Flying Lotus – “Arkestry”

I’m not what you’d call an electronic expert and, to level with you guys, this is the only Flying Lotus album I’ve ever heard more than once. Still, that should tell you something about just how impactful this album was at the time of its release, and how influential it remains. I’m not well-versed enough on popular opinions surrounding Cosmogramma to accurately predict what the most popular songs are (although a cursory search of review threads seems to suggest either ‘Zodiac Shit’ or ‘Do The Astral Plane’ [maybe ‘Pickled!’ low-key?]), but I’ve always been drawn to ‘Arkestry’ – a stunning electronic symphony of freestyle jazz elements. Other songs on Cosmogramma offer more layers and textural complexity, but this is always the moment that stops me in my tracks with its sheer beauty. Bubbling electronic effects give way to cascading drums, which eventually split the center of the song open into a gorgeous ravine of jazz horns. As subtle pianos underscore the transition into the track’s final minute, an eerie, apparition-like voice begins to hum in a theatrical-yet-ominous fashion. The way the song fluidly progresses within itself is a thing of beauty, and while it may not be the most popular pick from Cosmorgramma, it’s the one that captured the attention of an indie-head like me.  If Cosmorgramma is the album that got me into electronic music back in 2010, then I have to credit ‘Arkestry’ as one of the most influential tracks on my own personal decade.

Read more from this decade at my homepage for Sowing’s Songs of the Decade.