Live Review: BRAINFEEDER: 2012 SAMPLER

Proving that there’s more to LA than medical marijuana and paparazzi, the City of Angel’s own Brainfeeder label has put out a free sampler of what to expect from its roster in 2012. 

Brainfeeder was founded in 2008 by FLYING LOTUS, futuristic beats producer and the great-nephew of John and Alice Coltrane. That connection to forward-thinking, experimental jazz is reflected in the label’s eclectic catalogue. There’s hip-hop without thuggery, club music without monotony, soul without sentimentality, and dubstep without neck tatts. About the only thing the various artists have in common is a commitment to not being common.

Although there’s no Flying Lotus track, the label’s other big names are well represented. SAMIYAM’s GameBoy-through-a-subwoofer beats, and THUNDERCAT’s virtuosic space-soul are laid out in two tracks from their stellar 2011 albums (‘Cushions’ from Sam Baker’s Album and ‘For Love I Come’ from The Golden Age of the Apocalypse respectively). THE GASLAMP KILLER enlists GONJASUFI for a twisted lounge-singer croon on ‘When I’m In Awe’, while MARTYN turns in ‘Viper’, a typically ominous tune with the kind of bass that shook my drink off a table in a club earlier this year.

The breakout star of the sampler has got to be LAPALUX. His first Brainfeeder release, the When You’re Gone EP, is only out later this month, but the featured track ‘Gutter Glitter’ shows mastery of a ‘post-dubstep’ genre that few can even define. It’s all disembodied vocals, starry-eyed synths and shifting rhythms, the kind of track that converts a listener from sweaty festival dancefloors to a dark room with headphones and a joint.

So if you’re new to this whole thing, saw FLYING LOTUS at a festival over summer and thought “what the fuck?”, well, THIS the fuck. It’s a free download, so you’ve got nothing to lose and entire worlds of possibility to gain.

Get Brainfeeder '2012 Sampler' HERE.

Words by  Matt Nielson.

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