(Warp)

Off-kilter instrumentalist’s follow-up to the Reset EP

The haunted and introspective quality of this new Flying Lotus album, along with its hidden hints of voices and psychogeographical evocation of the city late at night, suggests that he’s been listening to more than a little Burial. The bubbly instrumental hip hop of his previous work and the ads he did for Adult Swim is still in there as well as the dubstep though, making for an unusual and ear-catching mix. Beginners Falafel is all underwater sounds, snatches of a warbling female voice, static crackle and churning bass, elements he reuses in different combinations throughout the album. It’s all very calm and even a track called Riot is subtle and brooding in its menace, with distant, broken radio voices trying to tell each other something through the noise of a jutting guitar and the unstoppable beat, breaking down into villainous Vincent Price laughter towards the end. Songs with names that sound like they were rejected by Kid A like Breathe. Something/Stellar STar and Auntie’s Lock/Infinitum continue the wonky, wobbly theme and are rich with laser trills and rubbery synth, while GNG BNG comes loaded with finger-cymbals and Bhangra beats. Flying Lotus has created a spacey and haunted Los Angeles before the sun comes up that sounds a lot more interesting than the real thing.

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JODY MACGREGOR

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