Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma (Warp)
3/5
By: Liane Escorza
Cosmogramma is the second full album by Flying Lotus aka Steve Ellison, a 26-year-old producer exploring the post-dubstep, hip hop and jazz landscape of our time in orchestral scenarios of universal proportions; hence, the album’s title.
With the help of Thundercat’s virtuosity as a bassist and Rebekah Raff’s harp excellence, he plunges into expansive and dense journeys of the mutating galaxy at speeds of light, his sound ever changing, melting, sparkling, chirping, bouncing and cutting through dizziness and paranoia. Basstronica becomes nu-jazz, this one blending into hip hop and then sprawling into soul minimalism. Such kaleidoscopic movements prove challenging and absorbing, as once a section is grasped it is not long until an unexpected shift enters and the bubble of secured execution and expectation bursts like a supernova.
Thom Yorke, being a fan of this, eagerly participates in ‘…and the world laughs with you’, his voice broken down in tiny puzzle pieces for wavy effects. ‘MmmHmm’ is the soulful delicate track of the lot, quickly replaced by the orchestral disco dance theme that is ‘Do the Astral Plane’ and followed by the teasing and purring ‘Satellllliiiiteee’. ‘German Haircut’ experiments with free jazz and ‘Recoiled’ brings darkness with ghostly vocals over dense electronica.
Cosmogramma require a few listens to understand its language. It’s about breaking genres without derailing; taking control of the spaceship and launching into the unknown while knowing that, regardless of risks and danger, the future is nothing else but bright.
Artists in this article: Flying Lotus
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