Showing posts with label Flying Lotus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Flying Lotus. Show all posts

Wednesday, 29 April 2009

Burial Collaborations

Burial has been quite ever since the mercury awards last year, well at least he hasn’t been in the public eye since then. But my god he has been busy where it counts most: in the studio if the rumours are right anyway.

First of all I read in an interview some time ago on ukhh with Flying Lotus where he mentioned after being asked about any Anglo-American collaborations he said, ‘I’ve also been working on something long term with Burial’ read it for your self here
. This got my foaming at the mouth at the prospect, yet it was quite some time ago now and nothing has surfaced and there has hardly been a whisper since.

Then from the deep dark dance FWD>> comes news about people hearing a track that sounded like Burial from dBridge and low and behold confirmation comes from dubstepforum. Someone bumped into dBridge and he confirmed it.

There have been rumours a plenty for some time about Burial and D’n’B legend and Metalheadz owner Goldie hooking up but again nothing has surfaced and I once spent a good few hours locked into a sup-par Goldie hosted radio show on 1Xtra that promised a some sort of Burial action that never came.

Now for the real mouth watering part just a few weeks ago word came from a distributor that a Burial & Four Tet 12” was ready to drop at any moment. The tracks ‘Moth’ and ‘Wolf Cub’ are said to feature and I really don’t think any one but the lucky few have heard it, until clips appeared on Juno just yesterday. It sounds like business as usual from Burial but with a real tropical vibe and a four to the floor effort on the flip. I’m really not sure if it’s a collaboration or a split, but we will see next week.

Listen: Burial / Four Tet – Moth / Wolf Cub (Via Juno)


Then once again out of nowhere, well I say nowhere I mean Blackdown’s wicked Pitchfork column in an interview about Loefah’s new label Swamp 81 came word of Loe and Burial hooking up to remix Kryptic Minds for a 12” after the album drops.

I can almost hear these collaborations in my head when I think of the artists involved. Just imagine FlyLo’s organic flowing grooves playing off the sharp crackle of Burial’s ghostly garage or the D’n’B stylings of dBridge and Goldie bringing back the spirit of jungle together with a new pioneer. Then there is the subtle electronica of Four Tet with his crisp layers of atmospherics along side Burial’s vision. The deep half-stepping dark vision of Loefah with its massive bass and minimalist approach will be one hell of a juxtaposition to Burial’s riddims and Kryptic Minds vision of dubstep. Who knows when we will get to hear any of them mind but the mere speculation is pretty tantalising.

All pretty interesting stuff, and who says the mystery of Burial is now gone since the fuckers at The Sun ‘unmasked’ him. The music is doing the talking and that’s the way we like it.

http://www.myspace.com/burialuk

http://www.myspace.com/flyinglotus

http://www.myspace.com/exitrecords

http://www.myspace.com/metalheadzltd

http://www.myspace.com/fourtetkieranhebden

http://www.myspace.com/loefah

http://www.myspace.com/swamp81

Tuesday, 28 April 2009

Flaying Lotus, The Mother Fucking Gaslamp Killer, P45, Kid K & Laura J @ Leeds University. 27th April 2009

Parts of LA came to Leeds to night the Brainfeeder and Low End Theory and fuck me they delivered. But on with that in a moment, the night was warmed up nicely buy some locals the first thing I heard was Caspa’s abusive cockney-step anthem where’s my money! Which was well abusive for such an early hour but soon enough after a quick dose of Rustie’s Zigzag P45 came on and played a wicked set of bleeped out electronica and plenty of bits from The Bug. The only mishaps on being the complete fuckin’ bell end on the door that wouldn’t let anyone out and if you did leave you had to buy another ticket to get in. Ridicules rules, and he was a complete fucker, so some sweet talking was done with another door staffer and he was well up for the re-entry, bonus.

