Why is Flying Lotus so popular?

FlyLo seems to have his fair share of haters.

Anyone who doesn't like him clearly haven't listened to Los Angeles.

  On 4/6/2013 at 3:12 AM, Stickfigger said:

I've also wondered this . I think its one of those phenomenon when girls like something thats not terrible, then guys start liking it too, then it snowballs. I am not sure if i have ever sat around with a bunch of guy friends listening to Flying Lotus when something else could be played?

WTF, I don't know any girls that listen to FlyLo but I know girls that listen to Aphex Twin and Autechre. If I would listen to something that girls like I would listen to Portishead or Thievery Corporation or something like that.

  On 4/5/2013 at 11:29 PM, dr lopez said:

jesus.. quotes like this make me think he's an idiot

 

  Quote

I feel like that [dream] world fascinates me so much. That feeling is very present in the artist's mind where creative ideas flourish. The notion of the unknown and beyond is something that I've always been curious about, and the music and work that do is where I can ask those questions.

 

 

haha no way!! so original! What a pioneer.

So what's the current WATMM accepted way of getting inspired? I remember that RDJ still could get away with talking about lucid dreaming in the 90s..

i dunno i'm just not very interested in listening to artists wax on about dreams. seems like a super easy way to sell your music. afx is not immune from this, but he still did it in a more interesting way and also like 20 years ago.

I'd much rather listen to sean booth talk about lebbeus woods. because lebbeus woods is actually an interesting artist putting forward challenging ideas. for another interesting artist to take inspiration from that is somehow more compelling than "yeah my dreams...."

  On 4/6/2013 at 6:26 PM, dr lopez said:

i dunno i'm just not very interested in listening to artists wax on about dreams. seems like a super easy way to sell your music. afx is not immune from this, but he still did it in a more interesting way and also like 20 years ago.

 

I'd much rather listen to sean booth talk about lebbeus woods. because lebbeus woods is actually an interesting artist putting forward challenging ideas. for another interesting artist to take inspiration from that is somehow more compelling than "yeah my dreams...."

you make dreams sound so mundane m8

they play a huge crazy role in my life

yolo

This is a very interesting thread, even after all these years people can't seem to grasp the concept of subjectiveness.

I think the Thom Yorke connection opened him up to the mainstream a bit. First I really heard of him was in late 09/early 10 when I heard Thom Yorke was going to appear on Cosmogramma. Listened and liked LA, loved Cosmogramma, etc.

Cosmogramma circa 2010 was one of those occasional warp 'event/of-the-moment' releases. Practically every self-respecting hipster atleast gave it a listen before moving on to the latest Bon Iver or whatever, especially because of its uniqueness and cross-genre appeal.

I've seen both Autechre and FlyLo live, didnt really notice any difference in gender ratio. Probably more girls at FlyLo, but that was mainly because it was at Canberra, which has a smaller music festival scene than Melbourne (ae), so therefore more of an event.

hipsters and girls like his music

he obviously sucks

he's just bland, suck is too strong a word

^^ basically this.

this seems especially evident when putting him in the context of madlib or dilla (as has been done in this thread); flylo just ain't on the same level.

  On 5/4/2012 at 1:38 AM, zaphod said:

that italo disco album you're putting out on your net label still won't be listened to by anyone, so don't worry.

lol

  On 4/7/2013 at 11:40 AM, LimpyLoo said:

hipsters and girls like his music

he obviously sucks

many a true word said in jest

  On 4/7/2013 at 9:33 PM, beerwolf said:

 

  On 4/7/2013 at 11:40 AM, LimpyLoo said:

hipsters and girls like his music

he obviously sucks

 

many a true word said in jest

lucky for us

this is not one of those instances

honestly, if FlyLo was some random unknown dude

(maybe posting his tunes on this forum)

all the haters in this thread would have different opinions of his music

same old story imo

i for one know that my opinion about his music is not at all based on his music but is based entirely around the fact that he is not some random unknown dude. fuck not random unknown dudes.

  On 4/7/2013 at 9:48 PM, Alcofribas said:

i for one know that my opinion about his music is not at all based on his music but is based entirely around the fact that he is not some random unknown dude. fuck not random unknown dudes.

it has nothing to do with "knowing" and everything to do with expectations

i'm not sure i see what you're getting at.

i think his music is ok, nothing special. why must there be some ulterior explanation for this?

because hipsters and it's accesible

i mean, if people are bitching about how many girls are at his shows and stuff well yeah, that's obviously stupid.

but generally i feel like there's this weird pc overreaction to critical opinion. i know awepittance has brought this up in another thread so maybe this isn't the place for this but it is a bit frustrating to find one's perfectly reasonable opinions and criticisms met with some weird psychoanalysis about how you only feel that way bc you're jealous, or because you have illogical expectations or whatever. to me it's just as silly as telling people they only like flyo bc he isn't some random anonymous Internet guy and they have an authoritarian complex or daddy issues or they're wiggers or something.

that being said i can surely relate to the alienation that comes with really digging some shit and just having your mind blown by how swiftly some one else could dis it.

man this thread is ugly

c'mon watmm we're better than this

  On 4/7/2013 at 11:25 PM, Alcofribas said:

i mean, if people are bitching about how many girls are at his shows and stuff well yeah, that's obviously stupid.

