Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma

Flying Lotus
"Cosmogramma"
Warp 03/05/2010

There are very strong links between the worlds of Electronic(a) and Jazz Music; both seek to discover new sounds and question the traditional forms that define a piece of Music.
Like his label mate Squarepusher did recently on Just a Souvenir, Flying Lotus delivers an album soaked in Jazz philosophy. Where Square's roots lie in UK Drum 'n' Bass, Lotus's are more in leftfield Hip Hop. But Steven Ellison is no stranger to the world of Jazz. As a member of the Coltrane family, he was brought up with its ideals of experimentation.
But make no mistake, Cosmogramma is more than an interesting, experimental record of which not a single melody will be remembered. Tracks like "And The World Laughs With You" with Thom Yorke on vocal duties and "Do The Astral Plane" with it's Barber Shop style loop re-contextualized over a swung house beat give more an impression of Lotus' live sets.
The wild bass guitar improvisations on "Pickled" and "German Haircut" help the music free itself from the often over structured approach that often comes with using sequencing software.
Cosmogramma lives up to the high expectations of this album to provide a more well rounded, textured and diverse journey than the critically acclaimed Los Angeles album.

Squarepusher - Just A Souvenir

Squarepusher
"Just A Souvenir"
Warp 27/10/2008

If the Mars Volta decided to make an idm/electronica/whatever-you-wanna-call-it album, the result would probably not be too dissimialar from "Just a Souvenir".
Those of you expecting a follow up to "Hello everything" will be suprised, this is not a dancefloor album, there are no "my red hot cars" or "the modern bass guitars". This album is Tom Jenkinson experimenting with Jazz, and experimental rock. The songs sound very "live", most of the main parts being played by bass, drums, and guitars which sound like sound like they have been played by a solid rock band rather than edited and processed by a bedroom producer.
Squarepusher also exposes himself in a new light, giving us more of his own vocals than ever before (although heavily vocoded in an old school kraftwerk style) making tracks like "A Real Woman" seem like futuristic "pop" songs.
Stand out tracks Include "Star Time 2", "A Real Woman" and "Quadrature".
A prog / jazz fusion collection of tracks from one of drum 'n' bass's finest experimentalists, this album is worth a listen. Let's hope, however, that the spirit of Rave is not dead in Tom Jenkinson...

Track Listing:

1. Star Time 2
2. The Coathanger
3. Open Society
4. A Real Woman
5. Delta-V
6. Aqueduct
7. Potential Govaner
8. Planet Gear
9. Tensor in Green
10. The Glass Road
11. Fluxgate
12. Duotone Moonbeam
13. Quadrature
14. Yes Sequitur