Then The Mother Fuckin’ Gaslamp Killer came on the scene and tore the shit out of the place playing a mad set full of big time dubstep wobblers all the way to sublime wonk from the likes of Bullion and Computer Jay, even some Terkish funk from 1969 and Ethiopian shit as he called it made an appearance. The majority of his set was fucked up wobblers like 16 Bits’s Chainsaw Calligraphy and really insane electro tinged off-killter hip-hop. The guy can mix as tight as hell and is a real party starting live wire. Getting on the mic and hyping the crowed like a mad man possessed and throwing together some real big bangers. The bas was big and the vibe was right, tracks from Harmonic 313 and Heralds of Change killed it, and there was far to much stuff I didn’t know the name of that really got the floor moving. By the end of the hyper set even Gaslamp looked tired until he turned all evil on us and dropped Aphex Twin’s Come To Daddy and shot the crowd down with gun fingers.

The main even was upon us and FlyLo took the stage easing us in with sublime beat after beat chopped in clashed into each other in a collage of percussion, made up of so many familiar tracks from his album and beyond. The sound of these tracks on a big system is something else, the bass is HUGE and the beats are like liquid. Shit really started to kick off when he dropped his refix of A Milli, it went down well and from then on he went from beat of his own to the odd inclusion of beats from all over. He took the mood down mellow for the smokers before really fuckin’ it up with his mix of Mr Ozio that really got everyone going. It got pitched up into more electro and I thought I riot was going to ensue at one point. He can flip the mood in an instant mind, and mellow passages melted into full throttle funk and dance floor bombs.

Just some of the tracks I remember him playing are: Kode 9’s killer smudged funky track Black Sun, Burial done FlyLo style, Martyn, Joker’s incredible Re-Up, A little Zomby, a mad wonky re-interpretation of Aphex Twin’s Windowlicker by FlyLo again. He even dropped some new material from a forthcoming album, which is wicked news. Some other highlights were the epic sublime builds that dropped into some of the most liquid funk fuled bass and feet moving beats I’ve heard, I have no idea what the hell the track I’m thinkin’ of is called but it killed it. FlyLo spun it back a few time and raised his hands in the air ready for the drop each time, which sounded like angels singin before a filthy funked up drop. He finished with some roots wobbler style dubstep before dropping some mad bleep-core hyper rave beats as his encore that morfed into what sounded like a Kode 9 FlyLo collaboration with warped synths hip-hop beats and huge bass but I could be really wrong about that.

Everyone killed if the Brainfeeder / Low End Theory crew know how to do things and fuck me their shit is tight! Go see Fling Lotus, go see The Mother Fucking Gaslamp Killer at any chance you get.

Sunday, 11 January 2009

Flying Lotus – Los Angeles

I wrote this originaly for DiS so go and check it out over there, this is the DVD extra version before the edit. Here you go!

This year has been dominated by beats and bass for me, it’s come in many different shapes and forms from dubstep to hip-hop through a bit of minimal and back again. Warp’s Flying Lotus kind of fits somewhere between the dubstep and hip-hop, he has been firmly embraced by the two anyway.

Flying Lotus AKA Steven Ellison comes from a musical dynasty that has spawned the likes of Jazz legends Alice Coltrane and John Coltrane. He continues this legacy in fine style but in his own way of course. By melting together J Dilla style off kilter hip-hop instrumentals, some deep bass and the sampling skills of one top class crate digger, some people like to call it ‘Wonky’ others ‘Aquacrunk’ I kind of like the latter.

He is not alone in making this ‘Aquacrunk’ either there is a young and talent scene emerging with the likes of Glasgow’s Rustie, London’s Bullion and LA’s Samiyam who is singed to FlyLo’s Brainfeeder label. Hell this strange music is even breaking out of it’s BPM shackles and infecting dubstep, people like Joker, Peverelist and Kode 9 are showing signs of this sound in their own work. Kode is even working with FlyLo on some tracks on his own album, but I digress…

On with the album! Los Angeles is a delight to listen to as a whole the pieces surge into one another in a crackly soup of liquid beats and soulful vibes. Off-kilter synths play off the wonky beats to make an organic and warm sounding piece of work.

Some people may find it all quite ambient and relaxing but if your lucky enough to have caught him live on a big soundsystem then it’s very likely you have felt the full sonic force of his work and then been compelled to dance in strange new shapes that you didn’t quite know you could do.



You can’t really contain his sound in mere youtube form though to be fair, but you get the idea.

