TAYLOR McFERRIN - Early Riser

While we collectively wait for Flying Lotus' You're Dead! to be fully unveiled, take a listen to this underappreciated recent Brainfeeder release, as McFerrin's programmed-but-played, wonky-yet-sleek, collaborations-friendly approach is a perfect fit for the label while still managing to put his own distinct personality into the proceedings.

"A new breed of jazz-influenced musicians are seeing fit to explore the music's once seemingly endless possibilities, developing a new vocabulary that incorporates myriad contemporary styles and ideas alongside the traditional notions of what jazz could or should be. Making a clear point to distance himself from the a cappella work for which his father is most famous, the younger McFerrin shrouds his compositions on Early Riser in a wide range of contemporary and throwback sonic textures that simultaneously look to the past for inspiration and the future for direction. Largely eschewing vocals, McFerrin lets his instrumental chops do the talking, crafting lush soundscapes via his various keyboards within which he then incorporates a number of hip hop-indebted touches. Skittering beats, odd synth textures and hushed, bedroom vocals all compete for supremacy, entering and exiting the mix in a gauzily lysergic manner that lends the music an organic, undulating feel." - PopMatters