Until the Quiet Comes - Flying Lotus

Until the Quiet Comes

Flying Lotus

Warp Records.

SCQ Rating: 77%

I can’t be the only person out there who wishes Flying Lotus would make up his mind sometimes. For all of Steven Ellison’s game-changing contributions to the realms of hip hop and modern rhythm-and-blues, his technique feels paralyzed by a refusal to stick with any idea beyond a two-minute margin. If I could commit to calling it a problem, I’d swear he’s only getting worse. But little about Flying Lotus comes easily – especially steadfast criticism – as Until the Quiet Comes continues following the same fragmented rabbit-hole that Cosmogramma busted open in 2010.

Ultimately the best way to approach Flying Lotus’ severe ADHD is passively, allowing his sketch-like tracks to cluster into abstract suites that stimulate the brain and its kinetic impulses. “All In”, “Getting There” and “Until the Colours Come” form the first grouping and it’s a sumptuous movement of consolidated cosmic happenings. The same cannot be said for Until the Quiet Comes’ middle ground, which is populated by experimental hip-hop tracks (“Sultan’s Request”, “Putty Boy Strut”) that awkwardly un-focuses, for a time, a hard-earned jazz/rhythm-and-blues/hip-hop amalgamation. But by remaining passive and accepting whatever whims Ellison indulges, listeners will avoid trying to filter Until the Quiet Comes’ various levels into the ideal genre-mix they’re occasionally greeted by. It sounds like a chemistry experiment because it virtually is one; an array of calculations drawn up to determine what happens when two clashing sounds collide. This grade concludes that Flying Lotus commits to an agreeable fusion 77% of the time.