The Flaming Lips...

anyways, classic classic classsic for me. soft bulletin and transmissions are the predictable picks for their best albums and that's what i'm going to go with. ambulance and hit to death are pretty good, but i don't find myself listening to them that often. i think that clouds has some of their best songs ever, even though it kinda sags in the middle. "psychiatric exploration of the fetus with needles" is one of the best songs ever. so, search most 90s work and keep your fingers crossed for their new one, which is due sometime this year i think.

Flaming Lips have made this the best Valentines Day ever!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYT_t5y_9Qg&feature=feedlik

So.....the Neon Indian collab, life-size gummi Wayne Coyne, gummi skulls with USB new songs, cereal boxes with flexi discs, etc.

Kinda feel like the Lips are hitting a Zaireeka 2 period of exploration. Musically as well as conceptually. I might have to buy some of this cereal they come up with.

Six Hour Song anyone?

Want to be 'in' it?

Ever wonder how much it would cost to buy yourself into a Flaming Lips track? After an announcement today, it’s no longer a mystery—the answer is $100. The Flaming Lips announced today that fans can have a part in their new freakishly long six-hour track, which now is titled “Found a Star on the Ground.” Frontman Wayne Coyne announced it today on Twitter, and it seems like the offer will only be available for a limited time—maybe just today.

“We’ll be recording all day!!” Coyne said on Twitter.

But the proceeds from the track are going toward a good cause: The OK Humane Society and ACM@UCO. You can make your name a part of Flaming Lips history here

After years and years and years of hating this band, I finally heard a song I liked, but only because it sounded a lot like "Mercury" by Royal Trux (at least it did coming out of the club speakers last night) - the lyrics are "I was born / The day they shot JFK" or something. I guess this is from one of them earlier albums with Mercury Rev guy that I've never heard. Is any of their other stuff like this?

The song you're talking about is "Five Stop Mother Superior Rain" offa In a Priest Driven Ambulance (With Silver Sunshine Stares), their last indie album and the first to clearly announce the sound they'd pursue throughout the early 90s. It's easily one of my top 10 favorite Flaming Lips tracks, though there really isn't a bad song on the album. Dunno whether or not it has an official video, but here's a tube w/ photo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukt212_j-w8

FWIW, the vibe & theme are pretty typical for the Lips, echoed in different forms in many of their songs, from the first album's "Godzilla Glick" to "Do You Realize" on Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. If you particularly like "Five Stop", I'd say the albums to check out are Priest Driven Ambulance and the major label follow-up, Hit to Death In the Future Head. A couple tracks that I think of as roughly similar:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTrlMiqNL4I
"chrome plated suicide", from telepathic surgery, the album before PDA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkivf7SUdiw
"you have to be joking", from hit do death

lol, make that "Godzilla Flick". for the hell of it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bH7Kh4wYZlM

(album version is better, but what you gonna do)

god i loved this band

Thanks Fozzy! Of these, I really dig "You've Got To Be Joking." Just listened to "Five Stop Mother Superior Rain" again back-to-back with Royal Trux's "Air" and the similarities are obvious (though likely coincidental). I should mention that I despise everything I've heard of this band from The Soft Bulletin on, but I'm really loving the supremely stoned psych folk vibes of these tracks. What else should I check out? Which is the album that has the most like this?

hey, glad you dug some of that. thing is, they've got a few basic approaches, one of them being the stoned & shattered psych folk you seem to like. starting out, they p much alternated between that and more punk-garagey psych rock, plus points in between and experiments out in various directions. as a result, it's easier to point to tracks than to albums. if you dig the crispy 70s psych vibes in general, then their first two albums, hear it is and especially oh my gawd!!!, are the most obvious place to start. after that, just work your way forward.

track suggestions that lean in psych folkwardly direction, most probably previewable on youtube:

hear it is (1986) - "with you", "jesus shootin' heroin", "she is death"
oh my gawd (1987) - "one million billionth of a millisecond on a sunday morning", "ode to c.c. part 2", "love yer brain"
telepathic surgery (1989) - "miracle on 42nd street", "the spontaneous combustion of john"
in a priest driven ambulance (1990) - "rainin' babies", "stand in line", "there you are"
hit to death in the future head (1992) - "you have to be joking" is about it, but it's a great album for lots of other reasons
transmissions from the satellite heart (1993) - "chewin' the apple of your eye", "plastic jesus" (i.e., the song from cool hand luke, awesome)

the last three represent the early days of the dave fridmann production era, and after transmissions, a great album that fridmann did not produce, they disappear down that dreary wormhole.

i'm a little confused why more people aren't talking about Heady Fwends. how do the ilxors feel about it?

The only thing I've heard from Heady Fwends is the version of The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face with Erykah Badu which is quite incredible. I just saw the album is getting a proper release on June 26th, will probably wait till then to give it a full listen. I sadly couldn't afford to get the vinyl.

the Badu collab sounds like the last song that gets played in the universe. sort of like a "pop" (relatively) version of the Disintegration Loops

Yeah, I couldn't score one of the LPs (and don't want to encourage eBay cocks who bought 'em to flip on Record Store Day), and I also don't want to listen to stuff on crummy YouTube rips - looking forward to hearing the real deal!

are you guys part of the weird "it's disrespectful to the artist to download album leaks" clan? (even though the album has been sold publicly and you can easily buy it later?) there are obviously well-circulated rips of this if you want to hear it so badly, and i don't really see that as morally suspect...

I suppose so! I guess I need to hear the artist say some variation on "yeah, feel free, download our stuff" rather than establishing my own set of justifications. I'm not weird or judgmental or anything like that - knock yourself out; seriously - it's just how I'm doin' it, I guess. I also have weird OCDisms about fidelity and physicality.

I do download or listen to most things before I buy them now but sometimes I really miss going out and buying an album I haven't heard before and putting it on. Don't get me wrong I've wasted lots of money in the past buying weak albums I wish I could have listened to before but now and then I wait till an album comes out to hear it, especially if its something I'm really sure I'm going to like. I'm fairly sure I'm going to really enjoy this album.

i can understand that. i guess the internet has just made me impatient about hearing stuff i'm excited to hear. then again, if i hadn't listened to it, i wouldn't be going around spreading the good word to my friends and on twitter & ilx!

Yeah I have to admit I start off with the intention of waiting but I almost always cave in and find the download as soon as I see people talking about the album I'm interested in. I'm pretty sure I'll be back on this thread in a few days talking about having heard this album. Embryonic totally made me fall in love with this band again just as I was losing interesting in them. Didn't bother with Dark Side of the Moon but looking forward to this.

it's a "fun" and "zany" listen

another Snarkout Boy about, I see

u callin me snarky? i like the Flaming Lips record in a very unsnarky way. i think that it is good.

was referring to poster Walter Galt, who I haven't seen before

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Snarkout_Boys_and_the_Avocado_of_Death

ahh, well done. my pop culture knowledge has failed me.

Yeah, the Badu collab is all I hoped for (which was pretty high, given 'Embryonic' is top two or three albums of the last decade for me, and 'Mamas Gun' is probably top 5). Some of the stuff already issued on the EPs remains very good. All of the other non-EP new stuff left me bored or worse. Really hope they don't go back to "zany"--'Embryonic' is so fantastic.

I really love Heady Fwends; the middle of the album has so many great sounds. I think some truly good tunes got overshadowed by the novelty of it all. I wish they'd release all the other stuff from the limited EPs.

"I was stuck near the food court, wasn’t able to cross the airport to get to my gate. Flight left without me, all because of Wayne Coyne."

http://www.thelostogle.com/2012/11/19/wayne-coyne-brings-grenade-to-okc-airport-tsa-shuts-down-airport-people-miss-flights-and-lose-money/

<img src="Http://www.saidthegramophone.com/images/theterror.png";>

welcome to 1995

http://Http%3A//www.saidthegramophone.com/images/theterror.png

http://www.saidthegramophone.com/images/theterror.png

Wow, straight out of 1990.

