The artist Flying Lotus crosses genres and thought patterns in lush symphonic soundscapes. His music is a force that inspires, bringing Los Angeles hip hop into the electric millennium. He sold out Terminal 5 last week and NPR has him front and center at CMJ for their showcase this week.
Flying Lotus – “Until The Quiet Comes” from WHAT MATTERS MOST on Vimeo.
FlyLo is Steven Ellison from LA. Young and gifted, he’s a cinematic music producer and offspring of the Coltrane family. He creates sound that makes kindergarten sauce out of your average sonic program operator. Complex, experimental instrumentals float fashion forward in jazz compositions of electronic texture. Merging indie electronica and jazz-form hip hop, FlyLo completes the circle of American music today. For a background check, peruse Sasha Frere-Jones’s study in the New Yorker. His new record, Before the Quiet Comes was released early this month. A short film accompanies the title track, adding visual art to an other-worldly song. Before Odd Future was winning Grammys, Flying Lotus was creating a scene in LA, through his craft and a weekly party that set the stage for some of the artists showcasing in NYC this week.
Annually, CMJ excitement includes more bands than anyone can handle, all along the LES and Williamsland. Venue hop day and night, scurrying from Houston to Delancey along Ludlow and its parallel universes, on into greater NYC where 80 venues host 1000 bands. Yes, it is overwhelming, heightened fun. Hybrid music picks:
- Cody ChestnuTT, Paul Banks, High Highs, Daughter @ Union Square Ballroom, Oct 17, 10am [tunein, KEXP]
- Maluca, Nina Sky, Anjulie, Lady Starlight, and Jane Bang @ Webster Hall, Oct 17, 8pm
- Flying Lotus, Death Grips, Buke & Gase @ Le Poisson Rouge, October 17, 9pm [NPR]
- MS MR, Sky Ferriera, MNDR, Deap Valley, Io Echo, Gabriel Bruce @ Bowery Ballroom, Oct 18, 6pm
- MNDR, Dave Hill, Debo Band and The Luyas @ The Greene Space, Oct 19, 7pm [WNYC]
