| Often overwhelming and occasionally underwhelming too, the music of LA-based
producer Flying Lotus is exceptionally difficult to pin down. Perhaps that's
part of what makes it so appealing. Not fitting squarely into any of the past
decade's new fragmentations of dance music or hip-hop (dubstep, "glitch", the
current wave of electro or J Dilla-inspired rap beats), Fly Lo manages to draw
inspiration and borrow pieces from all of the above, while filtering it all
through a noisy, pumping and extraordinarily unique production curve.
His new album Cosmogramma is much the same as his past work, which is totally
fine given the variety and excellence of it. Some tracks barely feature the
same sound twice, save a main riff or two, while others manage to loop you into
a trance in less than two minutes, before shuffling on to the next spaced-out
soundscape. The new LP does see Fly Lo pushing his boundaries, by way of
collaborations with bassist Thundercat and a one Thom Yorke (who asked Fly Lo to
open for his new band Atoms for Peace on their US tour).
At times, Cosmogramma can be a bit light on the music, getting too lost in
the space odyssey. But the strong sections are some of his best: the classic
"Zodiac Shit," and the expectedly but unexpectedly brilliant "...And the World
Laughs with You" featuring Mr. Yorke. Really, the same could be said about the
music of Flying Lotus as the weather in London: if you don't like it, just wait
a couple minutes. (Warp Records)
http://www.myspace.com/flyinglotus | 
