Day 30, Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma

Stars: I don’t know. There are moments on this album that actually hurt. Both the insides of my ears and my poor little brain trying to process some of the most abrasive foreign noises I have ever heard are throbbing right now. The mastering volume on Cosmogramma is incredibly high, which is impressive actually, but by no means comfortable. But he saves himself from becoming a musical guillotine by adding a sprinkling of tender moments like “Intro/a Cosmic Drama” and a few cohesive melodies in tracks such as “Do the Astral Plane.” These and a few other moments of clarity give me the strength to take a shot at the rest of the chaos, and now that I have done it, and have realized that it isn’t chaos at all. It is, in fact, quite beautiful. But it is beautiful in the way that the atom bomb is. A disastrous invention where it is clear that we are now smarter because of it, but it is unclear if we would have been better of with out it.

Also, I am so confused about the tracking. He’ll switch beats mid-song, or sometimes carry the groove from the previous track into the next. This makes it impossible to lineate the album. But on the other hand, it is interesting because it erases the idea that song titles are merely captions. Maybe they are used as a way to bridge gaps in musical thoughts. Or maybe he uses words simply as aesthetic choices which describe the abstractions in his music. But neither of these ideas fit consistently, which makes me think that maybe it’s all free associative and there is no real reason behind it, which seems like the most likely answer, but also the most pessimistic.

Cosmogramma has some of the most crafted, expansive soundscapes I’ve ever heard, but I am tempted to simply write it off as “too much.” So, for stars, I’ll go with either 2 or 4. You pick which one you agree with more.

Favorite Song: There are only a few “songs” on this album. A lot of Cosmogramma floats in and out of itself, begging and ending ideas mid-track. But if I had to choose: “Galaxy in Janaki” and the first half of “…and the World Laughs With You.” However, the aspect of this album I enjoy most is the way he incorporates jazz in the midst of his cosmic, techno-hip-hop freak-outs. For the literal, take “Arkestry” where he mashes together a number of samples from old jazz standards. But check the bass solo throughout “Pickled.” This is probably the jazziest thing on Cosmogramma, and it rips the pants off of anything else on this album. It sounds like Jaco Pastorius if he were to turn into an anime superhero. But this didn’t make it as my favorite track because the ground it stands on is a little bit like a treadmill that is turned up too fast. It flies underneath your feet and all you can do is hope to god you can keep up.

Show: I am sort of recovering from this album experience, so I am not sure if I am, or ever will be ready. I feel like I just worked a 20 hour bar tending shift and I am lying on my tile bathroom floor, swearing to never go back to that god awful place, yet grinning at that huge wad of cash in my pocket. My ears are tired and I don’t think it was worth going through, but I know that I have gained something from Cosmogramma. So the thought of adding any sort of light show to the mix just sounds like it would mess with my brain beyond recovery.