Flying Lotus Physics For Everyone

When your great-aunt and uncle are Alice and John Coltrane, you are bound to do great things in life. Speaking of his family, FlyLo wanted Alice to play the harp on what would be his debut record, 1983. She said she would, if he got her harp fixed, but it never happened -- Lo blamed it on his stoner tendencies. Pattern+Grid World is Lotus' eighth EP release in less than 3 years, and that speaks volumes about his work ethic (not your stereotypical stoner).

The album, as a whole, channels Radiohead's Kid A to Amnesiac Sessions (1999-2001), except there is a lot more LSD and speed going on here. I can't imagine that there's a better way to start your album than with a rip, an alarm, and drums as such on the album's opener, "Clay."

As for the rest of the songs... "Kill Your Co-Workers" has the 8-bit sounds of a Mario coin collection. "Jurassic Notion/M Theory" has a beat that just might leave you in a neck brace; if you don't feel this song, you might be a paraplegic. On "Camera Day," the listener can hear the bombs dropping; it would be the only track that I would like to hear a rapper (like Jay Electronica) body. During all seven cuts, it is possible to feel claustrophobic, deserted, free, despair, full, and empty at any given moment -- or all at the same time. Simply put, FlyLo does not keep his music structure the same for long in any song.

Often, he gets the Dilla comparison-influence, the major difference is that -- even if the two beatmakers have similarities -- FlyLo's music is more digital-melody driven then sample-driven. That's not to say that FlyLo does not use sampling, because he does.

A naysayer might argue that the sounds are too loud for rhymes and that the drums, bass, and treble would need to be turned down. My counter would be that Mr. Lotus has made his music in a way so that it doesn't really need lyrics at all.