“In October 2008, while Steven Ellison’s mother lay dying in a hospital bed, he was at her side recording her.”

It has been some time since I last posted. I’ve just been so stoked on an artist lately that it has compelled me to throw out a little post on him.

I give all credit to Bruce for revealing Flying Lotus to me, through this site actually. I found the L.A. EP and Los Angeles LP to be absolutely fantastic after only a couple listens. I caught his set in the Gobi at Coachella this year, and it was damn near one of thee greatest performances I’ve seen throughout the years at Coachella. While 2010 was not a very great overall Coachella experience (don’t get me started on Clusterfuckchella 2010), I did experience some of the greatest performances yet. In no particular order: Flying Lotus, Fever Ray (I may have to do a huge post on that performance alone), Plastikman, and Bassnectar.

So anyways, back to Flying Lotus. I fully admit that his music isn’t for everyone. In fact, I came across someone who described his music as “shoes-in-a-dryer”. While I completely understand (and like) such a comment, I don’t agree. His latest album, Cosmogramma, is far more Jazz infused than his earlier releases. On the first couple listens I was a bit jarred at the seemingly duality of it. The first half initially comes off as more erratic and uncontrolled, and the second half comes together quite pleasantly. After a while I realized the heavy Jazz influence throughout the album, and eventually the album started to come together.

Seeing him at Coachella was a fine treat. It was *exactly* what I needed at that exact moment. It was Saturday night, we had been in the polo fields since 11:00 AM, and I was burning out hard by the time 10:45 rolled around. No one wanted to see Flying Lotus with me, so I went solo. I was much too tired for an “in your face” jam session (i.e. Bassnectar), so once his set started I just melted. I also need to comment on the fact that his overwhelming enthusiasm and huge honest grin made his performance all the better.

Check out this solid article on the guy:

http://www.thisisbrandx.com/2010/05/flying-lotus-is-the-king-of-la-electronic-music-but-he-wants-more.html

“In October 2008, while Steven Ellison’s mother lay dying in a hospital bed, he was at her side recording her.

The L.A.-based musician, who records abstract electronic music as Flying Lotus, brought in a mobile recording rig and gathered audio samples: the hypnotic wheeze of a respirator, the ambient pings of vital-sign monitors.

In the stillness and sadness of his mother’s last days, he found comfort in the rhythms of the machines.

“I know it was a weird thing to do,” Ellison said. “I’m not the type to go out recording things like that. But I didn’t want to forget that space.”

For Ellison, music exists in those kinds of transcendent spaces. The 26-year-old wants his jazz-infused and beat-centric electronic compositions to evoke daydreams, hazy memories, drug trips and even the dim hours between life and death.

It’s a difficult, immersive style in the spirit of his great-aunt, jazz composer Alice Coltrane. But it’s also made him a superstar in the thriving Los Angeles electronic music underground, particularly at the Low End Theory club series in Lincoln Heights. With his new album, “Cosmogramma,” which came out Tuesday, Ellison may well become famous outside of that scene as well.

Erykah Badu and Radiohead’s Thom Yorke sing on the album. Lotus’ earlier remix of Kanye West’s “Love Lockdown” turned mainstream hip-hop ears, and a generation of twentysomethings know his music for Cartoon Network’s gonzo “Adult Swim” series.

“Hendrix obliterated the boundaries with guitars as Lotus does with electronic machines,” said Mary Anne Hobbs, the influential BBC Radio 1 DJ. “His live performance is totally incendiary, melting devastating primal sound and visual art into a hyper-sensory experience.”

Ellison is a prodigious marijuana smoker — on opening his door to a reporter, he mock-grumbled, “It smells like weed in here.” A steep stairway to his basement studio — piled with synthesizers, vinyl albums and Ellison’s artwork — is treacherous enough while sober.

