The Gaslamp Killer – Death Gate

Rolling through my weekend with The Gaslamp Killer, I come upon his latest EP, Death Gate. Right from the start, the bass kicks in with a tighter production, sharper effected synth lines, and a lot more solid song structure. The EP is a bit over sixteen minutes, and the collection of five tracks still feel like a set of vignettes (if anything - that's the only downside - I can listen to Willy all day long). Gonjasufi makes an appearance on "When I'm In Awe", as does Mophono and Computer Jay. Here come the cut-up hip-hop influenced beats, distorted space trips, and intricate manipulations. Full of jazz riffing, lounge smoking, head bopping, dub rolling, and rhythm chopping ideas, Death Gate is a space ship ready to take you on a head spinning trip. Don't say I didn't warn you. This is an exceptional record that only gets better with repeated listening. You must check out the following mixes from The Gaslamp Killer: Gaslamp Killers (2007), All Killer: Finders Keepers Records 1-20 (2009), and the very latest, A Decade Of Flying Lotus (2010). There's also, of course, his production work for the ever elusive Gonjasufi, which we will cover here next...