In honor of Low End Theory’s Japan benefit show tomorrow, we are posting VJ/artist/electronic musician Strangeloop’s guide to sci-fi, avant-garde anime and films that feel like DMT trips. He brings the psychedelic visuals that accompany the sonic landscapes of Flying Lotus, who he met in college. His favorite film may or may not exist in full and we might never know because its creator is an internet-phobic lunatic. This interview by Lainna Fader.

FANTASTIC PLANET (RENÉ LALOUX, 1973)

“Fantastic Planet is an animated science fiction film directed by René Laloux. I think Flying Lotus was the first person to show it to me when we were going to college together. I love the artist and I strive for a lot of his aesthetics in my drawings. I really like the alien worlds he makes. It’s totally idiosyncratic and unique and doesn’t have any counterparts. There’s nothing like it.”

TEKKONKINKREET (MICHAEL ARIAS, 2006)

“It’s from an animation studio called Studio 4°C and they’re probably my favorite animation studio today. I sample more clips from them than anyone else, like Tekkonkinkreet, Mind Game, Noiseman Sound Insect. Very avant-garde Japanese animation. Pretty consistently when I play shows people come up to me and ask about the clip with the nuclear explosion and it’s always either Tekkonkinkreet or another Studio 4°C film. In the last few decades there’s been a handful of really incredible animated sci-fi films like Ghost in the Shell and Miyazaki stuff, and in the last ten years, in this century, the champions have been Studio 4°C. Philosophically they’re dealing with a lot of stuff we’re dealing with as a species.”

AKIRA (KATSUHIRO OTOMO, 1988)

“There’s a handful of quintessential sci-fi from the last few decades. If someone tells me they’re interested in anime but don’t know where to start, this is the film I tell them to see. I still don’t think it’s been topped. It’s all hand-drawn. The amount of work that went into making that epic is phenomenal and it’s prophetic on certain levels. As far as the philosophy they get into, it’s pretty heavy. I love that film a lot.”

NAQOYQATSI (GODFREY REGGIO, 2002)

“In a way I could say Koyaanisqatsi—it’s kind of a better film, but I put Naqoyquatsi on this list because I’ve sampled it more, and I was more influenced by its aesthetics primarily because there are sequences in the film that are like downloads. It’s not a narrative film at all. It’s this download of history and imagery and I was influenced by that notion that in media you can move away from narrative into this place where you give people bursts of information and association. And since I’m a total fractal geek, it’s one of the first films that I know of that has a full-on fractal sequence in it—a mathematical visualization.”

ENTER THE VOID (GASPAR NOÉ, 2009)

“Dopest fucking film of the last five years. Everyone’s talking about it right now for good reason. It’s historical because it’s a film which brought DMT and mystical experiences into a more mainstream form and from a mythological standpoint it manages to capture the look and feel of altered states, like the DMT trance or other hallucinatory states. It’s the first film I saw where I was like, ‘Yeah, that’s it.’ Trippy sequences in film aren’t always cohesive–they can be confusing and weird and they don’t capture the sort of cohesiveness and complexity and visuals on altered states.”

PI (DARREN ARONOFSKY, 1998)

“Pi was one of the first films to put the computer nerd in this punk rock protagonist position. The main character is this software engineer on a search for God in the computer. It’s an exciting pursuit and it’s one of the first films to successfully make the software geek someone exciting and interesting. I want to highlight the idea of people using technology to search for God and the divine. When I was really young that blew me away. Even though the main character is pretty schizophrenic, on some levels I kind of wanted to be him.”

STALKER (ANDREY TARKOVSKY, 1979)

“Tarkovsky is probably my favorite filmmaker if I’m thinking of the whole spectrum of a filmmaker’s work. Stalker is great because it’s kind of a sci-fi film but it’s also not. Tarkovsky managed with Solaris and Stalker to make a totally unique branch of sci-fi where nature is the alien element and civilized human life is what is keeping us from that alien element. In Stalker, he manages to make normal nature landscapes these foreboding, mystical places. Very few sci-fi films get to that more interesting, deeply philosophical territory.”

