Flying Lotus - Yasuke (LP) - Red Vinyl

Flying Lotus scoring Yasuke always felt right. The Netflix series, created by LeSean Thomas and animated by MAPPA, lands in that sweet spot where samurai lore rubs shoulders with sci‑fi gleam. Steven Ellison has spent years stitching jazz, beat music, and spectral synths into his own universe, so when the show hit Netflix in late April 2021, his soundtrack followed right behind on Warp Records. It is a compact record that moves like a film, yet it lives like a Flying Lotus album, full of sly detail and restless mood.

Two songs give the project its signature face. “Black Gold,” with Thundercat up front, opens the series and the album with a velvet glow. The vocals feel like a lighthouse in the mist, a guide through a world of mechs, magic, and feudal shadows. “Between Memories,” featuring Niki Randa, closes the set with tenderness rather than triumph. Her voice doesn’t overreach, it lingers. These are the anchors, and they are genuine standouts whether you watch the show or not.

The rest of Yasuke plays out in short scenes and recurring motifs. You get eerie, bell‑like synths that slip into low end rumble, then those crisp, almost surgical drums that FlyLo has honed since Los Angeles. Strings slide in and out of focus, sometimes feeling like a chamber group caught in a dream, sometimes like smoke curling above a battle. “War at the Door” sets the tone with tense pulses and a sense of arrival. Later cues relax into meditative space, then snap back with sharp percussion that recalls his love of hip‑hop minimalism. Nothing drags. Most tracks are under three minutes, which keeps the album moving and gives it that flipbook energy, the kind you get in classic score LPs.

As a composer, Ellison builds with color more than grand theme. You hear small hooks return, but they change clothes every time, a melody twisted by a new synth patch, a rhythm stripped down to bones and rebuilt with a different swing. It mirrors the show’s perspective. LaKeith Stanfield voices Yasuke with quiet gravity, a man carrying history while the world around him gets strange and loud. The music understands that. It never shouts for attention, yet it sneaks up on you. By the third or fourth listen you start to hear how carefully it balances grit and shimmer.

Fans who know him for Cosmogramma or Flamagra will find familiar fingerprints, though this is tighter and less kaleidoscopic. It is the first full score he has released as an album, and it shows his range without turning into a résumé. He keeps the Brainfeeder family close in spirit, and taps his long‑time collaborators smartly. Thundercat’s presence feels inevitable and earned, and Randa’s closing turn nods to their earlier work together while giving the story a parting hush.

On vinyl, this thing makes even more sense, side A and side B acting like two chapters. If you collect Flying Lotus vinyl, Yasuke sits nicely between the studio albums and your favorite Brainfeeder offshoots. The sequencing invites you to drop the needle and ride the scenes as they blur past, and the mix leaves room for the low end that makes his records hum. If you were crate digging in a Melbourne record store, this would be one of those sleeves you pull because the artwork catches your eye, then you keep because the music reveals itself in layers once you get it home. There is a reason people seek out Yasuke vinyl, it rewards that kind of close listening.

It also makes a great entry point if you are looking to buy Flying Lotus records online and want something that plays well in the background but holds up under headphones. Among Flying Lotus albums on vinyl, this one is approachable, a score that doubles as Sunday morning atmosphere and late night drift. And if you are browsing vinyl records Australia shops, keep an eye out, Warp pressings tend to move fast.

In a catalog full of big ideas, Yasuke feels humble and assured. It serves the story, then steps forward just enough to remind you who is behind the boards. No bloat, no filler, just a lean, evocative record that slips into your life and quietly takes root.