Tag Archives: Flaming Lips

Articles

The Flaming Lips – Dark Side of the Moon

13 Comments

The Flaming Lips - Dark Side of the MoonThe Flaming Lips – Dark Side Of The Moon (Warner Bros)

Have you heard about the off-Broadway performance of Romeo and Juliet that forgoes the actual work of Shakespeare in favor of a bunch of strewn together narratives, lifted from vague recollections of the play?

The Flaming Lips (along with Wayne’s nephew’s band Stardeath and the White Dwarfs) have seemingly taken a similar approach to Pink Floyd‘s Dark Side of the Moon and channeled that landmark effort into a vaguely reminiscent cover album. It’s a pairing that surely will grab the attention of fans of either band with supporters of the Lips’ unique blend of weirdness probably getting the award for higher tolerance.

Continue reading The Flaming Lips – Dark Side of the Moon →

Articles

Stardeath and the White Dwarfs – The Birth

Leave a comment

Stardeath and the White Dwarfs - The BirthStardeath & the White Dwarfs – The Birth (Warner Bros.)

If the cover doesn’t give it away, the sound in the grooves of this long-player surely will. The reason why Stardeath & The White Dwarfs sound like the Flaming Lips is because the Lips employ the Dwarfs as roadies.

Oh, and the leader is Wayne Coyne’s nephew.

Continue reading Stardeath and the White Dwarfs – The Birth →

Articles

The Flaming Lips – Embryonic

2 Comments

The Flaming Lips - EmbryonicThe Flaming Lips – Embryonic (Warner Bros)

It’s hard to judge Embryonic at this exact moment. Not because there’s any question about its greatness; the album is a wonderful freak-out that places the Flaming Lips smack dab in lysergic territory. The reason it’s hard to judge the album is because it comes at such a critical point in the band’s career. You begin to question if you’re celebrating the music or, in fact, merely celebrating the fact that the band has finally released an album that shakes free those fringe supporters who dig the band’s euphoric highs, but can’t handle the bad vibes that sometimes show up when coming down.

Yes, count me as one of those who questioned if the band’s creative mojo was in jeopardy. With every festival show came complacency, the notion to play it safe and hash out material that would only continue the tradition of confetti favorites and bubble-walking anthems. I actually liked parts of At War With The Mystics, but I could sure as shit identify the three or four songs that would inevitably be featured their live set.

I can’t hear which songs from Embryonic that will fit inside their notorious live shows. I can’t hear them because it’s hard to think of the abundance of melancholia throughout the album in the context of the feel good vibe of the Lips’ live show.

Continue reading The Flaming Lips – Embryonic →

MP3s

New Flaming Lips: Silver Trembling Hands

1 Comment

Flaming Lips - Embryonic

MP3: The Flaming Lips – “Silver Trembling Hands” from Embryonic, out October 13 on Warner Bros.

This is a good Flaming Lips song. Weird from the get go, but that bass line doesn’t let up. Could their upcoming album be a return to form? This will be a make-it-or-break-it album for them. Either they deliver something that lives up to their prior standards, or else everybody’s going to completely write them off as just another good-time festival band that used to be cool. Like G. Love and Special Sauce…except formerly cool.

Flaming Lips: iTunes, Amazon, Insound, wiki, web.

Links

Danger Mouse-Sparklehorse-David Lynch Album Scrapped

Leave a comment

Video: Dark Night Of The Soul

Despite the fact that you can stream the album in its entirety right now at NPR, it looks like Dark Night of the Soul, the collaboration between Danger Mouse, Sparklehorse, and David Lynch with vocals by James Mercer, Wayne Coyne, Gruff Rhys, Jason Lytle, Julian Casablancas, Frank Black, Iggy Pop, Nina Persson, Suzanne Vega, and Vic Chesnutt, is being scrapped due to a legal dispute with EMI.

Perhaps out of spite or maybe just acknowledging the fact that people who want to hear this music already know how to download it, Danger Mouse is releasing a blank CDR along with the 100-page book of David Lynch’s photos for $50.

