Various - Brainfeeder X (4LP)

Brainfeeder turned ten in 2018, so of course Flying Lotus marked the occasion with something unruly and generous. Brainfeeder X landed on 16 November 2018 as a sprawling 36 track compilation that reads like a family photo album and a crystal ball at once. It is split into two volumes, the first a sweep through favourites from the catalogue, the second packed with new and unreleased cuts. On vinyl it arrived as a handsome multi LP set that feels built for long afternoons by the turntable, a reminder that this label’s universe really does make the most sense when it’s moving air in a room.

The story Brainfeeder X tells is the one so many of us have traced since those Low End Theory nights in Los Angeles. Jazz players trading ideas with beatmakers, RnB folding into synth music, club energy shot through with wild harmony. You hear the backbone of it in the way Flying Lotus threads textures and rhythm, in the way Thundercat’s bass sings like a lead voice. That shared DNA is what lets a compilation this broad feel coherent. It is a scene, but it is also a set of shared values about sound, risk and humour.

Volume 1 does the history lesson with some grace. Teebs drifts in with that sunbleached, hand painted beatmaking he does better than anyone. Lapalux reminds you how far you can mangle RnB and still keep the romance intact. Dorian Concept flexes his rubbery synth logic, and Ross From Friends brings the dusty, sidechained house that broadened the label’s club footprint in recent years. None of it feels obligatory. It feels like the label reminding you these ideas did not come from nowhere, they’ve been honed in tiny rooms and big venues for a decade.

The real fireworks sit on Volume 2. The headline is Thundercat’s King of the Hill, a gliding, bittersweet jam made with BADBADNOTGOOD that became a fan favourite the minute it hit radio. It is all the things this crew does well in four minutes, sly hooks, pocket so deep it feels bottomless, sly asides tucked into the production. Newer voices stand tall too. You can feel how the label keeps renewing itself, letting producers push the edges while staying grounded in groove and songcraft. The sequencing is smart. Even when the modes shift from prayerful to party, there is always a thread pulling you forward.

As a listen, Brainfeeder X is long, but the pacing helps. Short bursts of colour give way to pieces that stretch. The jazz contingent holds the space with patience. The beat scene core keeps the corners dusty. There is a lot of LA night air in here, but there is also a sense of travel. The roster had truly global reach by 2018, and you can hear it in the palette, club ideas from Europe rubbing up against West Coast spiritual jazz and anime drenched electronics. It never slips into chaos. It feels curated in the best sense, ears first.

On vinyl, the depth pops. The low end is warm, the cymbals have air, and the layering that can blur on streaming becomes tactile. If you collect Flying Lotus albums on vinyl, this sits beside Cosmogramma or You’re Dead as a statement piece, a map of influence as much as a party starter. It is also the easiest way to introduce a friend to the label. Put on side one, talk about the time Kamasi Washington’s The Epic opened a thousand ears to modern jazz, then drop King of the Hill and watch the room lean in. Brainfeeder X vinyl belongs in the stack for nights when you want surprise without whiplash.

Prices swing around depending on pressing and condition, but it still shows up in good indie shops. If you are hunting vinyl records Australia wide, a decent Melbourne record store will know exactly what you mean when you ask for this. And if you prefer to buy Flying Lotus records online, this compilation tends to ride along in the recommendations because it nudges people toward the wider catalogue. Brainfeeder X is the crate digger’s shortcut, a way to hold ten years of a label that made weirdness feel like home.