Leftfield Recommendations October 2010

Review: After the "next level jazz shit" of Cosmogramma, you'd forgive Flying Lotus for a taking a time out and maybe hit some clubs in LA to find his next Brainfeeder signee. Instead he's spent the past few months scouring the inner workings of his clearly impressive musical brain to deliver Pattern & Grid World, seven tracks of expansive machine funk futurism. Commencing with the hazy mist of psychedelic soul synths flourishes and intricate beat patterns that is "Clay" Ellison demonstrates an ever increasing array of beat poetry. "Kill Your Co-Workers" marries tinny drum and bass programming with an ever expanding opulence of joyous melodies whilst "Pie Face" drops outer galactic grime syncopation over kaleidoscopic bass patterns. "Time Vampires" could soundtrack the astro travelling Lord Quas referred to on the classic Madlib album The Unseen whilst "Jurassic Notion/M Theory" splays wonked out afro percussion over belly level schizoid bass lines. The final rhythmic jolt of "Physics For Everyone" replete with head first plunges into industrial bass makes this a bewitching complement to Ellison's highly lauded album.

Review: Not content with releasing one of this year's most captivating albums in A Sufi & A Killer, Warp enlist a veritable trove of production deities to add some new weight to the distinctive vocals of LA yoga teacher turned mystical sonic wizard Gonjasufi. Amidst a sea of praise and applause for Gonjasufi's debut album, the only real complaint was a sense of unease at Gaslamp Killer's production credits for a wholesale plundering of samples and breaks. A problem which is more or less remedied on The Caliph's Tea Party, furthermore there are some truly stunning reinterpretations within. Commencing with the ambient Morricone hues of Mark Pritchard's "Ancestors" remix, what really impresses is Warp's decision to call in rising production talent like Dam Mantle and Dem Hunger. Indeed it's the former who excels on a remix of "Ageing" that dices up the vocals over pulsing bass led half step stutter that burst with soul when the organ riffs drop. Elsewhere Bear In Heaven go all Axelrod on the ripping remix of Love of Reign and Oneohtrix Point Never delivers the highlight with a stunningly beautiful rendition of "She's Gone".

Review: Phantasy invite us into the weird and wonderful world of Babe, Terror with this orange marble vinyl housing the first of two releases from the Brazilian. "Summertime Our League" is a hauntingly hypnotic exercise in sonic experimentalism, with heavyweight remix action from Four Tet who transforms the beatless melancholia into a typically organic sounding drummers delight. Amping up the atmospherics is the reverberant dub techno brilliance of Appleblim & Arkist's remix of "A Capital Federal".