Artist: Flying Lotus
Album: Cosmogramma
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In 2008, Flying Lotus released his second album Los Angeles, which cemented his role as a true musical pioneer and has made Cosmogramma one of the most eagerly awaited albums of the year. Not one for the minimalists, Flying Lotus injects acres of artistry into a complex musical journey, where tracks subtlety converge and diverge and blend and fuse, enthralling the listener in exotic entropies. At times beautiful with smooth jazz and calm down-tempo, at times challenging with gritty chaotic rhythms, Cosmogramma doesn’t disappoint, it thrills.
Artist: LCD Soundsystem
Album: This is Happening
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LCD Soundsystem came correct with their eponymous 2005 debut, proving that things could still be exciting and progressive in the middle of the naughties. In 2010, James Murphy, the band’s frontman, proves once again that fusion music is still cutting edge. This is Happening, is very f**king happening and happens when you least expect it. For example on ‘Dance Yrself Clean’, three minutes of sombre monotone ‘a-has’ over a repetitive beat make you forget that Murphy likes to surprise, which he does with gusto on the best drop of the year. This is vibrant, absolute must have, post-punk indulgence made for the moment. Enjoy.
Artist: UNKLE
Album: Where Did the Night Fall?
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James Lavelle seems to be choking a dead chicken with this latest moribund UNKLE release, either that or he thinks reverb heavy guitars and ‘can’t be arsed’ vocals are still in. When Trip Hop was exciting and Lavelle introduced it to the heroin-heavy indie-rock of the late nineties, UNKLE sounded like they had realised the future of music. In 2010, Where Did the Night Fall relies on that now tired formula and the residues of Trip Hop past. That’s not to say it’s without its moments, Lavelle is a craftsman after all; but UNKLE are no longer the dark future, just another yawn in the prosperous present.