THE HOLY MOUNTAIN (ALEJANDRO JODOROWSKY, 1973)

“There’s nothing like this film. I love that it’s become this default video put on at events. Holy Mountain playing at music events is almost a cliché at this point, but for good reason. It’s a truly psychedelic film but it’s also deeply rooted in mystical symbolism and is intelligently constructed. It’s silly and ridiculous. You don’t see that much effort and time and money put toward those kinds of ideas that often. It’s kind of a unique thing that that film could even be made.”

2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (STANLEY KUBRICK, 1968)

“It blew the lid off so early. It was maybe the first film to try to reach so far in scope—from the birth of man to the transcendence of man—and it manages to take the viewer on that whole journey. It also has this narrative structure I love where the third act is like the undoing of the narrative. In a way it’s the quintessential narrative of the mystical state. At a certain point the ego, time and space go out the window, and 2001 did that for a lot of people. It’s still one of the most important films ever made.”

SAMIZDAT (ROBERT DAWD, ?)

[video clips do not exist!]

“I’m not sure anyone’s ever heard of this film. I’m still trying to get a hold of a full copy. I was at Burning Man four or five years ago tripping on acid and I saw this VJ performing on a dome and doing the craziest things I’ve ever seen by far. I’ve based a lot of my imagery off his stuff. I talked to him and he showed me a film he was working on. He had all these crazy ideas about making films that could hypnotize people to the point where they would literally lose themselves completely into the film and forget about their lives and basically have a mystical experience. He had a lot of cool ideas but he seemed kind of crazy and I was coming off acid so that exaggerated it. The film was unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. Really sophisticated fractal imagery all perfectly synched to sound. It was mind-blowing. He was attempting to finish it and showed me twenty minutes of it. It was going to be about an hour long. I’ve been in communication with him for a while over e-mail but he’s totally enigmatic. I can’t find any information on him anywhere. I think while being a total lunatic VJ he’s also internet-phobic—the total real deal. I’ll be collaborating with him at some point hopefully on some sort of film. That’s my favorite film. My friend told me ‘samizdat’ is something in a sci-fi novel. There’s this sci-fi novel called Infinite Jest and it describes this piece of media that sounds like what the dude was trying to create. It’s a piece of media someone starts watching in Los Angeles in 2010 that’s so mind-blowing, so entertaining, that people die from it. They stop eating, they stop drinking, they just sit and home and watch it till they die. I don’t know if he read that and was trying to make that piece of media, but it’s all pretty interesting.”

STRANGELOOP WITH Z TRIP, DADDY KEV, NOBODY, THE GASLAMP KILLER, D-STYLES, NOCANDO, JONWAYNE, RAS_G, AUSTIN PERALTA AND SAM XL PLUS LIVE SCREENPRINTING BY HIT + RUN ON THUR., MAR. 31, AT THE LOW END LOVES JAPAN BENEFIT AT THE ECHOPLEX, 1154 GLENDALE BLVD., ECHO PARK. 9 PM / $10-$12 / 18+. ATTHEECHO.COM. 100% OF DOOR TO JAPANESE RED CROSS SOCIETY. VISIT STRANGELOOP AT MYSPACE.COM/STRANGELOOPTV.

While we almost always post the latest Low End Theory podcast you should head over and check out their past sessions.

Download: Jel and Odd Nosdam “Afternoon Tune”

(from the XLR8R ‘Tune In An Afternoon’ session detailed here)

As Anticon’s resident beat maestros, Jel and Odd Nosdam have developed a great kinship over their love and mastery of crafting gritty but emotive instrumentals. Their beats convinced a new generation of kids that music without vocals isn’t necessarily always background music, but also established the perfect platform for the rhymes of their labelmates. This interview by Amorn Bholsangngam.

What do you like best about Low End Theory?
Jel: It’s a very cool spot where people who are interested in a certain sound can come and enjoy themselves. The L.A. beat scene has been catching some good publicity lately with Japan and Europe going crazy over Flying Lotus, so as a place, it’s come up as a whole. It’s good to have a place where producers can come and let loose by playing completely new beats. The focus is on producers getting off—not so much the MCs—which is rare. And there’s an environment here where you feel like you could get some constructive critiquing.
Odd Nosdam: It’s run by Daddy Kev, whom we’ve known for a long time, and it’s got some really dope resident DJs like D-Styles and Gaslamp Killer. The night is dedicated to beat heavy, bass heavy instrumental music played on a big banging sound system.
What’s most special about performing in L.A.?
Odd Nosdam: Playing L.A. is always a unique experience. There’s a strong fanbase for Anticon down here that isn’t quite matched elsewhere. The people that come out to our shows in L.A. seem to be much more dedicated and much more open than other cities. I think the style of music Anticon has become known for makes sense to kids here looking for forward thinking music.
Jel: I’m always exposed to lots of new stuff from the L.A. scene when I play here. I have a ton of old records, so I’m usually not consciously seeking out new music. But sometimes I’ll play with new people and they’ll blow me away in places like L.A. It’s one of the only ways I’m exposed to new music.
You’ve known each other for years—how complicated is your history with each other?
Odd Nosdam: It’s actually pretty simple. I’ve known him for eleven years, and we’ve collaborated in many ways. When I was playing with cLOUDDEAD, Jel played drums on the tour. Although I’m confident enough now in a live setting, Jel’s been playing live much longer, so I felt that he was someone that would be great to perform with, especially since most of our sets are improvised. Though we usually stick to a certain set of sounds, it comes out different all the time depending on the crowds and the atmosphere. We also have a weekly DJ set at the Missouri Lounge in Berkeley. Jel is a master of rhythm; I just try to stay on beat with him.
Jel: When I was living in Chicago, Doseone introduced me to Yoni [Wolf of Why?], and Dave [Odd Nosdam] was working with them in the studio. He had his Dr. Sample, and I brought my SP-1200. He was intrigued with my machine over his, and I showed him how to use it a bit. He always seemed to be around and watching whenever I made music. We collaborated on [Jel’s debut] Soft Money, but we’ve become close friends from living in the same area, starting with DJing together. DJing is what sparked us. The two of us are in sync when we’re DJing a set with one another, and we try to bring that feeling into our live set. I’m probably the person that works with him best because he might piss off other people who don’t communicate as well with him. I love his aesthetic; Nosdam is all about sound. So our friendship and similar interests in sound are what makes this combination good.
Where do you think music is headed in the 2010s?
Odd Nosdam: I can’t even figure out exactly what happened musically this past decade. I would like to see people getting back to hearing music on a record played on a good sound system instead of an iPod. The MP3—especially if it’s at a low bitrate—is the most compromised form; it’s not the way music was meant to be experienced. I’d like to also see the low end aspect of music being pushed. Ambient is going in an interesting direction, and I’ve been incorporating some drum ‘n’ bass elements into my music. I want to get back to putting stuff on beat because the sloppy, off beat stuff gives me a headache sometimes. A steady four-on-the-floor beat would be nice to hear again.
Jel: I think in the next decade, there’s going to be a giant regurgitation of the past—regardless of whether it’s pop, R&B, country, or rock and roll. It’s going to be the same thing. Like Revelations in the Bible, it’s always just a cycle—oversaturation of the same forms of music until they’ve exhausted their commercial potential for the time being. But there will always be hungry motherfuckers making creative shit and changing things that aren’t necessarily selling millions of records. There’s going to be a wider separation between creativity and business; business will always find a way to bastardize creativity. There will always be filthy rich singers and producers that make a bunch of money off the creative people. Lady Gaga will fall the fuck off, Justin Timberlake will get old and have colon cancer. There’s just too much red meat for the future. Nostradamus will come back, and the world will implode. There will be a resurgence of the Fat Boys in 2026.
What decade of music would you feel most at home in?
Jel: Feeling most at home in is one thing, but being intrigued is another. I would probably feel most at home in the ‘60s. There was so much music and creativity bursting from people at the time. From soul to rock to the drug-induced shit—although I don’t care too much about the drugs themselves—it’s a period that I would love to listen to and watch with my own ears and eyes. Maybe in the next few years, there’ll be a way of doing that. I would be intrigued with kicking it with George Clinton during his doo-wop phase or with Can in Germany. I would hang around with them in their church, looping tapes, jamming, and doing acid, although I’ve never done of that myself.
Odd Nosdam: I’d like to say the mid-‘70s in Jamaica—not that I would ever fit in—since some of the most amazing music that I connect with on a deep level was made during that time. The mid to late ‘60s, when people started doing exciting things in the studio and the birth of psychedelic music. Late ‘80s New York—if it wasn’t for hip-hop, I wouldn’t be in California talking to you right now.
If you could construct the perfect song out of elements from any of those decades, what would it be made out of?
Odd Nosdam: I would have drums from the first Meters record, some blown out, fuzzy guitars from Flying Saucer Attack, Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry mixing it, and Prince Paul fucking around with the faders.
Jel: Moondog would compose the orchestration, Tony Allen on drums, James Brown can conduct and be one of the backing vocalists but not the lead. And I’d put Tim Dog up front.

