The Gaslamp Killer (William Benjamin Bensussen) is Los Angeles-based DJ and producer whose style ranges from psychedelia and world music to dubstep and left-field hip-hop. GLK’s left-field is LEFT-FIELD by any standard.
This Live Album is recorded in a single take at L.A.’s Mayan Theatre and captures GLK performing live with a 15 piece band comprised of some of that city’s most sought-after jazz musicians and Brainfeeder associate Computer Jay on keys.
When I say performing live, I really mean acting as a modern day conductor, using his iPad to interact wirelessly with the band.
The Album is a quirky, heady mix of dubbed-out psychedelia, space jazz, heavy funk, sampled Ethiopian beats and vocals, disembodied vocals, chamber music and scratch DJing that really builds to a crescendo with the 13 minute anthem ‘Keep it Simple Stupid’.
A very difficult Album to pigeon hole, always interesting, always something different going on, sometimes a bit challenging, always like nothing else.
I like it for its quirkiness and its inventive mix of breaks, beats, tempo’s and musical styles. Live is never a bad thing either
I’m sorry but I don’t have access to Tidal, so if somebody could oblige, I would be grateful.
Jesus this was a difficult listen. I don’t mind an LP that mixes style (we all remember the one side guitar, once side sequencer thing that New Order did, or the ballads and dancier numbers on a Simply Red record etc). The idea that you bung a load of top musicians on stage and decide to play jazz, funk, hip-hop and a bit of soul works if you do it across an LP. Not all at the same time on each and every song. I had to listen to it a second time to see if I was missing something, but nope, there it was, everything, all at once, every song, every style.
