Adventures in Augmented Reality: Download New Flying Lotus Tracks With Your Webcam

By Adrian Covert Wed., Jan. 12 2011 at 10:39 AM

Categories: New Releases

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Flying Lotus

I've always maintained that, more than hip-hop or techno or IDM, Flying Lotus' Cosmogramma is an avant-jazz album. You can hear shades of Eric Dolphy, Sun Ra, Andrew Hill, and John Coltrane (naturally -- that's Steven Ellison's great uncle) all over the 45-minute gem. Apparently Ellison agrees, as today he referred to Cosmogramma as his "jazz album" and released a series of alternate takes, following in line with decades of jazz tradition.

I'm really into old jazz traditions and I felt Cosmogramma was my jazz record in a sense. In that spirit, for anyone who's bought the album, we've made something they can use to get new tracks and alternate takes from the original Cosmogramma sessions as a gift from us. We're making a big fuss.

But to prove he's not living entirely in the past, Ellison made obtaining those tracks a bit interesting with his "Trigger" application. Using a combination of your computer's webcam and augmented reality technology, you have to hold up a copy of the Cosmogramma CD, vinyl, or PDF booklet (for MP3 buyers) to activate the download.

The alternate takes pack comes with six tracks. But apparently there are nine total. You can get one of the extra three by pointing the album cover at your webcam. You can get another by pointing the three main images in the booklet at your webcam. The third still remains a mystery, however. Can you figure it out?

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