Last night Fabric hosted one of the last sessions from the 2010 London edition of the Red Bull Music Academy (which ends this week) with a showcase from the Brainfeeder label – the (brain)child of Flying Lotus.
Since Brainfeeder first appeared in the global music consciousness nearly 4 years ago it’s come a long way. Back in 2007 Brainfeeder was a radio show, something I haven’t really seen mentioned anywhere strangely enough. This radio show, hosted on the legendary Dublab, was a showcase of both Flying Lotus’ work and that of his L.A and worldwide peers, most of whom at the time were still mostly ‘unknowns’ outside of beat/hip hop nerd circles – Ras G, Gaslamp Killer, Nosaj Thing, Hudson Mohawke and Samiyam to name a few of those who appeared on the two shows that took place in 2007 and then 2008. That last show was a precursor to the Los Angeles album released a few months later in June ‘08 on Warp Records and which propelled Flying Lotus, and his cohorts, to worldwide fame in both underground and even overground circles (the man will be supporting Thom Yorke for the tour of his new band this year – that’s definitely pretty overground).
Around the time of the second show I remember an interview with Flying Lotus on Benji B’s show where he first hinted at Brainfeeder becoming a label – a vehicle for the release of music, and soon enough also art, made by his friends and peers in the L.A scene. That became a reality in late 2008 and the label soon moved from an mp3-only, releasing-the-work-of-friends approach to a much more ’serious’ one. It now boasts an eclectic roster of artists from across the U.S.A, has worldwide distribution and has been putting on some of the most interesting parties in America, Europe and Japan. Which brings us nicely back to last night.
If memory serves me right the first Brainfeeder event was in London in June 08, to celebrate the launch of the Los Angeles album. I remember being on the other side of the world at that time in Japan and drooling over the line up, wishing I could be there. That event marked the beginning of Brainfeeder as a live event, an event that connects the music and online ties of the label and artists with the real world and a public eager for fresh, new sounds performed live in a variety of set ups: from straight up DJ sets from GLK to laptop sets by Fly Lo, 303 bass beatings by Ras G and insane microkorg fuckery by Dorian Concept (to name a few). In June 09 the second Brainfeeder London event returned to its East London car park roots to much love from a surprisingly diverse audience – you can read my review of that one here. Since its beginning in June 08 Brainfeeder has hosted events in Barcelona, Tokyo, Korea, New York and of course its hometown of L.A with a new regular session at the Downtown Independent which combines the new visual element of the collective with its music side as well as a much-deserved nod to L.A’s original beat scene-founding night ‘Sketchbook’ (reborn and hosted on the rooftop of the venue where the main shows take place).
Continue reading “Brainfeeder London part 3 – The brain food matures”
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