Mono/Poly Manifestations EP

I’d like to think that Flying Lotus soars around the earth like a Super Saiyan, searching for new electronic acts just as Goku searched for Dragonballs. When he finds something that makes him say “damn, I wish I’d thought of that”, they get the honor of residing on his consistently great Brainfeeder label. Mono/Poly is a hell of a discovery, and he’s only gotten better since his decent debut full length, Paramatma.

Manifestations constantly sounds like it’s about to come apart at the seams. Like Flylo, he doesn’t just program his beats into a computer. They’re far too dynamic and reactive to the music. Forest Dark is full of crashing kick drums surrounded by harsh, glitchy bass. At first, the song doesn’t sound all that unlike the homogenized, shitty “bro-step” that’s become so rapidly popularized this past year – it uses the same mid-range, overwhelmingly heavy bass – but unlike his mediocre distant brethren, he weaves the heavy bass and beats in and out of each other, eventually allowing the textured synths to drown it all out. His skillful juxtaposition of blistering bass and melody is evident almost immediately.

The album’s unimpeachable highlight, Needs Deodorant, appears soon after. It’s absolutely ingenious beat is impossible not to nod along too. It’s a fairly simple song, but the few layers it does have intertwine in an incredibly fluid fashion. The short remainder of the EP becomes increasingly glitch-laden but no less exceptional.

More than anything else, Mono/Poly is defined by his uncanny ability to create head nodding, dynamic rhythms. Don’t get me wrong, the layered synths and bass make for a great time, but it’s the beats that really drive the EP. He’s stepped it up in the year since we’ve heard from him, daring to push his music as close to the breaking point as he can.