Many artists explore space travel and altered states. And like them, Lotus balances that sensibility with a maniacal devotion to his craft. “Cosmogramma” might be the most difficult work to come out of Los Angeles this year. Given the mind-bending new releases from rising Low End peers Shlohmo, Ras G and the Glitch Mob, that’s a real feat.

“My time working with Steve was one of the most treasured, rewarding things I’ve done,” said Kevin Moo, a.k.a. Daddy Kev, the founder of Low End Theory who mastered the “Cosmogramma” LP. “But a mastering job that normally takes a few hours wound up lasting four months.”

Paradoxically, as Ellison’s work grew more esoteric, his audience grew. He recently toured with Yorke’s new band Atoms for Peace, and last month he performed at Coachella. Alone before a jubilant tent of thousands, he brought forth a hail of broken beats and blissed-out synthesizers. “You just look out and see girls losing it,” he said in disbelief. “You feel like you could just play air horn all night and they’d still love you.””

For real

It is day one at Coachella with my opening acts being Conor Oberst followed by Crystal Castles and Leonard Cohen, nothing against any of these acts but by 9:00 I had not fallen into a musical zone. To explain the musical zone further, you may want to see the video I took of a man at the Grails show about three months ago or watch Gilbert’s description. Being slightly disappointed about having not experience this moment of bliss yet I laid down in one of the three tents at Coachella. I spotted Jody from Whenyouawake and we chatted for awhile and then parted ways with me hoping to find something new. I looked at the lineup sheet and saw A Place to Bury Strangers was playing at the Gobi Tent in 10 minutes. I had seen this name before but knew nothing of the band other than it has a great name. I wandered over to the 1/4 full tent just before the band started. In front of me were two goth chicks who seemed very excited about what was about to go down.

Photo courtesy of BrooklynVegan

The band opened with a sonic beat down, heavy guitar with effects unlike anything I have ever heard before; like My Bloody Valentine except with a drummer from Deerhunter. The drums were infectious, rolling into one another with blissful osculations of the cymbals being smashed. Playing behind the band were videos of 16 seconds loops of something from a snuff video. Notably a shot of pale woman with black lingerie and a hand (maybe her own) rubbing the outside of her thighs. The moments that transpired have been what I see when I blink from that day to this. Psychedelic drums, with My Bloody Valentine layered guitars, and vocals of Joy Division. The lyrical structure differed greatly from Joy Division in that they were not long, drawn-out poems but more paralleling the 16 second  video clips; short, repetitive verses about the darkness which resides in love. The words and tone combined to remind me of being in love in a large metropolitan area where there is  only loneliness in the dark alleys of the night. It was as if I was living in a small New York apartment strung out again with the electricity have not been paid and the only light were dim, melted down candles on an empty nightstand by a dingy, worn down bed. There was utter pain at the sound’s core yet release from anger due to the energy of the musicians expression.

The band ended with two songs played without pause. The ending of the first closing song is what is played in this video I took, with the full length of the final song captured as well. The bands video in the background at the end reminds me of Diane Arbous’s final photo shoot of people from a psyche ward doing ring around the rosy. I was completely shattered by this band and I hope you take the 9 minutes and 23 seconds to experience just a taste of A Place to Bury Strangers. I have been thinking about flying to New York in mid-May just to see them again soon. This band alone was worth the entire price of admission to all three days of Coachella.

(if you get bored then skip to minute 3:55) Preferably watch this in the dark alone.

I mean who does that with their guitar during a concert. Incredible. I have since come to find out that the lead singer/guitarist make effects pedal for a living so the effects I was hearing where truly unlike anything.

I asked five regular participates of the TSS crew to give us their selections which meet their own criteria for shoegaze. Some of our more versed listeners might debate whether these songs fit the true definition of shoegaze but remember these monthly cds are about expansion of the musical mind, attempting to melt away the prejudices keeping us from fully experiencing sound.

I am just as excited as the next guy about exploring these tunes. Enjoy.

(Click the Album to start downloading)

Thank you everyone who submitted their playlists.
Capt AKAK