The Gramaphone Records Blog

I’m floored by You’re Dead. Flying Lotus has managed to do a wonderful thing, editing the best parts of fusion jazz so that instead of solo overkill (which is what it became), we are left always wanting more from these beautiful lush dives into deep, tropical fusion that draws on Miles via smatterings of Herbie, Mahavishnu, and Weather Report conflated with 21st century hip-hop and electronics. If that wasn’t enough, the record is thematic, funny, and brilliant. The way he weaves this all together smacks to me of something like Stevie Wonder’s Innervisions.

I have to admit, it took me at least 20 tries before I stopped re-playing the first couple of tracks over and over and just let it roll through, not because  tracks following were bad, but because I couldn’t get enough of what he was dishing out in those first ones. One of the reasons I love this record is that is so skillfully condenses the spirit of fusion jazz and withholds its excesses while successfully integrating it with several 21st century elements. The way the record presents itself, though – thematic, so well-thought-out – smacks in my ears of genius. I liked his earlier stuff, but this flexes in a more fully orbed way conceptually, lyrically and musically.

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