Cool cover. Maybe it's time to revisit these guys, don't think I've listened for three or four years at this point...

It just occured to me how much teal & orange these guys have done throughout their career.

reminds me of CD bargain bins

weird, but i think i ended up listening to this mix: http://musicophilia.wordpress.com/2011/11/09/one-off-zygotic-after-the-flaming-lips-embryonic-2009/ more than embryonic itself.

That's what I was thinking, sean. Is it the font?

The first thing that came to mind was Under Rug Swept.

Was pretty bored with these guys until Embryonic, which is probably one of the best things they've done since the 80s, and I got all excited again. But then that Heady Fwends thing made me kind of sick of them again. Pile on that the bullshit Wayne pulled with the Badu sisters and I'm not sure if I even care anymore.

I'm hoping they've saved all the good stuff from the past few years for this. I agree w post-Embryonic lapse in quality tho i do support them cos they seem to still have a tireless work ethic. I haven't even listened to that radio drama they did yet. Was that any good?

Cool album cover tho. Not too keen on the font...

I've been waiting for a font like that for 15 years.

I just hope they stay dark and Krauty, with no bunny suits or confetti. Not that I didn't love the boombox experiments-through-Yoshimi period at the time, but man, Embryonic is a big leap upward. . .

Hmm, pretty inscrutable:

http://twitter.yfrog.com/emz41viqsrkrvykvslojeysyz
http://twitter.yfrog.com/n6czohyqgjumljbkfbeexzezz
http://twitter.yfrog.com/b9i43luijytduyvxbwxyscwnz

But this track is on the album, and it was one of the best of the weirdly-released things they were doing over the last couple years (along with parts of the 24-hour track and a few others):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Py6y_AHOcx0

This new record looks promising. I'm super happy that the band has gotten weird again. That whimsical happy Yoshimi phase was pretty hard to take.

Not sure why there is so much animosity towards the Heady Fwends project. I actually think it was one of the best records last year. Besides the Nick Cave track there isn't a real clunker in the bunch. The Lips were always a drug band. In the early days it seemed to be of the more "psychedelic" variety but both "Embryonic" and "Fwends" seem to emanate a "harder" vibe. And, font choices aside (does it really matter?) I sense this new record will be in the same vein as the last two. One can hope anyway.

I'm super happy that the band has gotten weird again.

did you miss embyronic?

I love Embryonic becuase it's weird. And distrurbing.

And they are putting out a Zaireeka vinyl remaster too. Which is even more insane than the CD version. I imagine four record players keep in sync w each other far less than four CD players.

Aw man i just heard the new single and it is wretched.

Cool video tho.

Oh ok it was written for a car ad.

VP of marketing at Hyundai, Steve Shannon, told Billboard, "The Flaming Lips are very much like Hyundai. They're a little offbeat. They've been around a long time and they continue to reinvent themselves."

I get this weird cockroach vibe from the Lips these days. Like, Wayne has it all figured out, and after the nuclear apocalypse, the Flaming Lips will be the only band standing.

ha a guy who managed a local record store when i was in college already thought they were cockroaches by soft bulletin. he couldn't believe the shitty noise band he saw opening for dino jr in like 1986 was now the college radio supertramp

Hah I brought a giant plastic cockroach to the first gig I saw them at ('99) and Wayne signed it.

The "Sun Blows Up Today" song, I sort of like the droney bits, but overall the production is just crap. How on Earth do you have Steven Drozd in your band and end up with drums that sound this lousy? That is unforgivable.

Don't think Drozd plays drums for the band anymore, hasn't for years.

Drodz still drums a bit on the records. Embryonic has him and Kliph Scurlock pounding away together on some tracks. Sure there are clips of this.

Thought Heady Fwends was awful, a real backwards step after the pretty great Embryonic. Sun Blows Up Today is dreadful, but as it's a non-album track I'll let em off the hook for now. Really hope the new album is a good un...

Anyone listening to the new one? Weird album.