JEL AND ODD NOSDAM ON WED., JAN. 20, AT LOW END THEORY AT THE AIRLINER, 2419 N. BROADWAY, LOS ANGELES. 10PM / $10 GUESTS / $5 MEMBERS / 18+. LOWENDTHEORYCLUB.COM. AND ON FRI., JAN. 22, AT THE ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF CALLING ALL KIDS AT HYPERION TAVERN, 1941 HYPERION AVE., SILVER LAKE. 9 PM / FREE / ALL AGES. HYPERIONTAVERN.COM. VISIT JEL AT MYSPACE.COM/JELANTICON AND ODD NOSDAM AT MYSPACE.COM/NOSDAM.

FREE with RSVP to rsvp@larecord.com and DONATION OF CHILD’S TOY

flyer by the amazing champoyhate!

FREE with RSVP to rsvp@larecord.com and DONATION OF CHILD’S TOY

Each year since we started in 2005, L.A. RECORD has thrown an Xmas party. Back then it was Daddy Kev and Mike Stock DJ-ing off mismatched turntables balanced on two trash cans in a Hollywood parking lot while Bad Dudes, thee Makeout Party and Darker My Love played in front of a Władysław Starewicz video. We think of these parties as our way of saying ‘thank you’ to everyone who helps and supports us throughout the year. Thanks to the unprecedented generosity and goodwill of not only every person on the flyer above but our writers and artists and photographers and advertisers and volunteers and more, we have now been able to put together by far our biggest event EVER—and make it completely FREE to everyone! (But we ask you bring a toy we can donate afterward.) RSVP with your name and email above if you’d like to come. If you’d like a plus-one, please indicate that in the subject line. (Capacity for this event is limited so don’t be late on the 19th! First come, first served. Doors at 8 PM) Further info below! We can’t tell you who the VERY special guests are, but they (like many people playing this night!) both had their own L.A. RECORD covers …

SATURDAY, DEC. 19, 8 PM

SPONSORED BY
BEDROCK
L.A. RECORD
DUBLAB
ALPHA PUP
WHITE NOISE
CALLING ALL KIDS
BRAINFEEDER
BANDPROMOTE.COM

with

BLUE ROOM – live bands!
THE SOFT PACK
ABE VIGODA
LESLIE AND THE BADGERS

GREEN ROOM – live beats!
DAEDELUS
DADDY KEV
NOBODY
KUTMAH
TAKE AKA SWEATSON KLANK
MATTHEWDAVID
SODAPOP
and
VERY VERY SPECIAL GUESTS

RED ROOM – all-vinyl dance party!
DJs from dublab + L.A. RECORD + Calling All Kids + more!

WITH POP-UP STORES BY
BURGER RECORDS
VACATION RECORDS
HAUTE OLIVE
DIM MAK
CUBTRINA

LIVE SCREENPRINTING BY HIT+RUN

VIDEOS BY EVERYTHING IS TERRIBLE!

