John Bemis
Reporter
Within the world of experimental music, it’s near impossible for most artists to penetrate beyond the catacombs of indie music forums and into the world of mainstream notoriety. Steve Ellison, better known by his moniker Flying Lotus, has managed to consistently amaze electronic and experimental music audiences while gaining the attention of some of the biggest names in hip-hop. The type of sample-based collage music that Flying Lotus makes often jumps back and forth between accessible, colorful beats and glitchy avant-garde electronica, the latter taking precedent on some his best works, such as 2010’s Cosmogramma. Despite his great track record, though, there are times on even his more admirable LP’s where you sense that he is throwing hundreds of sounds into a pot, letting it bubble for 3 minutes, and pouring out the results. On his most recent effort, You’re Dead!, Flying Lotus shows that being experimental does not mean being imprecise, and puts out his most creative, detailed, and focused effort thus far.
The LP opens with a massive, overwhelming sonic flurry of sounds and textures. After building suspense, it suddenly kicks into a fast, bombastic drum and bass section, complete with squelching synthesizers and 8-bit explosions. The bass lines and percussion are mercilessly crisp and busy, and sputtering digital noises are thrown in every available space. The track is notably brief, giving just enough time to wrap your head around it before it ends. The second track, Tesla acts as a continuation, juxtaposing an echoing vibraphone melody with dizzying guitar runs and a hypnotic beat, spiraling forward at an unrelenting speed. Despite the urgency of the LP’s first half, there is no sense that Flying Lotus may stumble off the beat. The bloated, out of sequence drum timbres that showed up on previous releases are gone, replaced with perfect rhythmic synchronization. The result is reminiscent of early Squarepusher, but on a whole other level of gripping, jaw-dropping jittery weirdness.
Kendrick Lamar appears on the 5th track, Never Catch Me, in a refreshing way, showing that the rapper can sometimes take second fiddle to the producer. Despite Lamar’s presence, the track remains totally Flying Lotus. Kendrick’s pitch-shifted, esoteric verse is paired up with a colorful beat that drifts into abstract instrumental hip-hop on the latter half. The rap features continue onto the sixth track Dead Man’s Tetris, with Snoop Dogg and FlyLo’s own rapper persona Captain Murphy dropping relaxed verses from the persona of a pill-popping monster over a distorted, overblown trap beat.
In most cases, the producer may have trouble taking creative prevalence on a rap track, especially one featuring someone as maligned as Kendrick or Snoop. on You’re Dead! all featured artists are stepping into FlyLo’s world, and he isn’t afraid to show them that it’s not always welcoming.
Songs such as Turkey Dog Coma and Cold Dead show a distinct talent at juxtaposing two ideas, often drifting back and forth between dry, abrasive electric guitar and drum leads, and smooth, jazzy ambience. Despite sacrificing cohesiveness, the variety in each section is so distinctly refined, proving that FlyLo is one of few that can be sporadic with purpose. Stirring is brief, but shows a foray into the world of ambient music, with it’s bleeding textures and thick looped bassline, bringing to mind sound architects like Gas or William Basinski.
If previous works like Cosmogramma or Los Angeles demonstrated that Flying Lotus had something to prove, You’re Dead! is proof that his recognition in the indie music world will only act as a springboard for his bigger Ideas. It shows a new-found determination of Flying Lotus, a desire to viscerally rip apart existing styles and craft them into something new with so much precision and grace that the aire of humourous wonder surrounding his art becomes that much more effective. This new aura of confidence in Flying Lotus allows him to illustrate his purpose, to let the world in on electronic music as a medium that can deliver a jarring sense of blissful shock, rather than act as a compliment to someone else’s narrative.
Rating: 9/10
