Apocalypse
The 2013 sophomore album by bass guitar virtuoso Stephen Bruner (A.K.A. Thundercat) is remarkably ahead of his already-impressive 2011 debut LP *The Golden Age of Apocalypse*. Having lent his magic-fingered skills to everyone from Erykah Badu to Suicidal Tendencies, it’s interesting to hear what he has cultured and crafted for his own album. Over retro-modern analogue blips and bleeps that recall vintage Sun Ra recordings, Bruner croons through murky fidelity that recalls Ariel Pink\'s Haunted Graffiti. Throughout the opening song, his bass pulses with a less-is-more foundation of pedaling rhythms. But this allows plenty of room for Bruner to overlap dense layers of progressive playing on other instruments. The following “Heartbreaks + Setbacks” pushes the advanced musicianship to the side, encouraging barbed melodies and a robust rhythmic groove to take center stage. On “Tron Song,” he deviates from the indie-infused R&B to bestow an astral folk tune trimmed with spacey filigree; it’s sure to hit home with anyone into Terry Callier’s 1972 opus *What Color Is Love*.
The Flying Lotus-co-produced second solo album by virtuoso bassist Stephen Bruner is an endearing blend of plainspoken nonchalance and almost limitless musical eccentricity. Bruner channels rich, often complex music through an engagingly human voice.
The virtuoso bassist steps out of the shadow cast by producer Flying Lotus with one of the year's finest forward-thinking pop albums.
Discover Apocalypse by Thundercat released in 2013. Find album reviews, track lists, credits, awards and more at AllMusic.
A funky lovechild of Prince, Frank Zappa, Herbie Hancock and Flying Lotus (the latter incidentally co-produces this album), Thundercat – aka multi-instrumentalist Stephen Bruner – follows up 2011’s The Golden Age of Apocalypse with another noodly hybrid of an album.
Clash reviews 'Apocalypse', the second album from Brainfeeder-signed artist Thundercat
Thundercat’s Apocalypse is mostly rooted in the lethargy of his likable but often too-static production style.
Review Of 'Apocalypse' By Thundercat. 'Apocalypse' from Thundercat will be available June 4th on The Flying Lotus run label "Brainfeeder".
Bass virtuoso Stephen Bruner turns a support instrument into a leading one – no wonder Dr Dre and Erykah Badu are fans, says <strong>Paul MacInnes</strong>
[xrr rating=3.75/5]About midway through Apocalypse, singer/songwriter/bassist Stephen Bruner’s second LP as Thundercat, comes “Oh Sheit It’s X,” a disco tune that could win the award for “sickest party anthem of the summer.”
Let's get something clear straight off the bat - this is as much a Thundercat solo LP as The Chronic was purely the work of Dr Dre. Just as that record was characterised by the fairly even split on mic duties between a sonorous Dre and the rasp of a rising Snoop Doggy Dogg, so
Thundercat - Apocalypse review: Heartbreaks, setbacks, on a special stage - oh sheeit, I can't do it without you. It's simple, we'll die.
ApocalypseArtist: ThundercatGenre: ElectronicLabel: BrainfeederWhen Erykah Badu, Snoop Dogg, Suicidal Tendencies and Red Hot Chili Peppers need virtuoso bass lines for a tune or gig, they call Stephen Bruner.