VIMTV Episode #127: Flying Lotus – Cosmogramma

Jake: Recommended, 60/100

Tom: Recommended, 66/100

Overview: The beats are fat, the production is flawless, and even the track titles are fun on Flying Lotus’s latest batch of electronic ADD, Cosmogramma. But as impressive as it is for what it is (which is more of a musical sketchbook or how-to manual for advanced music producers than an album), this mere collage of sounds can’t stand up to contemporary albums of any genre in the songwriting department. Admittedly, this album isn’t meant to focus on songwriting, but that factor is huge here at VIMTV and has to be taken into account in order to rank it with other albums of its time. “Great for what it is” can only get you so far, and it takes Flying Lotus as far as he can go, which is a good-but-limiting ground.

Recommended Similar Artists: Thom Yorke, Aphex Twin, Memory Tapes (anything with dense electronics)

Jake’s Track Picks: 

• …And the World Laughs With You
• Do the Astral Plane
• Table Tennis

Tom’s Track Picks: 

• Computer Face // Pure Being
• MmmHmm
• Table Tennis

VIMTV Research Links:

• Flying Lotus Website
• Wikipedia – Flying Lotus
• Flying Lotus Myspace
• A couple lyrics – Flying Lotus.
• Flying Lotus – Cosmogramma reviews at Metacritic

Video on the art of Cosmogramma

Flying Lotus live