This whole thing just seems preposterous. EMI couldn’t work out an arrangement to get this officially released? Or did Danger Mouse just forget to read the fine print on a contract? Either way, it’s a shame. The stream sounds really good: more Sparklehorse than Gnarls Barklay, if you know what I mean.

Dark Night of the Soul: web, wiki, rapidshare.

Continue reading Danger Mouse-Sparklehorse-David Lynch Album Scrapped →

Links

Wayne Coyne vs. Arcade Fire

2 Comments

Wayne CoyneIn his ongoing quest to call out every asshole in the music industry, Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne tears into Arcade Fire for Rolling Stone:

“Whenever I’ve been around them, I’ve found that they not only treated their crew like shit, they treated the audience like shit. They treated everybody in their vicinity like shit. I thought, ‘Who do they think they are?’ I don’t know why people put up with it. I wouldn’t put up with it. I don’t care if it’s Arcade Fire or Brian Eno. If either of them walked into a room and treated people like shit I’d be like, ‘Fuck you, get outta here.’ […] They have good tunes, but they’re pricks, so fuck ’em. Who does Arcade Fire think they are? I’ve been around groups. I’ve been around the Edge from U2 and he’s the fucking sweetest guy ever. I was around Justin Timberlake when he was young and he was just a normal, nice, kind person. Anyone can be polite and kind and people who have the privilege and money and attention should understand that. If they don’t, then fuck ’em.”

For those who think he never says anything positive about anybody, notice his compliments toward the Edge and Justin Timberlake! Tell it like it is, Wayne.

Previously: Flaming Lips vs. NIN, STP, Beck

MP3: The Arcade Fire – “Black Mirror”

Links

Flaming Lips vs. NIN, STP, Beck

4 Comments

Our G-Rap homeboy Angry John Sellers asks Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne some Tough Questions for Spin magazine. Hilarity ensues.

On annoying other bands with gratuitous confetti:

We recently did a festival in Mexico…and fucking Nine Inch Nails and Stone Temple Pilots were worried about our confetti getting on their little guitar setups. And I’m just like, “Who gives a fuck?”

On the 2002 tour where the Lips were the warm-up and the band for Beck Hansen:

I was purposely doing an Ali/Frazier kind of thing. There was so much work going into playing not just our set, but also his [as Beck’s backing band]. At the end of the day, you’ve got to have some fucking fun. He was not very much fun to be around because he’s all just, you know, overwhelmed with being famous and being cool or whatever. So I started fucking with him. And everybody was in on it! There would be moments where you thought he was in on it, too. And then he’d go talk to someone, and they’d set his mind on some other thing, and he’d be really hurt by it. It would be as though me and you were joking about something. And then five minutes later, suddenly you didn’t realize that it was a joke.

Good old Wayne. You can’t help but want him to babysit your kids.

Bonus: Sellers’ interview with Ice Cube is great, too.

Articles

The Flaming Lips – Christmas On Mars

4 Comments

The Flaming Lips - Christmas On MarsThe Flaming Lips – Christmas On Mars (Warner Bros)

For some of us, the wait for Christmas On Mars has been more anticipated than the wait for Chinese Democracy. While the Guns N’ Roses disc nearly doubled the delay time for their release, the Flaming Lips‘ project doubles the output, providing fans with both the soundtrack and film to go with it.

At the same time, both releases share an unfortunate attribute: the longer than one waits for projects of reported distinction, the better the chance it will suck. It was certainly the case for Guns N Roses, but with the Lips, there was always a nagging notion that they were not taking themselves too seriously. With the project finally reaching the light of day, I found myself so enthralled with the event that I forked over the extra cash necessary to receive the bumper sticker, the t-shirt, the trading cards, the premier ticket, and the popcorn box. I was hoping for the “golden ticket,” a pair of backstage passes to their infamous New Year’s Eve show and autographs from each of the four Lips, but alas, my spontaneous excitement was not as quick as other fans pining for the same thing.

Continue reading The Flaming Lips – Christmas On Mars →