Get to Know | FLYING LOTUS

Flying Lotus ‘ 2010 LP Cosmogramma (released on his own blossoming electronica label Brainfeeder ) is the disorienting opus of a mad scientist- unpredictable shuffling low-slung beats, psychedelic west-coast ambient textures, a dash of experimental jazz, nostalgic 8-bit ‘Space Invader’ sounds.  And despite all of these chaotic flavours, he achieves a distinct aesthetic cohesiveness- his own ‘sound’.   Flying Lotus almost feels like a musical evolution of the experimental hip-hop of J Dilla.

Steve Ellison, out of Winnetka California released his first album entitled 1983 on Plug Research Records in 2006.  In 2007, Steve Beckett, the mastermind behind legendary Sheffield based indie label Warp Records signed Flying Lotus and released his 2008 LP Los Angeles.  Ellison since created his own label ‘Brainfeeder’ out of Los Angeles with releases from such artists as the Gaslamp Killer, Teebs, Daedalus, Ras G, Austin Peralta, SAMIYAM, Thundercat, Mr. Oizo, and Tokimonsta.

The week before last, the Brainfeeder crew took over Benji B’s show on BBC Radio 1 out of Ellison’s living room and kitchen in Los Angeles.  The evening featured a phenomenal selection of west-coast beats- and I have posted the session for all of you who missed it, as well as a 30 minute mix by the Gaslamp Killer entitled ‘a decade of Flying Lotus’ to give you a taste of the sounds of Brainfeeder.

As the purported great nephew of Jazz legend John Coltrane, Ellison has a musical lineage that stretches back in time- but upon careful listening, there is no question that his sounds visit us from the future.

Please be sure to pick up a copy of Flying Lotus’ Cosmogramma (2010) here .

Brainfeeder takeover on Benji B, BBC Radio 1 (Jan. 2011)

A decade of Flying Lotus (Mixed by the Gaslamp Killer)

And one beautiful tune off Reset EP (2007) released by Warp Records:

Flying Lotus – Massage Situation [recommended]

Yours,

Wolfey