Born from Flying Lotus’s itch to experiment, Big Mama is the L.A. producer’s most restless project to date. Leave it to FlyLo to produce an EP with such shape despite its medley-like consistency being comprised of short sequences that quickly segue into something else entirely.
A brain-walloping relay of crazy beats, the EP is as chopped as its stop motion-animated video tie-in. The end form is a contest; a ‘past vs future’ battle for electronically-minded music supremacy that remains engaging whilst your place on the ADHD spectrum is shifted wildly.
The most notable sound of yesteryear FlyLo frequents is video game music, conducted most perceptibly by the Megadrive soundfont keys of In the Forest – Day, perhaps written with the climes of a 16-bit overworld in mind, given that title.
But it doesn’t end there; even the title track’s drum and bass is surrounded by the ethereal chill one may experience on the sensuous, synth string-laden soundtrack of a game vying for sexier or IMD-esque sounds – or maybe I’m just saying that because it sounds so nostalgic, like some of the menu themes from Sonic Mega Collection.
The most frequented chiptune-adjacent sound is a sort of Mario Kart synthesiser blare that plays when you least expect. There is a strange cohesion to FlyLo’s battle of eras; these blares field a challenging, but uniquely interesting collage with ambient dance music on Brobobasher, with assistance from other chiptune sound effects. Blares signal time running out on fitting finale Pink Dream, before turning into the EP’s most oddly melodic offering. Blares fit snuggly into Antelope Onigiri; the EP’s embodiment, schizophrenically knocking down its own new age rampancy with quick, snappy changes – it’s Big Mama’s highest-ranking diplomat; chief mindfuck.
The innovation of the future has it in it to prevail over the winning formula of the past, at least until the future itself becomes the past. The laptop scene is quite established, has been for over a decade, and FlyLo does little to advance on Horse Nuke, but Captain Kernel combines modern wonky music with jazz elements not usually fit for the genre – a synth ends up soloing wildly, forming a lovely contrast with the thick synth that guides the piece’s low-end, warmly fuzzy but big-bootied.
Maybe the battle itself is a tie. As funky fresh as Flying Lotus can be, he takes pleasure in telling us that there’s nothing wrong with loving the ‘90s; its tones, textures, blips, bloops, and nostalgia-grabs. The producer’s two faces uniquely collide on his new EP; a firm reminder of his penchant for experimentation and unrivalled efficiency as a director of sound.
Best track – Captain Kernel.
Rating – 7 out of 10