Highlights from Los Angeles include the little opener Brainfeeder which comes at you like a warm crackle drenched Burial remix of something from Kid A. Beginners Falafel is a dreamy bass ridden larva lamp of a track with a subtle and gloopy groove. Others are more beat driven like the eastern jangle of Melt! Or Camel, which also layers strings and vocal snippets to great effect. His use of drum samples really are inspired, you get electro booms offset with organic djembe or other percussion that creates a world of it’s own. GNG BNG sounds like a old school gangster film soundtrack mixed with a more subtle version of Public Enemy’s wall of noise approach. Parisian Goldfish continues in this vain too. If I had to choose one track though and only one it would be the beautiful Robertaflak, which features the vocal talents of Dolly in a moving slice of laidback jazz reminiscent of his family’s past and his hip-hop present.

There is no Post J Dilla Filla here.

Check out that very wrong video of Parisian Goldfish by Tim & Eric of Adult Swim Fame, who coincidently FlyLo makes a lot of the music for can be found here (WARNING NOT SAFE FOR EYES LET ALONE WORK! May contain nuts):

http://www.dancefloordale.com/

If you have been enjoying Flying Lotus and need another fix you could do worse than check out his LA EP’s one to three. The first is a collection of the odd album track and new material and the second is a killer set of remixes highlights of which include Mike Slott’s wonky monster and Martyn’s sublime version of Robbertaflak. EP three will be out next year I would imagine and I have no idea what will be on it.

Wednesday, 17 December 2008

Lost 8 of '08 - #3: Flying Lotus (AKA my first DiS feature)

I've been a long time reader of Drowned in Sound and hang out on the boards probibly far to often. But the other day Editor and DiS Headhoncho Sean asked me to write an article on Flying Lotus for his Lost 8 or '08 feature. So I jumped at the chance, see what I wrote by clicking on the link bellow.

My First DiS Feature!

Monday, 1 December 2008

Flying Lotus Essential Mix, Radio One, 29th November 2008

Alice Coltrane ‘Galaxy In Turiya’
Charlie Hayden+ Egberto Gisomonti / Gonjasufi ‘Testament’
Flying Lotus ‘Massage Situation (Stripped)’
Dimlite ‘Sun Sized Twinkles’
Flying Lotus ‘Robertaflack Ft. Dolly’
Flying Lotus ‘Robertaflack (Mike Slott Reflunk)’
Ahu ‘I Know All The Bitches (Bullion Remix)’
Heralds Of Change ‘Amuse’
Carlos Y Gaby ‘Happy Summer Solstice’
Pudge ‘Yung Infamous’
Dorothy Ashby ‘Myself When Young’
Nosaj Thing ‘Bach’LL ‘Turf Day’
Flying Lotus ‘Infinitum (Dimlite Remix)’
Clark ‘Springtime Epigram’
Burial ‘Shutta’
Blank Blue ‘Blank Blue (Flying Lotus Remix)’
Daedelus ‘I’m String Struck’
MHE ‘Untitled’
Daedelus / Madvillain ‘Experience/Accordion (Flying Lotus Live Remix)’
Hudson Mohawke ‘Zoo0000oom’
Rustie ‘Black Block Remix’
Teebs+Jackhigh ‘Idea 1 (Clutch)’
Matthewdavid ‘Tallahassee Tapes’
Martyn / Flying Lotus ‘Vancouver+Pet Monster Shotglass’
Fulgeance ‘Chico (Dorian Concept Remix)’
Joker ‘Solid State’
Rusko ‘Moanerz’
Daddy Kev ‘Invite8’
Ras G ‘Star Messenger’
Madlib ‘Unreleased Gem’
SAMIYAM ‘Cheesecake Backslap’
Knowledge ‘Dawn’
Flyamsam ‘Princess Toadstool’
Sa-Ra ‘Hollywood’Muhsinah / Flying Lotus ‘With Me/ Melt’
Flying Lotus ‘Dissecto’
Flying Lotus ‘Breathe’
Mike Slott ‘Home’
Flying Lotus ‘Sangria Spin Cycles (Ambient Mix)’
Danny Breaks ‘Cosmic Dust’
Flying Lotus ‘Beginners Falafel (Free The Robots Remix)’
SAMIYAM ‘Falafel Cannon’
Flying Lotus ‘Beginners Falafel’
Slum Village ‘Players (Instrumental)’
Flying Lotus ‘Cackle’
Flying Lotus ‘Raise It Up’
Osborne ‘Definition Of A Breakdown’
Baron Zen ‘Burn Rubber (Dam-Funk Remix)’
Mono/Poly ‘Needsdeodorantbitch’
Chocolate Star / Nelly Furtado ‘Stay With Me/Promiscuous’
Gonjasufi ‘Suzie Q’
Kiing Midas ‘Lost (Flying Lotus Live Remix)’
Rusko / Flying Lotus ‘
Terminal3’ / ‘Tea Leaf (Dancers Live Remix)’
Daedelus ‘Hours Minutes Seconds (Beat Invitational Version)’
Kode9+Flying Lotus ‘Kryon’
Zomby ‘Spliff Dub (Rustie Remix)’
Busta Rhymes ‘What Up’
SAMIYAM ‘Crystal Lake’
Weather Report ‘River People’
SAMIYAM ‘Flintstone Car’
Flying Lotus ‘Backpack Caviar’
Radiohead ‘Reckoner (Flying Lotus Remix)’
Bjork ‘All Is Full Of Love’
Broadcast ‘Winter Now’
Portishead ‘Elysium’
Linda Perhacks ‘Hey Now Who Really Cares’
Flying Lotus ‘Infinitum (Exile Remix)’
Flying Lotus ‘Live Set Practice Run’
Listen Again:
http://bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b00fklr1