 

but generally i feel like there's this weird pc overreaction to critical opinion. i know awepittance has brought this up in another thread so maybe this isn't the place for this but it is a bit frustrating to find one's perfectly reasonable opinions and criticisms met with some weird psychoanalysis about how you only feel that way bc you're jealous, or because you have illogical expectations or whatever. to me it's just as silly as telling people they only like flyo bc he isn't some random anonymous Internet guy and they have an authoritarian complex or daddy issues or they're wiggers or something.

 

that being said i can surely relate to the alienation that comes with really digging some shit and just having your mind blown by how swiftly some one else could dis it.

You're right, man.

My brain just doesn't know how to process the hate, how to make sense of it.

It's like if someone said they didn't like music in general I wouldn't be able to accept that as simply a matter of personal variation in taste, but rather I would immediately start looking for some deeper issues at play.

it's all good limpy. in my case personally "hate" is definitely not the way i feel about his stuff, i can dig it but it just doesn't reach that next level for me.

as for people not liking music in general, I've actually met some people like that. i couldn't tell you if some deep-seated psychological issues were at play though bc i've never been close with them. perhaps their ambivalence to music was a main reason actually. i'm sure people have felt that way about me in the past though, like bc of my complete indifference to sports or something.

flylo is overrated for sure. he has the potential to do something really amazing though.

  On 4/8/2013 at 2:23 AM, jules said:

flylo is overrated for sure. he has the potential to do something really amazing though.

Yeah I don't see what's so hard to understand about this. Dude is not making some of the best music ever. Most people aren't. Life goes on.

  On 4/8/2013 at 2:51 AM, Tauhid said:

 

  On 4/8/2013 at 2:23 AM, jules said:

flylo is overrated for sure. he has the potential to do something really amazing though.

 

Yeah I don't see what's so hard to understand about this. Dude is not making some of the best music ever. Most people aren't. Life goes on.

His shit is miles beyond 95% of the stuff that get praise around here.

Why is flying lotus so popular? different ppl like different things. He seemed to have popularized the wonky la beat movement thing. and anyone who popularizes anything is bound to have haters and catch flak for what he's doing. his music is very broad and kinda spans a few genres that are generally very popular (hip hop / jazz / electronic) - so he's bound to have the attention of fans of all three. that's why he's popular.

with that said, I can sorta tell you why I like him. i didn't really like him at first when i first heard 1983 with the exception of a few tracks. I kinda dismissed him as being a pretty weak hip hop artist and a pretty weak electronic artist but that really changed when I heard Reset. And really honed his craft around the time LA came about. Something about the texture/feel of the music is very organic sounding, borrowed from early hip hop (that sampled jazz or funk records) or jazz music. The sound is very warm - something I feel is largely absent in electronic music. This was what he was missing in his debut album 1983. So for someone like me, someone who's into early hip hop and electronic music - he fits perfectly into that mold.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKQVcJ_Zi9M

  On 4/7/2013 at 11:30 AM, Stickfigger said:

My comments were made based on my experiences alone. If my experiences were subject to some variables which skewed the outcomes, this was unknown to me. I think its reasonable for people to extrapolate to wider community based on their experiences.

 

Anyhow, i have seen FlyLo twice : once in LDN and once in Brisbane. Both headline gigs.

 

There were more chicks at the Fly Lo gigs than most other gigs i go to. Pretty simple stuff really ... I'm not too sure what is so offensive about that comment? To be honest, I'd love it if the music i generally found myself drawn to attracted more girls than beard stroking, beer gut cultivating, self proclaimed 'connoisseurs' of the scene. In no way were my comments constructed to label Fly Lo's music as 'girly' or 'mainstream', nor was it intended to insult those people who rate it highly. People got to settle the fuck down.

I just found the thought funny that I would listen to FlyLo or any other artist to attract girls. Because when I play music I like to a girl the expression is usually like this (this goes for men also..):

Though, I'm guilty of saying that I listen to Radiohead when trying to score, but that was like over 10 years ago, lol.

And I failed.