line which gives up way too easily. Nothing more can really be said. You just have to let this one sink it on its own.

Flying Lotus is releasing his brand new album at Coachella this year. I won’t be there since I’m poor and in need of a job, but I’ll be watching the stream. Sort of like the album art.

&)

-oko

P.S. As promised:

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Reckoner (Flying Lotus Remix)

24 Jul

“A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version.”

-Wikipedia

Two of the best musicians today happen to be close friends. Their musical styles are very different, but their music meshes so perfectly that something completely new and pure is born as a result. It leaves you wondering if there is an end to the limits of music.

The artists I am talking about are Flying Lotus and Radiohead, more specifically Thom Yorke. Their relationship is strange, bringing together British and West Coast influences. They often play each other’s music at live shows and when they get together to make a song the result is usually astounding.This song which you are presumably listening to right now is a take on the Radiohead song Reckoner as remixed by Flying Lotus.

The first thing you should notice is that he completely replaced the beat with one of his own. It has essentially been turned into a hip hop song, but a ghostly one which cuts a completely new road for the genre and solidifies FlyLo‘s experimental capabilities. The clicking noises are my absolute favorite as they maintain an extremely uneven beat which is so strangely gratifying. The vocals, perfectly layered over each other, are darker and filtered, giving the entire song this haunted feeling. At 2:20 the song ends culminates to what could be the ending of a cheap horror film, a very strange last note. Most of the original song had been cut out, but that which remains is so beautifully mixed that it just demands quiet respect. If I were a member of Radiohead, I would be utterly enthralled that something like this could be made from my music.

Now by no means do I think this remix to be ‘better’ than the original song. It is its own complete separate entity and a unique listening experience. Comparing the two would be like comparing apples and oranges. Except maybe that in this case, both of them would be the color gold.

-oko

&O

P.S. One of the song’s off of Flying Lotus’s Cosmogramma features Thom Yorke performing amazing lyrics. Just in case you didn’t go out and listen to the album like I so direly urged you to… here is that song. And let’s not make the same mistake twice now. lulz

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Flying Lotus – Recoiled

12 Oct

Hello all! I have been super busy with work and school, but here is a post!

(POST)

Fall is upon us! The cold catches us sleeping as we make the best of the fleeing sun. With hopeless bliss we under dress but then disease spreads without mercy. As we struggle, throat sore and head aching, school catches up to us just to tell us that we are behind. But you just want to party. And before you know it winter is here and fall was just a blur.

But fear not! I have the solution!

*I reach into my music library and play a song*

This is Flying Lotus. He will aid you on your journey through fall and prepare you for the coming winter. And his music will leave its impression on your forever, so you will remember this season in at least one way.

This song he skillfully conjured up using three ingredients; melodic harps and spacey vibes, random electronic sounds and sampled video game noises, and a wrapper of the illest hip-hop beats ever to hold it all together.

Its name is Recoiled and it is featured on his album titled Cosmogramma. It leaves you startled and confused. But although fall can be just so (startling and confusing), you have to remember about the pretty leaves on the trees. This song can easily be a red, orange, and yellow, dance party in a dying forest, one from which you were recoiled.

And what a gangster party that would be. This guy does what most hip-hop artist can’t even dream of doing. 2:54 is so fucken hip it should give you shivers and an urge to bounce (or hop).

And he does it all without even saying a word. The many different sounds just blend into shining tides of peaceful exploration of technological mystery. Its tells a story and words aren’t even needed. This is true experimental hip-hop in all its beautiful glory.

And according to most hipsters, this album is one of the most revolutionary things to happen this year. Thank you hipsters. I recommend listening to the entire thing, because it cannot be described in words. It will turn your fall into a rise.

Oh and apparently Flying Lotus was inspired to make this album after having tried DMT for the first time. &)
-oko

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