Wow, this really is weird album. I'm glad it's nothing like Sun Blows Up Today which sounded like a At War With Mystics outake. I think I'm going to need a lot more time with it just like Embryonic. It's such an understated album, really beautiful in places.

I don't think I'm going to be able to listen to it too often. It's very slow and dense and completely absent of their zany starry-eyed optimism. That's not a bad thing, but it just seems like one of those albums you can only listen to as a whole if you want to really enjoy it. And it's not a whole that I want to listen to lots.

It's very slow and dense and completely absent of their zany starry-eyed optimism.

WANT

Yeah, really, that only makes me more interested.

I like it. I think many of you will too.

I really love Heady Fwends; the middle of the album has so many great sounds. I think some truly good tunes got overshadowed by the novelty of it all. I wish they'd release all the other stuff from the limited EPs.

I'm digging "Ashes in the Air" on Heady Fwends (the Bon Iver tune) quite a bit.

Do people think this is a "silly" record? Because I'm not hearing that based on the first three tracks.

I am curious also as to why so many folks disparage Heady Fwends. I find it fantastic nearly despite itself. One would think the very idea of a record like this is a terrible one but, I think they pull it off quite well. Can someone explain to me what they find so repellent about this? I'd love to know.

The tracks I heard seemed like repetitive jokes. I haven't listened to the whole LP, though. I never really wanted to because they didn't pick any musicians I'd really like to hear them collaborate with. I remember the Neon Indian track being particularly poor.

But I'll say I'm a big fan of bands that do these kinds of things. It seems like they really lifted themselves out of a rut after At War with the Mystics. They were coming close to being an inessential band that keeps making the same type of record. Embryonic was a nice kick in the ass and The Terror continues down that path...

This thread makes me sad. My boyhood hero Wayne Coyne is actually in real-life a total dickhead.

I've always thought he was a dick. I don't know why so many people thought othrwise.

Embryonic was a nice kick in the ass and The Terror continues down that path...

So glad to read this. Embryonic was my album of the year that year and, in my mind, possibly the best thing they've ever done. Definitely the best thing they've done since Priest Driven Ambulance. Anyway, waiting for a physical copy of the new one, but I'm pleased to hear that commercial song is NOT a indicator of this album.

It's sort of like the songs aren't even there-nothing catchy other than bum-bum-spssssh-bum-bum-bum-spsssssh-ahhhhhh-but i love the sound of this. Has that 2am-smoking-too-many-cigarettes feel. Lots of cool droning humming buzzing electronics, sounding at times like an Operating Room. The same feel Priest had, but with far more complex songs. After the Priest Driven Ambulance arrives, the Priest is joined by scientists (having finished racing for the prize). Sounds amazing! The future and the past all at once.

"You Lust" is almost Industrial Lite. Hospital Wave. Drums like breathing apparatus. Synth lines like an EKG.

Like "mbv" it sounds like something that has a lot of depth that will reward successive listens.

"Always There" has an awesome bass synth line.

Like this a lot and I couldn't get with Embryonic at all.

On first listen through. gggreeeaaatttt so far.

The Terror is so great, it's just getting better and better each time I play it. This is probably their fifth masterpiece now.

Wayne is heavily featured in the (pretty fucking hilarious) Virgin Mobile ad:

http://m.pitchfork.com/news/49880-watch-wayne-coyne-stars-in-extremely-weird-virgin-mobile-commercial/

Wishing I loved this, but so far only the first track really does it for me. The rest is a little too. . . placid? 'Embryonic' had the same darkness, but had a lot of sonic variety--and especially those evil beats, such that it's double-LP length really flies by. 'The Terror' really drags--which is a shame, considering they made 6-hour and 24-hour songs that were remarkably listenable, for what they were. Maybe my expectations are too high, whereas I had only negative expectations prior to 'Embryonic'. Take out a couple of the more barely-there tracks for a couple of the 2011 tracks (like "Is David Bowie Dying?" or "Drug Chart" (which is fairly minimal in its own right)) and I think it would be much improved. I also much prefer the original version of "Butterly (How Long It Takes to Die)"--I don't think the out-of-rhythm Gang of Four guitar adds anything, probably detracts from the excellently creepy atmosphere.