Download:
http://alldj.org/index.php?name=News&op=Article&sid=17317

Well that’s my listening sorted for the week.

Monday, 14 July 2008

Flying Lotus Vs. Lil’ Wayne

I have a lot of love for FlyLo, as you may know if you read my blog regular (yep that’s you mum). I have also been playing Lil’ Wayne’s Tha Carter III a hell of a lot since it dropped recently, it’s my biggest surprise of the year so far I thought I would hate it but it turns out he is brilliant in his own lil’ way. Pitchfork have stuck up a FlyLo meets Weezy F Baby mash-up which is done by Flying Lotus him self I think any way. It uses some fresh beats and a nice slice of one of the stand out Tha Carter III cuts A Milli. FlyLo makes it into a quirky off kilter wonky hip hop freak beat with the sense of humour of Wayne and deep underwater vibe of his own productions, it works damn well. Check it out for your self right now by clicking on the link bellow.

Wednesday, 2 July 2008

Flying Lotus – L.A. EP 1 x 3

This wonderful 12” dropped through my door today, and I’m pretty excited to hear it that I can tell you for sure. It’s the first EP in a set of three and FlyLo has limited them to 2000 worldwide so it’s pretty damn exclusive. The artwork is in the same vain as the Los Angeles album with the big freaky metallic stuff. And I got the coolest purple Warp Records pin badge in with the package. Put the needle on the record baby…

L.A. EP 1 starts with Sleepy Dinosaur from the Los Angeles LP on the A side. Each side of the 12” starts with a familiar track off L.A. then whacks us with exclusive new material. Sleepy Dinosaur is a treat with skippy beats and jazz chords all warped up in that unmistakable FlyLo aquatic hip-hop way. Rickshaw is the first exclusive slab on this here wax, it loops Indian sitars and vocals over the top of a low slung dirty as hell bassline, and beats. This can be heard on The
Do-Over mix FlyLo did and I posted the other day. The last track on side A is My Chippy its got a 8-bit blip to it like someone playing a dancehall, crunk version of space invaders, underwater of course this is FlyLo we are talking about. Flip it…

Side B kicks off with Los Angeles slab Robertaflack (Feat. Dolly) the sweet soul vocal and jazz sampling wonky bass freak banger. I love this tune its one of my favourite from L.A. and sets off side B nicely. Paper Crane Gang is next up and brings the third exclusive to the 12”. The beats are wicked on this one real leaning low slung and dirty with the most melancholic filtered synth line on top, it’s a beautiful track that reminds me of Warp records of the past. Interference is the final tune and it’s another excellent one, full of more skipping beats and massive bass sounds. A creaky vocal snippet from some kind of computer obviously not handling the underwater conditions very well sounds pretty cool. As does the booming dancehall vibe mixed with windy tones, excellent, not unlike the sound I imagine drowning Mr Ozio would sound like, I don’t recommend finding out mind.

