LA's Flying Lotus is being setup as the next Madlib-Diplo-DJ Shadow-type producer cash cow. The hype is well-warranted in my opinion, as Flying Lotus well represents the new movement of LA producers, birthed from Dilla drum patterns, weird jazz records, accidental keystrokes, and imperfect facets. His music sounds like the result of humans finally mastering drum machines and sequencing programs to create organic music. Check the drums on "Breathe," the kicks and hand claps are liberated from standard beat measures. "Camel" creates movement we're not used to in a beat track; you can tell there's something else going on here. "Comet Course" shows the complete package in an uptempo flurry stew. "GNG BNG" is so fresh sounding, I can just picture Gaslamp playing this and doing his patented possessed behind-the-decks dance. In a play of depth, Flylo enlists several vocalist for the last third of the album including songstress Dolly on "RobertaFlack" and Gaslamp's partner Gonja Sufi on "Testament." 17 tracks overall, it lives up to the hype. Recommended.

• black double vinyl pressing
• gatefold sleeve
• music label: Warp 2008

reviewed by the mgmnt 06/2008