Electronica

The latest releases reviewed

FLYING LOTUS
Los Angeles
Warp
***
Steven Ellison specialises in shaping evocative space-age soul music. Last year the producer with the family ties to the Coltrane dynasty sent listeners into raptures with his Reset album; here he wants listeners to take a voyage around his home town. Of course, you could also use that "soundtrack for an imaginary film" chestnut for Los Angeles, but that doesn't quite capture the span, reach or colour of Ellison's industry as he maps out some magnificently blissed-out trips. Restlessly honing and blending electronic, hip-hop, jazz and skittering bass sonics, Ellison pitches several mini-dramas, teases your emotions at every turn and then hightails away towards the horizon in a cloud of dust. In terms of a narrative, the producer relies on textures and patterns to illustrate the plot. While these sometimes don't always work as well as the producer thinks, you're happy to share the ride nonetheless. www.myspace.com/flyinglotus JIM CARROLL
Download tracks: Parisian Goldfish, Brainfeeder