Here's what I missed... Flying Lotus

Hey, it's a new column! Here I'll be talking about stand-out records and artists that have somehow escaped my hawk-like attention to various music pushers. This week it's laptop artist Flying Lotus' turn to impress me (and he does, he really does).

Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma

Flying Lotus (nee Steven Ellison).

While I confess, I do get all warm and tingly when I think about experimental artists like James Blake and The Books (artists who make weird sounds that people will either love or hate or never know exists), based on the sort of music he experiments with, Flying Lotus shouldn't really be my thing. And yet, here I am, sucked into the intricate, trip-hoppy decadence that is 2010's Cosmogramma. Maybe I'm just drawn to the experimental jazz interludes explored in tracks like "German Haircut", or the sense that the entire album is constructed by a giddy, omnipotent puppet-master. Flying Lotus (or, as he is more familiarly known, FlyLo) doesn't so much guide you through each plot twist and turn, but instead throws them at you with a deliberate air, saying, "Don't worry, you're going to like where I take you."

The jazz influence is intrinsic in every track. Rhythmic motifs and sound clips are repeated several times, modified, and then riffed on, with certain "instruments" (often electronic sounds) given space to solo. Going beyond this album, there's the Cosmogramma Alt Takes EP, which I haven't gotten into yet, but which points to FlyLo's insatiable need to reinterpret - something jazz enthusiasts can relate to.

With some artists their music seems like unwieldy beasts only barely contained within slapshod rhythmic structures and a vague verse-chorus-verse setup. This isn't necessarily a bad thing; some groups, like the sprawling super-band Broken Social Scene, cultivate this aesthetic to their advantage. With the tracks on Cosmogramma there's a sense of control, of cultivated musicianship that encourages expeditions into the landscape of each track. Unlike some more trance or house oriented electronic dance music, the tracks on Cosmogramma don't sprawl - they have definite beginnings and endings, and are kept short (the longest being only a little over four minutes long). Yet, despite their brevity, there's a lot of ideas packed into each one- or two-minute long opus.

Stand-out track's "Do the Astral Plane" and "Table Tennis (featuring Laura Darlington)" combine floating melodies with shuffling rhythmic quirks, and, in the case of "Table Tennis (featuring Laura Darlington)", a found-sound recording of an actual table tennis game (found-sound/unconventional instrumentation are two of my favourite things). Other tracks like "Drips//Auntie's Harp" infuse cascading strings with 8-bit sequels, sewing high and low art - as well as electronic and analog - together without any obvious seams.

I'm including the video for "Kill Your Co-Workers", which is actually not from Cosmogramma but from the EP Pattern+Grid World. It features murderous animated robots on parade hacking up some gleeful spectators, so that should give you an idea of how awesome it is.



In May, Flying Lotus will be performing at Sasquatch! Music Festival in Quincy, Washington, and that's about it for upcoming tour dates. He has three full-length albums out and a list of EPs, all of which you can purchase through multiple different avenues online, conveniently indexed on his website.

Here's what I missed... The Tallest Man On Earth

Hey, it's a new column! Here I'll be talking about the records and artists that have somehow escaped my hawk-like attention to various music pushers. This week I'll be looking at Swedish-born musician The Tallest Man on Earth (there must be something in the water in Sweden because they are churning out one great musician after another).

The Tallest Man on Earth - The Wild Hunt

The Tallest Man on Earth's Kristian Matsson and an unnamed horse. Photo by Johan Stolpe.

The Tallest Man on Earth was ready-made for me. I knew from the moment I first heard Kristian Matsson's wild, grizzled voice spout uncommonly incisive lyrical poetry that I would love this folk singer's material. His music is about as bare bones as you can get - voice and guitar, with the occasional banjo accompaniment and piano balled - but with Matsson's talent for finger-picking and natural sense of melody, it's just enough to feel that every moment of each song has purpose.

I'm a sucker for unique and interesting voices, and this is perhaps Matsson's most defining musical characteristic. When I started listening to 2010's The Wild Hunt the similarities to Bob Dylan were at first a little jarring, but after a few listens I was able to let go and appreciate Matsson's individual quirks. The lyrics are rife with strong metaphors, and it will take more than a few listens to develop your personal interpretation of the words. For example, I've had a great time trying to figure out what I think of "Love is All" from The Wild Hunt. Here's an excerpt of that song's lyrics:

Well I walk upon the river like it's easier than land
Evil's in my pocket and your strength is in my hand
Your strength is in my hand

And I'll throw you in the current that I stand upon so still
Love is all, from what I've heard, but my heart's learned to kill
Oh, mine has learned to kill

Oh, I said I could rise
From the harness of our goals
Here come the tears
But like always, I let them go
Just let them go

Is it about guilt over causing a loved-one pain? Grappling with the inability to love? A loss of faith? It's a real treat when an artist can make you dive into their words this much.

Rumour has it that The Tallest Man on Earth is one of those performers that you must see live to truly appreciate. I've decided to embed a bootlegged recording of Matsson singing "Love Is All" at Toronto's El Mocambo in April 2010. I was not there, but I really should have been.



The Tallest Man on Earth currently has two full length albums out, Shallow Grave (2008) and The Wild Hunt (2010). He's not playing anywhere near these parts any time soon, but keep your fingers crossed with me and maybe we'll get lucky.