Grammy-nominated experimental electronic/hip-hop artist and filmmaker Flying Lotus is bringing an end-of-summer freak-out party — complete with a video wall and “3-D glasses for all” — to MASS MoCA in North Adams on Saturday, August 31, at 8 p.m.
Flying Lotus’ constant whirlwind of creative activity has included collaborating with Kendrick Lamar on “To Pimp a Butterfly,” producing Thundercat’s album “Drunk,” directing and writing the shocking surreal horror-comedy “Kuso,” and running his Brainfeeder record label.
And he recently released his sixth album, “Flamagra,” a fire-inspired 27-song swirl of electronica, funk, hip-hop, pop and beyond, with appearances by David Lynch, George Clinton, Anderson .Paak, Thundercat, Solange, Tierra Whack, Ishmael Butler of Shabazz Palaces, Toro y Moi, and others.
The animated video for the single “More” was directed by Shinchiro Watanabe (responsible for the legendary anime series Cowboy Bebop), and it’s another in Flying Lotus’ long line of unforgettable mind-bending mini-movies. (If for some reason you haven’t already seen it, immediately go watch his all-time best, the deeply moving video for his 2014 song “Never Catch Me.”)
“Flamagra” contains two musical tributes to his late friend and collaborator Mac Miller, and Flying Lotus — whose great aunt was Alice Coltrane — has said the album has been “a refuge for pain and trying to make the most out of that pain. Music can heal, and in the wake of that tragedy it reminded me what I’m here to do. As we get older, we start to figure out what our purpose is and embrace it and I want to do good things with my work. I want it to be able to help people through tough times and inspire them to be creative.”
Christa Joy and the Honeybees play the hidden-away live music space (with table service!) at Bread Euphoria in Haydenville on Friday, August 30, at 6 p.m.
Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo share a bill with Melissa Etheridge at Tanglewood in Lenox on Friday, August 30, at 7 p.m.
Connecticut musician Steve Rodgers spent nearly two decades leading the ’90s/‘00s alt/rock/folk band Mighty Purple, and also founded the great family of Space venues in Hamden. He plays Gateway City Arts in Holyoke on Friday, August 30, at 8 p.m. Also on the bill are Brian Jarvis and ALEX2E.
Guitarist/songwriter/vocalist/producer Ross Bellenoit (backed up by bassist Paul Kochanski and drummer J.J. O’Connell) returns to the Luthier’s Co-Op on Friday, August 30, at 9:30 p.m. Free entry, with “pay what you wish” donations.
Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals team up with Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue for their first-ever show at Tanglewood on Saturday, August 31, at 7 p.m.
BS Pain Control (from Texas), Tonne, Rawlings, Carbus, and The Molice (N.Y.) play the Root Cellar in Greenfield on Saturday, August 31, at 8 p.m.
Future Islands — the Baltimore band responsible for one of the all-time great “live music on late night TV” moments with their performance of “Seasons (Waiting On You)” on Letterman’s Late Show in 2014 — will be at Pearl Street in Northampton on Sunday, September 1, at 8 p.m. The Bobby Lees start off the night.
Weyes Blood (the artistic moniker of Natalie Mering) released an acclaimed new album on Sub Pop this year, “Titanic Rising,” and she appears at the Iron Horse in Northampton on Thursday, September 5, at 7 p.m. Purr is the opening act.
Ken Maiuri can be reached at tunedincolumn@gmail.com.