That concludes the listening of L.A. EP 1 x 3 and FlyLo has done it again with yet more excellent instrumental hip-hop with that of kilter vibe to it he does so well. The tracks compliment the Los Angeles LP very well indeed and could have easily made the cut if FlyLo so wished. Another slice for the heads then as he trailblazes the underground dance scene. Warp has done well in signing this talent and I wait with baited breath, not unlike having to hold my head under water, for the next instalment of EP’s.

Sunday, 29 June 2008

FlyLo Live Sets

There have been some live mixes knocking about from the excellent FlyLo one from a place called The Do-Over from May 25th 2008 and another from way back on Radio One. He did a mix recently for Brainfeeder but I can’t seem to find that one just yet, I’m sure some time someone will have recorded it and put it online, fingers crossed anyway. Flying Lotus has his album Los Angeles out right now and its amazing I can’t stop spinning it. There are also 3 EP’s one of which is out now and highly limited, with new material and tracks from Los Angeles. Expect up front wonky aquatic instrumental hip-hop and bass music from these live sets.

Wednesday, 7 May 2008

Flying Lotus – Los Angeles

FlyLo is incredible I am looking forward to Los Angeles on Warp records, which is released next month. The artwork looks brilliant as always from Warp and their artists. The music is something else it, it’s a cross between hip-hop, dubstep, IDM, crunk, jazz, and well allsorts really. The drums are off kilter and the groves wonky, see more about getting your wonk on, on posts bellow. The music isn’t far removed from other Warp artists such as Prefuse 73 and other releases that verge on the hip-hop. This is a classic sounding Warp record in all its glory, not the indie band kind like Born Ruffians and Maximo Park, but the good old pushing the boundaries electronic freakouts. FlyLo is the nephew of Alice Coltrain the jazz composer and wife of the famous John Coltrain, so it seems pushing musical boundaries are in his blood. There are echoes of the hip-hop producers Madlib in FlyLo’s work you could almost imagine MF Doom riding these beats with ease. Los Angeles is a instrumental album however, a superb underwater some may even say aquacrunk album. FlyLo is re-affirming my love of the excellent dance music spectrum.

Thursday, 1 May 2008

Get Your Wonk On

Wonky? Wonk-Step? Dub-Wonk? Aquacrunk? That’s far to many ridicules questions to answer, what the hell am I on about. Well Wonky or what ever you fancy calling it is a variation on dubstep that’s getting some plays right now. I’m by no means a grime/dubstep expert but this new sound has grabbed my attention.

The main players seem to be the excellent Flying Lotus, who I have been aware of for quite some time with his remix of Mr Oizo and an album dropping soon on Warp. He makes some seriously funky off tempo high tech space funk electro dubstep A.K.A Wonky. He joined Kode 9 of Hyperdub fame in the Rinse FM studio for a back-to-back session that is blowing my mind right now. It’s out there and so wonderfully danceable and strange. Unfortunately I can’t find a track list anywhere to share with you.

Another Wonky main stay is Glasgow’s Rustie, of Wireblock records. He has just completed a mix that aired on Marry Anne Hobbes radio show the other week. The only things I recognise on the track list are the aforementioned Flying Lotus, the record labels Planet Mu, DMZ and Warp, grime/dubstep main stay Benga, another Warp new signing Pivot and a hell of a lot of Rustie.

Pitchfork describe the new style as follows:

‘As summer 2008 approaches, a theme-- not a genre-- has emerged across many existing styles of music: the mid-range is being hijacked by off-kilter, unstable synths. Crossing hip-hop, hyphy, grime, chip tunes, dubstep, crunk, and electro, one flavor unites a network of exciting sounds. What do you call it? Wonky.’

Enjoy, get your wonk on.

Kode 9 Vs. Flying Lotus Rinse FM session (Re-Up)

Rustie on Radio One Marry Anne Hobbes Show
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