''1983'' is the debut studio album by American music producer Steven Ellison, under his moniker

Flying Lotus Steven Ellison (born October 7, 1983), known by his stage name Flying Lotus or sometimes FlyLo, is an American record producer, Disc jockey, DJ, filmmaker and rapper from Los Angeles. He is also the founder of the record label Brainfeeder. Flyi ...

. It was released by

Plug Research Plug Research is an independent record label, based in Los Angeles, California, US. Created by Allen Avanessian in 1994, the label specialized in IDM, folktronica and experimental music. The label began with young artists that have made its rep ...

on October 3, 2006. The album is named after Ellison's year of birth.

Critical reception

Marisa Brown of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

gave the album 3.5 stars out of 5, writing, "It's controlled and circular but also very warm and expressive, able to have fun, to not take itself too seriously." Chet Betz of ''

Cokemachineglow Cokemachineglow was a Canadian webzine dedicated mainly to music criticism, though it also featured articles about local music scenes. It was founded in 2002 and closed down permanently at the end of 2015. In 2006, it was described as one of "the ...

'' commented that "''1983'' isn't very obvious about envelope-pushing, yet it's rare that an instrumental hip-hop album can remain eminently listenable while standing so firm in character and purpose, ontological towards its subgenre without forgetting to funk, simultaneously without milking the funk for its more shameless immediacies." Dave Segal of ''

XLR8R ''XLR8R'' (pronounced "accelerator") is a website that covers music, culture, style, and technology. It was originally also a print magazine. History and profile ''XLR8R'' was founded as a newsprint zine in 1993 by publisher Andrew Smith in Sea ...

'' called the album "a rare species of cosmic underground hip-hop." He added, "Flying Lotus combines

Madlib Otis Jackson Jr. (born October 24, 1973), known professionally as Madlib, is an American DJ, music producer, multi-instrumentalist, and rapper. He is widely known for his collaborations with MF DOOM (as Madvillain), J Dilla (as Jaylib), and Fr ...

's affinity for jazzy arrangements and chord progressions,

Nobody Nobody may refer to: * Nobody, an indefinite pronoun Nobody may also refer to: Fictional characters *Nobody (Kingdom Hearts), Nobody (''Kingdom Hearts''), a race of beings in the ''Kingdom Hearts'' video game series *Nobody, a character in the ...

's and Daedelus' psychedelic textural proclivities, and

J Dilla J, or j, is the tenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its usual name in English is ''jay'' (pronounced ), with a now-uncommon varia ...

's economical, dusted funkiness." Meanwhile, Brian Howe of ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

'' gave the album a 5.8 out of 10, stating, "like an overly workshopped novel, the album is stylish, well-turned, and interchangeable with its peers." In 2017, Ammar Kalia of '' Clash'' wrote, "Composed using a patchwork of influences ranging from jazz harp to Japanese synthpop, Afro-Cuban rhythm and distorted game sounds, it serves as a mission statement, setting the tone for Ellison's future works."

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes. *

– music *

Laura Darlington The Long Lost is a collaboration between American musicians Daedelus and Laura Darlington. The pair are also husband and wife. They dated in high school after initially meeting as members of their high school orchestra, as well as partners in t ...

– vocals (10) * Daedelus – remix (11) * Kelly Hibbert – mastering * Brandy Flower – artwork

References

External links

*
''1983''
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:1983 (Flying Lotus Album) 2006 albums Flying Lotus albums Plug Research albums Instrumental hip hop albums Albums produced by Flying Lotus