PUYL Favorite Video: Flying Lotus - Putty Boy Strut

Flying Lotus - Putty Boy Strut

Flying Lotus has always been one to push boundaries.  Preceding the release of his fourth album, Until The Quiet Comes, FlyLo put out a short film which gave fans a first chance to hear a handful of songs from the album in the setting of a rather dark, yet theatric video.  After seeing that, I wasn't sure what to expect from Putty Boy Strut.  Because my first view of the video also gave me my first listen of the song, I was initially struck by the frenetic and urgent pace.  The viewing experience is enhanced by the robots clapping along to the beat and reacting to sound changes.  I feel like I am visiting a Seussian machine world devoid of intelligent life.  The inhabitants are constantly consuming and destroying things around them... until the quiet comes and the song culminates with a symbol of the beauty of change.

The Underachievers

A reawakening is happening.  This time last year, I was most excited about the up-and-coming rappers out of the Pacific Northwest, but 2012 is unveiling some very refreshing new talent, and they are coming from the cradle of hip-hop, New York City.  A few months ago we saw Joey Bada$$ and his Pro Era Crew start to gain traction in the blogosphere.  I feel like when you can earn the respect of the Internet, being the fickle and fleeting fans they are, you've given yourself a good chance for success.  He has also drawn attention from a variety of fellow artists, so that is legitimizing as well.  Real recognize real, right?

Another young Brooklyn group, The Underachievers, are more than deserving of a spot in the limelight just because they shine bright, and they rhyme tight.  Check out their first music video:

Download: The Underachievers - Gold Soul Theory

Their name originated as a disparaging label which they are seeking to repossess and empower.  It isn't hard to imagine, however, that even the duo might feel a little bit of truth in their name given the fact that they grew up on the streets that produced some of the most important artists of all time.  Hopefully, that is plenty of motivation to stay dedicated to their craft and to continue to push the genre forward.  Ak and Dash clearly draw a lot of inspiration from their hip-hop predecessors, as well as from more experimental artists such as Flying Lotus, and, of course, they use plenty of herbal assistance:

Download: The Underachievers - Herb Shuttles

Their trippy visuals, gloomy beats, and focused rhymes combine to make a strong case for why they claim the East Coast is the Beast Coast.  Their first mixtape, INDIGOI.S.M., will be released next week on Tuesday.

Blu - Everything'sOK (ft. Jack Davey) (prod. by Flying Lotus)

Ahh fruition.  It's always nice when a plan comes together perfectly in the end.  In this case, it took me several months to finally bring you the total presentation I had imagined, but here it is.

For a while now, I have been pleasantly surprised by the steady stream of talent coming out of the west coast music scene.  I've found myself developing favorites from the Pacific Northwest, the Bay area, and Los Angeles.  As a bit of background, I had originally been intending to dedicate a single post to several L.A. artists that have captured my attention over the past couple years.  Those artists were Blu, J*Davey, and Flying Lotus.  Each one of them has impressed me in different ways recently, and have demonstrated the health of that local music underground.  As I was contemplating how to feature them all at once, an answer dropped into my lap.  Sometime in March, Blu let a tweet fly that contained a download link to a song done by himself, and with the assistance of none other than Miss Jack Davey and FlyLo.  It was a Godsend.  I knew then that I had to devote a post to each individual musician in order to properly culminate with the excitement of this release.

So here we are.   I have shown you the lyrical skills of Blu.  You have heard the distinct voice of Jack Davey. Flying Lotus's video game-like production is instantly recognizable.  This track is off Blu's forthcoming No York! album.  Enjoy.

Listen/Download at Okayplayer.

Flying Lotus

This post is going to be fun.  Flying Lotus, or FlyLo for short, is the alias of electronic musician, Steven Ellison.  He is by no means your standard producer of electronica, however.  He crafts complex tracks that draw from a wide variety of influences.  Hip-hop beats, organic instrumentals, floating vocals, and video game sound effects all meld together with fantastic balance to give his music a distinct sound.

Like any good musician, it seems that FlyLo also likes to occasionally indulge in some mind altering activities...

Holy zodiac! That's a trip.  The song is from his 2010 album Cosmogramma and is called "Zodiac Shit".  His real 'influences' aren't all herbs and pills; he has said that he gets high to enjoy his music, not to make it because he gets distracted and forgetful.  No, FlyLo music is much more a product of the environment in which he was raised.

The Los Angeles native has kept close ties to his musical family.  His music takes strong inspiration from the lives and works of his aunt and uncle, jazz musicians Alice and John Coltrane.  In addition, their son, Ravi, remains an important part in Ellison's creative process.  See Ravi and Alice perform here.

Flying Lotus's name might not have mainstream notoriety, but his music does.  Anyone that has ever watched Cartoon Network's [adult swim] programming block (as I am right now) should recognize his songs from their witty and snide bumps.


Hit the jump to see what I'm talking about.