Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma

Cosmogramma begins with sledgehammer beats, but quickly mutates. A wafting haze of analogue clicks and dust permeate the veins of this intriguing record, lending it an atmosphere of timelessness and vintage that belies the complex arrangements and insistent, digital pulses of its many standout tracks.

Perhaps the most accessible is the Thom Yorke-assisted ...And The Whole World Laughs With You – a lush, faded slice of trip-hop that drifts in and out of coherence like a hallucination. Experimental jazz is encoded in every note of Cosmogramma, where the distinctions between tracks begin to blur; FlyLo plays with structure with virtuosity and flair, channelling the Coltranes, Sun Ra and John Zorn, all the while blending in the textures of innovative bass music.

An ambitious, challenging album from a sonic visionary, proving FlyLo is virtually peerless – perhaps only Brainfeeder labelmate Daedelus can touch him. Not for those who enjoy verse-chorus-verse or four-on-the-floor – but true aesthetes will devour Comsogramma with relish. [Bram Gieben]