PLUS OUR FIRST-EVER POP-UP L.A. RECORD ART + PHOTO GALLERY featuring L.A. RECORD contributors and curated by DREW DENNY!

PLUS PHOTOS WITH SANTA in SANTA’S VILLAGE designed by KATIE BYRON!

BEDROCK REHEARSAL IN ECHO PARK
1623 ALLESANDRO AT GLENDALE/ALVARADO
BEDROCKLA.COM

ALL AGES / 21+ TO DRINK

FREE VALET PARKING!

COMPLIMENTARY TEQUILA TASTING BY METL RESERVA ESPECIAL TEQUILA IF 21+

VEGAN/NOT-VEGAN GOURMET FRENCH FRIES BY FRYSMITH!

AND MORE TO COME! WATCH THIS SPACE…

Download: Episode 9: Mixes by Daddy Kev and Dibiase

(for more information check out Low End Theory)

Listen to past Low End Theory podcasts [here].

L.A. RECORD has been lucky enough to watch Low End Theory grow into one of the most exciting and vital music communities in Los Angeles, and some of our favorite interviews (and memories!) come from Low End Theory artists and residents like Flying Lotus, Gaslamp Killer, Nobody, Daedelus, Nosaj Thing, Samiyam, Dibia$e, Thavius Beck, Gangi, Crystal Antlers, the Entrance band and of course Daddy Kev, who holds the distinction of being the first person (but definitely not the last person) to get naked on an L.A. RECORD cover. (Pictured above—issue 21 from volume 1, lovingly assembled on Charlie’s futon.)

Tonight’s celebration will be the eleventh Unreleased Beat Invitational, featuring a destroying line-up of Flying Lotus, Jneiro Jarel, Free The Robots, Samiyam, Dibi$se and Matthewdavid with opening sets by L.A. RECORD contributors Kutmah and Nobody plus My Hollow Drum, Nocando and Daddy Kev. In honor of this birthday, we’ve linked the entire Low End Theory Podcast Series, and below we’re re-publishing this ancient Daddy Kev interview from the archives—done months before Low End even started. Congratulations and thanks to Kev and everyone who makes Low End Theory happen!

Download: Low End Theory Podcast Vol. 1: Daddy Kev + Samiyam

Download: Low End Theory Podcast Vol. 2: Nobody + Mike Slott

Download: Low End Theory Podcast Vol. 3: Gaslamp Killer + Ras G

Download: Low End Theory Podcast Vol. 4: D-Styles + Nosaj Thing

Download: Low End Theory Podcast Vol. 5: Daddy Kev + Daedelus

Download: Low End Theory Podcast Vol. 6: Nobody + Mono/Poly

Download: Low End Theory Podcast Vol. 7: Gaslamp Killer + Mary Anne Hobbs

Download: Low End Theory Podcast Vol. 8: D-Styles + Glitch Mob

DADDY KEV: PURE AUDIO PLEASURE (FEB. 2006 INTERVIEW)

Harbor City madman Daddy Kev came into music as an intern for Urb during high school and began producing beats with an Akai sampler and some ideas for 8-bar loops. Now he runs Alpha Pup records (between Myspace requests to DJ house parties) and has produced tracks for everyone from Sage Francis and Shapeshifters to his own Alpha Pup alums like Awol One and Busdriver. He speaks while watching a mugging in downtown Los Angeles. This interview by Chris Ziegler.

