Sunday, December 2, 2012

2012 The Albums - League of Their Own

This award started long before the site was even a thought, in one publication or radio show or another, since 2000 I have handed out the "League of Their Own" Award to an album that is made by an artist who is the most forward thinking, open minded, revolutionary musician out there today. Their accomplishments in the past 12 months have either resurrected a sound, broke down walls and created new frontiers or have totally reinvented a genre all together. In the past winners have included:  

2000- Radiohead - Kid A 
2001- The Strokes - Is This It? 
2002- NERD - In Search of... 
2003- The White Stripes - Elephant 
2004- The Killers - Hot Fuss 
2005- The Mars Volta - Francis the Mute 
2006- TV On The Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain 
2007- Kanye West - Graduation 
2008- Santogold 
2009 - Mastodon - Crack the Skye 
2010 - Gorillaz - Plastic Beach 
2011 - Bjork - Biophilia 

 ...and now to add to this growing list of alternative artists and music revolutionaries is someone who has emerged from the mysterious musical shadows and someone who has no intention of making a business off music but making art. His work has been praised by people like Thom Yorke, Killer Mike, Animal Collective and many others. His genre-bending and genre defying style of electronic music is something the world has not felt or known before and continues to break the mold and push the limits of what music can do. But then again, what would you expect from the nephew of John and Alice Coltrane? Ladies and gentlemen, the 2012 League of The Own artist is:

Flying Lotus - Until the Quiet Comes

The LA beatmaker returned with his forth full studio album and returned triumphantly, with one of the most original, brilliant, musically intellectual and advanced album of the year. Until the Quiet Comes hears FlyLo’s spooky beats infused with jazz, African drums, dubstep, grime, classical, ambient and blues. It is a record that goes to places that have not been heard since Radiohead’s Kid A, an album that features a slew of guests like Erikah Badu, Thom Yorke, Laura Darlington, Thundercat, and Niki Randa that play off a seamless, dreamlike record that takes the audience on a sonic journey deep into the mind. Think the concepts of Inception and Alice in Wonderland but set to music.
Key Tracks: Until the Colours Come, See Thru To U (Feat. Erykah Badu)