The key thing that’s been mentioned surrounding the release of Flying Lotus’s Pattern+Grid World is the outstanding pace with which Steve Ellison puts out such astounding work. Just a few short months after May’s Cosmogramma, Flying Lotus drops yet another outstanding set woozy beats.
While this effort isn’t quite the epic undertaking that Cosmogramma was–its runtime is a mere 18 minutes– it is certainly no less breathtaking. It might be the best entrance point to understanding Ellison as an artist. The EP opens strong with the swells and near siren sounds of “Clay,” and it showcases what FlyLo does best. There’s no particular stand out melody, no booming bassline, just a few woozy keyboard sounds and an outstanding beat; this all comes together to make an interesting piece of blunted electronica that’s enough to separate him from his LA beat scene followers.
While some of these tracks, including “Clay” on the A Decade of Flying Lotus mix released last December, have already seen the light of day, even those tracks work much better in the context of this EP. Even “Camera Day,” which began its life as a Killer Mike beat, fares better stripped of the vocals and slotted in the middle of this release. Its slow burn works quite well to drive along Pattern+Grid World to its stilted conclusion. “Physics for Everyone!” seems to be pretty straightforward loop driven fare upon its first listen, but it ends up being most similar to his 1983-era work, an offbeat drum sample and a harsh cycling keyboard riff make for a simple song that could work–just as his early material did– as Adult Swim bumper material.
Ok so simple summation, if you like Flying Lotus and haven’t heard Cosmogramma, you owe it to yourself to hear that, even before this new release. It’s that complex and good. If you’ve yet to dive into Ellison’s catalog, this EP is as good a place as any to enter it. And if you’re a dedicated fan, waiting for the next thing, you may have already heard some of the songs presented here, but it’s still extremely worth your while. Despite its brevity, its a great EP that flows well, which is particularly noteworthy considering the odds and ends collections that these sort of releases often devolve into.
