West Coast music producer Steven Ellison, better known as Flying Lotus, merges jazz, electronic and hip-hop to create one of the most unique sounds in the intelligent dance music world. Ellison’s label, Brainfeeder, has released what have been called “modern classics” of this decade.
But as is seen time and time again, high achievement sets high expectations, which are seldom met with consistency. In 2012, Flying Lotus left fans disenchanted with “Until The Quiet Comes.” Though highly anticipated, the LP was quiet indeed; it was well-received but commonly criticized for “falling into the background” of the other high-risk albums for which Ellison had established his name.
With the Oct. 7 release of “You’re Dead!” Ellison had the chance to prove he could return to pushing the envelope. And he did.
A 38-minute concept album on death and the afterlife is something few could have predicted and fewer could have constructed. Granted, the theme of mortality is nothing new. Flying Lotus brought detail to this idea, transforming the LP from 19 individual tracks into a complete listening experience. Every aspect from transitions to featured artists was carefully selected to keep the album a singular piece of art.
For example, it was originally rumored Mac Miller would appear on “Coronus, the Terminator.”
listenThe track has an eerie sound and potent vocals; Flying Lotus sings “There’s nowhere left to go, so I’d like to save you / They all want to be saved.” Ellison ultimately decided Miller’s voice couldn’t portray this idea in the way he had envisioned. Decisions like this keep the album honest and the message clear. Though someone like Mac would have brought more traffic from a different crowd of listeners, Flying Lotus keeps his decisions strictly artistic.
This isn’t to say every featured artist was a great choice. Snoop Dogg’s appearance on “Dead Man’s Tetris” is interesting, but questionable. Flying Lotus and his animated alter-ego Captain Murphy have styles which fit together well. The song is cohesive with the album and at the same time stands out due to its rap-electronic mix.
Then there is Snoop’s verse. “Nickel plated nine / Bang bang blow your mind / Beep beep flatline / Gotta get yours, I been had mine.” It seems completely irrelevant in terms of its placement and message.
This can be easily contrasted to “The Boys Who Died in Their Sleep,” where Flying Lotus and Captain Murphy create a strange but thought-provoking track almost reminiscent of something Tyler, The Creator would wish his music resembled. Tackling the dangers of drug abuse, Captain Murphy raps, “I travel through the light in the ceiling and everything goes away.”
“Dead Man’s Tetris” and “The Boys Who Died in Their Sleep” both were intended to be standout pieces, but the latter was better executed. Sorry, Snoop.
Other noteworthy pieces include “Descent into Madness” (the title captures the message) and “Eyes Above.” Both tracks are just long enough to complete an individual thought on mortality and just short enough not to become repetitive; what’s more impressive is that the latter is able to do this without any vocals.
Overall, the brevity of each song on “You’re Dead!” is symbolic of Flying Lotus’s intention: life is short, and impending death should be used as motivation.
Individually, the tracks are stimulating but nothing groundbreaking. Sitting down and listening to this album in its entirety, however, is quite the journey. Ellison has minimized transitions to much it is almost difficult to hear the end of one song and beginning of another. These are the elements which make “You’re Dead” so special. Rarely will you see so far into the mind of a producer. And what’s more, rarely will you find a producer who thinks like Steven Ellison.
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