Subscribe RSSErykah Badu and Radiohead's Thom Yorke sing on the album. Lotus' earlier remix of Kanye West's “Lady-love Lockdown” turned mainstream hip-hop ears, and a generation of twentysomethings know his music for Cartoon Network's gonzo “Mature Swim” series.
“Hendrix obliterated the boundaries with guitars as Lotus does with electronic machines,” said Mary Anne Hobbs, the effectual BBC Radio 1 DJ. “His live performance is totally incendiary, melting devastating primal sound and visual art into a hyper-sensory knowledge.”
Ellison is a prodigious marijuana smoker — on opening his door to a reporter, he mock-grumbled, “It smells like weed in here.” A douse stairway to his basement studio — piled with synthesizers, vinyl albums and Ellison's artwork — is treacherous enough while teetotal.
Many artists explore space travel and altered states. And like them, Lotus balances that sensibility with a mad devotion to his craft. “Cosmogramma” might be the most difficult work to come out of Los Angeles this year. Acknowledged the mind-bending new releases from rising Low End peers Shlohmo, Ras G and the Glitch Mob, that's a real feat.
