Chances are that Flying Lotus has already been compared countless times to the likes of Dilla and Madlib. While that puts him in great company, there is a cosmic sensibility to his music that sets him apart. Los Angeles taps into a spiritual energy that is not only neck-snapping, but awe-inspiring.
African and Middle Eastern percussion is looped alongside digital claps that sound like ecstatic cicadas from another universe. Songs like “Melt!” and “GNG BNG” sound both intergalactic and international as laser beams and tablas touch and agree in a harmonic climate. “Comet Course” zooms in from Saturn at a broken beat pace while “Parisian Goldfish” affirms Detroit’s high tech soul. “Sleepy Dinosaur” stumbles through headphones slightly out of sync and remains deliciously off-center. “RobertaFlack,” one of two vocal cuts on the album, oozes beauty and reflection as singer Dolly contemplates, “Are we allowed to make brand new beginnings?” Towards the end, “Auntie’s Harp” pays respect to Alice Coltrane’s memory, plucked strings dancing within the experimental hip-hop ether. This is essential listening for beat freaks everywhere in the cosmos.
