You're Dead! (studio album) by Flying Lotus

I love this album so much mostly because it ticks off nearly all of my favourite genres. (Hiphop, jazz and electronic.) Daaang it's just beautiful and I think listening to it as an entire album is one of the best experiences ever.. I love flylo and think he deserves way more recognition as an artist, considering his consistence in releasing good quality and well produced music every few years to this day. Sure, it's not for everyone but I do think people just haven't heard enough of him to have an opinion.

This album is full of some amazing moments but also slow parts that make it quite easy to drift out of the record. When it is good though the music is astounding with some brilliant layering and the use of instrumentation is genius. This makes the record feel complex and grand and when you pair that with the rapping, which is great, it makes for a unique listen as it feels modern but classic at the same time. The production is fantastic as well and makes for such a smooth listen making the experience even better. However, the record struggles in grasping hold of me as the majority of the songs fly by and I never feel like I can get a foothold in the music. Every song feels like it is working towards the bigger purpose of the record and that leaves a lot to be desired on the songs with some of them feeling undercooked and a bit scarce. Overall, an album full of quality that is beautifully designed and is possibly the best Flying Lotus album as it is right up there with Cosmogramma.

From Timestarter 12/12/2020 15:30

Fav. Tracks:

- Theme
- Tesla
- Cold Dead
- Fkn Dead
- Never Catch Me (ft. Kendrick Lamar)
- Dead Man's Tetris (ft. Captain Murphy & Snoop Dogg)
- Coronus, The Terminator
- Turtles
- Descent Into Madness (ft. Thundercat)
- Your Potential//The Beyond (ft. Niki Randa)
- The Protest
- Protector (Bonus Track on Vinyl Version and Japanese CD)

I had almost forgotten that Flying Lotus came from prime jazz stock until this album reminded me full-force. It demands to be listened to in its entirety, if only for the fact that shuffle would screw up the order of all of the little one-minute sketches.

Best track: Never Catch Me. Kendrick Lamar seems to be the guy to collaborate with these days. Cracking beats here.

Flying Lotus is the most prominent innovator of hip-hop and electro, generally recognized as the heir of J Dilla in the small world of avant-garde beats. After four albums, FlyLo, whose real name is Steve Ellison, decides to distance himself a little from his habits to venture into a genre with which he has always flirted: jazz. But for this album, he needs help. For example, Thundercat's fingerprints are everywhere on "You're Dead!", Mostly in its avalanches of bass notes. Among the collaborators, there is also Herbie Hancock (!), Iconoclast of jazz. Death seems to weigh on the shoulders of Flying Lotus since "Cosmogramma", his awesome 2010 album. Even if "You're Dead!" has a cheerful side, he is totally haunted by the subject of death. If the intention with this album was to do something important before his time on Earth is over, we can talk about an accomplished mission.

9/10

Best track: "Never Catch Me [ft. Kendrick Lamar]"

From ramthecowy 01/03/2019 12:21

Quite honestly I struggle to describe how good this album is. I don't listen to that much really modern music so this currently ranks up there as one of the best albums of this decade for me. It's the sort of fusion that really gets me going. Ellison is just an absolute god at taking the best elements of jazz, hiphop and electronic styles and creating an utter masterpiece. The album is just radiating, bursting with energy... it's such a riot, such a journey. Floaty, dreamy layered melodies, distant harmonies, rich bass lines with intricate textures and melodies of their own, massive sounds, the energy and delicacy of jazz. It's something you can listen to in an ambient way, or pay full attention and totally sink into it. The experimental approaches are really so freakin fantastic and wacky and incredible and humbling and exciting. I don't really mind the varying lengths of tracks and there's real momentum to the whole experience. My favourite tracks are definitely Turkey Dog Coma and Never Catch Me. Just all round, simply astounding.

A step down from the glorious "Cosmogramma", but FlyLo still manages to conjure up an impressive record with splashes of IDM, jazz and experimental hip-hop making "You're Dead!" an eclectic treat. "Never Catch Me" featuring Kendrick is stunning, and although one can argue that a lot of these short tracks are unsatisfying by themselves, they all coalesce to craft an entire journey which really works.

From JulianR 11/22/2017 08:05

An interesting listen for sure. Hard to categorize. It's still not quite clicking for me like Cosmogramma has. It seems to be wandering around the whole time, while Cosmogramma was always going somewhere.

However, props for having one of the coolest album covers ever, imo.

75/100 (Above Average)

many great ideas that build up to a impression you get, of what Flying Lotus sees in death.

From RoundTheBend 06/26/2016 18:54

Easy listening, mixed with experimental, mixed with rap, mixed with... hehe. This must've been a fun project. With such a mix of stuff, I'm both tantalized and overwhelmed to boredom.