What makes a beat work for a certain artist—like how do you decide which is a Busdriver beat and which is an Awol beat?
Daddy Kev: Usually, it’s pretty obvious to me who’s gonna sound best over a particular song—and you’d be surprised how often I’m wrong about that. My stuff is pretty much custom-made, but what ends up happening is I’ll be all hyped—‘They’re gonna love it!’—and they hear it and they’re just like, ‘What? Aw, naw.’ So what happens is the beat gets reused. Usually I don’t let people know—‘Hey, this is a beat three guys passed on!’—but I don’t make like a big deal that it’s custom-made, either. Strangely enough, some of my more popular songs have been like that. My song on the Sage Francis record—like seven or eight people passed on that beat.
Is Sage gonna read this and be bummed?
Daddy Kev: Yeah, right? I sent him the CD and didn’t hear back for months—figured he passed on it. Then I got a call six months later: ‘Dude, that beat’s insane—lemme rap over it!’ And that was one of my bigger blow-up songs of last year.
How can you tell when a beat by itself is going to be good?
Daddy Kev: I never conceptualize myself as a by-themselves type of musical artist—I don’t think of it until it’s got a vocal on it and it’s taken to the next phase. People over the years ask many times: ‘Where’s the Daddy Kev solo album? Where’s the instrumentals?’ Maybe it’s even set my career back. But I love the collaborative aspect of music—that’s what keeps it fresh and interesting to me. I don’t like the idea of being in my own little world, not being checked by other people. When I was a kid listening, I’d wonder: ‘How did they make this? What was it like?’ The whole industry has fascinated me forever. To be honest, I think the age of music we’re living in now—the music industry being revolutionized by the digital world—is perhaps one of the most exciting times to be involved in music.
Alpha Pup has really jumped on the digital thing, too.
Daddy Kev: We’re phasing out CDs. And some people look at me like I’m crazy. But to anyone looking objectively, it’s pretty damn clear. The whole thing is moving to another plateau. I love it because we’re truly looking at the final frontier of how music is going to be distributed and consumed—the only step past digital is people injecting music into their veins. For the next hundred years, how our kids and their kids will be buying music—all the rules are being written right now. It’s so fascinating for a great many ways. And it can really liberate artists and a label, by not having to deal with manufacturing and costs—we can be more daring. We can drop whatever we think is good.
Do you still sample off the radio?
Daddy Kev: I sure do. One of the advantages of being in Los Angeles is there’s such variety in the radio programs. It reached a point with sampling where I felt like everybody had everything—albeit that isn’t the case, but it started bothering me a little bit. It started bothering me that some of the bigger things I’ve done were samples that people could now easily get. So the next level is I gotta start sampling stuff that isn’t available—that you can’t buy. Maybe it just broadcasts once; maybe never before. I try and capture those. On the jazz stations, they do regular shows where guys come out and bust out the old quarter-inch tape and they’re even telling you: ‘I’ve never even played this for anybody before!’ And I have a DAT and let it roll, then go back and review. If I find one thing for every ten hours—one thing that can be made into something—then it’s all worth it.
What’s the next level after that?
Daddy Kev: What I’m seeing for the next couple years is a combination of the real outlandish rare sampling combined with electronic layering and drum machines. At least in hip-hop, those have been different camps—you’ve got the synth cats and the hardcore sample cats, but not many people try and go in between. Daedelus is a great embodiment, and it’s something I’ve been trying to improve on. I’ve been layering my beats with electronic kick drums and 808s for years—people say ‘you got that organic sound,’ and sure, but by the same token, I layer it with the rap drums to give it that kick out. I don’t think of music as competition in that there’s a first and second place, but being in a town in LA, there are a lot of people out there that this is their dream, and that alone keeps me on my toes. I feel like I consistently have to do better than I’ve done before—at least to be able to look in the mirror in the morning!
What records will always have something there for you to use, no matter how many times you go back to them?
Daddy Kev: Funkadelic—either by myself or in the car or in the DJ booth, those songs will always remain timeless. It’s music I consider to be perfect, if you will.
How about records that you save just for listening for fun—that you know you can’t use in your own work?
Daddy Kev: A lot of rock stuff—when I listen to the Unicorns, I’m definitely not listening to listen to production values or mix quality. To me that’s pure audio pleasure. And I love reggae music, but there’s very little reggae element in any of the music I’ve ever done. Steel Pulse, Black Uhuru—when I listen to that, my mind is the furthest it could be from thinking of work. But then listening to someone like Lee “Scratch” Perry is when the lightbulb flips on again. With records that are overly engineered, I go into dissection mode—or ones that are completely poorly done, thinking ‘This is what I could have done…’
What records would you remix if you could go back and get in the studio?
Daddy Kev: That’s a loaded question—‘Whose record have you worked on that’s wack?’ It’s gonna sound terrible, but groups that fell off—A Tribe Called Quest or De La Soul, where you hear their later records and think ‘Oh my God, who said yes to this? Who was the guy in the room who was like, “Yeah, that’s perfect!”?’ I’m definitely at a point where I will retire before I start making wack shit—granted, a lot of people tell themselves that, but then go on to make terrible albums. I try to look at stuff as objectively as possible—if I made a beat wack, I’m the first to admit it. A lot of people keep going—it’s hard to think about going back. ‘That job doing data entry in Irvine is sounding good right now.’ But when the day comes where I got nothing left in in me, I’ll recognize it.
What’s a career you’d like to follow?
Daddy Kev: Rick Rubin. He has label success, he’s able to stay current, and he continues to produce albums and music that are astonishing. You gotta walk that line carefully: between creating music and marketing music. But one thing that will never change is my fundamental respect for the art.
Even if you grow a giant Rick Rubin beard?
Daddy Kev: When I’m in a Jay Z video, I know I’ve made it.

Download: “Happy Birthday, Flying Lotus!” Jam Session

L.A. visionary Flying Lotus just had a birthday, and in the true spirit of birthdays, ArtDontSleep delivers a gift in his honor to the world: the “Happy Birthday Flying Lotus!” jam session featuring Lotus, Exile, Shafiq Husayn, Computer Jay and many more. Download or listen above and more info below! (Also if you didn’t hear—Daddy Kev confirms that mixing on the new Lotus LP has already commenced!)

Flying Lotus’s birthday recently passed. In celebration of another year and many more to come, ArtDontSleep put together another heavy impromptu jam session in the Echo Park area of Los Angeles.

This 30 minute take from the jam session features some heavy hitter producers and musicians, including Flying Lotus himself, Exile, Shafiq Husayn (SA-RA), Stephen Thundercat Bruner (Erykah Badu, SA-RA, etc), Miguel Atwood-Ferguson (Suite for Ma Dukes) Computer Jay, and many others.

From all these musicians to you, enjoy the joint entitled “Happy Birthday, Flying Lotus.”

Credits:
ArtDontsSeep presents: Echo Park Jam Sessions

Track Title: “Happy Birthday, Flying Lotus”

Featuring:
Flying Lotus
Exile
Shafiq husayn
Stephen Thundercat Bruner
Miguel Atwood-Ferguson
Computer Jay
Isaac Smith
Jim Lang
Alla Koi
Andres Renteria
Matthew David

Recorded by: Benjamin Tierney and Jim Lang
Recorded at: Knob World

Mixed by: Jose Jurado

Download: Low End Theory Vol. V “Daddy Kev vs. Daedelus”

I remember “in the beginning” when one of the proposed spots for Low End Theory was The Smell. That would have been a mind melter!! Congratulations to all the guys for an amazing job and a great feature in today’s Arts & Entertainment Section of the L.A. Times!! – L.A. Record

In some ways, Low End Theory began like every other scene in L.A. history — a few inspired artists find off-the-grid venues for a difficult sound, and word spreads. The 35-year-old Moo had been trying to create such a scene since the late ’90s, when he founded the hip-hop and drum-and-bass leaning Celestial Recordings label, but he didn’t hit his stride until a few far-flung producers began booking shows at his new club night in October 2006.

Among that group was Steven Ellison, the soft-spoken, 25-year-old, Winnetka-raised artist who performs as Flying Lotus; the dandyish Santa Monica producer Alfred Darlington, who records as Daedelus; 24-year-old Pasadena-based producer Jason Chung, whose June debut album, “Drift,” released under the moniker Nosaj Thing, earned raves from tastemaking websites like Pitchfork; and the Glitch Mob, a band founded by the 30-year-old producer Ed Ma with friends Justin Boreta and Josh Mayer, who formed the group after solo careers as DJs and producers.

[Continue Reading]