(Warp)
Concept albums in electronic music are
few and far between (and generally in music since the seventies)
though hip-hop seems has a couple of examples with albums like
Deltron 3030. Still, L.A. beat maker, label-owner and more recently
rapper Steve Ellison, better known as Flying Lotus, is no stranger
to big ideas. Showing himself as a consistently creative producer
since breaking out with his second album, the urban grit-fused Los
Angeles and following it up with
the heady jazz psychedelics of Cosmograma and Until
The Quiet Comes' more softer dream state Flying Lotus has gone
further into making music that contains that spur of the moment feel
of jazz with the laboured perfection of electronica.
His latest release You're Dead!
Is his concept album, based on ruminations and pondering into the
afterlife. Life, or existence, after death is an idea explored in
everything from Hinduism to the Jedis in Star Wars but may not be a
widely explored topic in music. Flying Lotus takes it on with the
wide-eyed enthusiasm of his Auntie, Alice Coltrane's, forays into
spiritual jazz.
It begins with a low earthy drone
before the track breaks out into a number of false starts like its
trying to settle on an idea to begin with. The result can sound
overwhelming like it's through it's many, many sounds at you all at
once, and serves as an apt taster of what to expect for the next
forty minutes. You're Dead! is mad and excessive enough to
have as much in common with prog-rock (yes, really) than anything
with the current L.A. Beat scene. There are even a couple of lead
lines from electric guitars showing up here and there. Still, there
are no five minute solos here, tracks are short and sharp, skipping
from one idea to the next.
In demand serial collaborator and
Kendrick Lamar appears on Never Catch Me and justifies his
contribution with the best verses on You're Dead!. He raps
'Ain't no blood pumpin' no fear, I got hope inside of my bones',
the lines tumble and free fall over a constantly evolving Footwork
beat. On the next track Snoop Dogg shows up to deliver his distinct,
blazed rhymes alongside Lotus' rapper alter-ego Captain Murphy on a
track that lurches forward with a stoned, stomping beat. There are
some familiar collaborators for regular listeners, Thundercat and
Niki Randa appear, with Thundercat's distinctive fret-hopping bass
playing, which has been a constant in the last two Flying Lotus
albums, featuring throughout the record.
At the albums centre is Coronus, The
Terminator ushering in the albums' more introspective, meditative
second half by providing a cut of lush and dream-like slowed down
soul, taking the tempo down a notch and bringing in some layered
vocals which segues perfectly into the equally sedate Siren Song
featuring Angel Deradoorian of The Dirty Projectors' voice jumping to
and fro. Herbie Hancock appears on Moment of Hesitation which lets go
of its beat trappings and becomes a rhythmic jazz freak-out.
Pong-style bleeps of carry Ready Err Not before the album introduces
some more standard but still appreciated beat driven fare with tracks
like Turtles, Obligatory Cadence and closer The Protest.
For all it's indulgences it just about
manages to stay on the right side things, staying playful and
thoughtful with it's many ideas that blur genre and style into a
strange but complete whole, leagues ahead of any contemporaries. The
many jumping off points and collaborators make for a jumbled and
intense listen, lacking the cohesiveness of lotus' other albums but
it's twists and turns are always interesting. His push into more real
instrumentation really pushes to set it out as something different
from his back catalogue and through its many faces it only goes to
reinforce how unknowable death is. If Flying Lotus is right about
anything on You're Dead!,
wherever it leads, the
afterlife will be a wild trip.
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