Massive Lotus... er... Flying Attack?

Flying Lotus is a hip hop/electronica producer from California with an album out called Los Angeles that I've been playing the shit out of lately. It's very cool, reminding me a lot of Prefuse 73 and there are threads you could trace back to a group like Massive Attack, which is curious, because check out these album covers:

Flying Lotus - Los Angeles (2008)



Massive Attack - Mezzanine (1998)


Both are wicked album covers, and introduce you to the music before you even hear it. It's kind of like the way you "eat first with your eyes" when it comes to presentation in food, except you "hear first with your eyes" in this case. Whether it's a direct nod as an influence is up for debate, as it could be totally unintended. However, the influence is clearly felt on a musical level. Los Angeles is definitely one of my favourites of the year.

Oh, also, Flying Lotus (aka Steven Ellison)'s great aunt Alice was married to John Coltrane. That'll give you a bit better context in which to enjoy the album's closer here: