Thundercat
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Thundercat1 Stephen Bruner, aka Thundercat, has become the go-to bassist for artists seeking a virtuosic but tasteful low-ender. Notably on Flying Lotus’ 2010 LP, Cosmogramma, his fidgety six-string runs meshed perfectly with FlyLo’s electronica, heralding a surprisingly coherent musical partnership that would blossom with Thundercat’s first solo offering, The Golden Age of Apocalypse. Whilst on paper the idea of a fusion-versed bassist collaborating with an electronica producer might sound inaccessible, in practice the result is accessible almost to the point of pop. Thundercat’s sound is a near-perfect marriage of catchy soul imbued with a sense of Afrofuturism [vaguely reminiscent of the likes of Weather Report and Billy Cobham], creating an album that valiantly attempts to present technological and musical virtuosity in coexistence with funk and soul. Enter Apocalypse. The album's grandiose title serves to signpost the ambitious content in store.

The Golden Age of Apocalypse In the '80s kids were fascinated by the cartoon ThunderCats, produced by Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass, which was based around the group of cat-like humanoid aliens. Of those fascinated kids stood bassist/vocalist Stephen “Thundercat” Bruner, who uses the cartoon series as a namesake.  Thundercat made a following for himself as the bassist for Suicidal Tendencies, Sa-Ra Creative Partners and Erykah Badu, as well as his work with producer Flying Lotus - notably “MmmHmm,” on Lotus’ 2010 LP Cosmogramma - who also produced this entire project. With his debut album, The Golden Age of Apocalypse released this past August via Brainfeeder records, Thundercat is sure to fit into any music lover’s top albums of the year. 

Flying Lotus raised the height of his electro-sonic game when he released in May this year his second full-length album Cosmogramma on Warp records, an unusual album through-in and through-out its content, style and visual form (with artwork by Leigh J. McCloseky, look up Codex Tor!). Cosmogramma is constructed by 17 pieces, from 17 seconds to 3 minutes 20 sections; each piece titled and punctuated by unexpected wording ('Pickled!' , 'Nose Art', 'Table tennis', etc).  This is not a new feature of Flying Lotus' touch however, rather it is the mark of his ever productive bend, present and evolving ever since his first dubsteps.  As random as these uncategorisable tiny timed pieces and their longer siblings appear at first, they always self-audio explain their unique character as soon as you will hit play, thus falling tightly snug into the seat-beat that Flying Lotus has composed, for them, and in them. Cosmogramma is a space opera, thus has Warp records presented it.  When it was released to the press it was handed as a one long play, a very fitting format because, although dividable in the said 17 parts, each track runs inside and outside of its selves, like natural phrases in the logic of poetics rather than synthetic broken units. Haven't listened to it yet? Let us tempt you...