Actually, pulling it all out now, I think you could make a very similarly dark, but more sonically varied, LP out of the non-collaboration 2010-2011 tracks. That stuff got overshadowed by the (inferior) 'Heady Fwends' stuff--nothing on that outside of the Erykah Badu collab stands up. Kinda seems like they screwed themselves out of what would've been a great LP, via all the wacky-release shenanigans.

Feel like compiling one? I found it hard to keep track of everything that came out. Though i think 'Heady Fwends' and all the 'gimmicky' stuff is vastly underrated, I can't really see a full-length from what I've heard.

If "I found a star on the ground" isn't full-length, I don't know what is..

Apropos of being on an early Lips kick and nothing else:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWUJQksNKcA

Remembering when Michael had the best rock 'fro in the 80s and early 90's

Hah yes. I was walking around yesterday and "Jesus Shooting Heroin" got stuck in my head for some weird reason.

Still think "She is Death" and "Godzilla Flick" off the first record could both pretty much fit on any of their albums.

"Jesus Shooting Heroin" has been stuck in my head also, like ever since I first came across that album. Genuis song title/idea imho.

Just got "Embryonic" on vinyl. I've been saddled with just the mp3's for a long time. The vinyl is a real eye-opener and makes a great record even better.

Alright, 'The Terror' is growing on me. Just have to let go of the breadth of 'Embryonic,' and think of 'The Terror' as sort of burrowing deeper into one part of the sonic territory of 'Embryonic'. It's definitely a follow up, just not a sequel.

As a longtime fan, it seems to silly whenever i have to click 'skip ad' during Wayne's phone ad that is playing before youtube videos these days.

I’ve been blown away by my initial listens to ‘The Terror’. I’d read Wayne’s comments that it was their darkest album but I admit I still went in with reservations. I really can’t believe how much I’ve loved what the band have done since ‘Embryonic’. I’d totally written them off after ‘Mystics’. If ‘Embryonic’ aped Can’s groove in many places then the new album is all ‘Future Days’ style stretched out ambient space rock. I love how the songs (if you can call them that) seem in no rush to go anywhere and are given plenty of space to breathe.

Sadly, as with ‘Embryonic’, no doubt none of the new stuff will make it into their live sets and they’ll keep trolling out their saccharine overly sentimental balloon carnival pish.

Apropos of nothing else, I can't find "Godzilla Flick" on youtube. Maybe it's a takedown by Japan. I don't want to fire up the turntable.

I will now sing it to myself.

this is HEY, private moment here not available

Hang on, the new one sounds like CAN circa Future Days? Suddenly I'm interested in this band again.

Did you hear the last one?

Embryonic? Yes, and I quite liked the psyche direction, but the production have me the usual headache.

Yeah, I sought out a vinyl copy of 'Embryonic' in the end which sounds way better. I'm starting to think Fridmann might be the problem rather than the Lips themselves. Everything he produces is mastered too loudly.

I'd definetly encourage you to check out the new one. It's unlike anything they've done before. Nice review here

There was said to be a documentary coming out about the making of the album, and last week they uploaded a series of videos, one for each song, to the official youtube. It looks like it's all taken from one interview session with Wayne & Steven, and each video has the same 40-second long intro, which is kinda dumb because some of the videos are under 2 minutes long, but whatevs. Wish they would have included some in-studio footage but it's always kinda cool to hear the explanations and it does go deeper than the sort of all-encompassing stoner talk that promoted "Yoshimi".

"The Terror" is a very apt name, and it seems like these songs have alot to do with deconstructing various psychological states that they've always sort of touched upon but never really explored. I like the story Wayne tells about someone's interpretation of the album cover. He thought it was someone sitting down and looking ahead, and witnessing an explosion happen in the distance. The cover photo was taken a fraction of a split second before the man realizes what is happening.

OK "Zaireeka" on vinyl..... hmmmm ... may actually be more tempted to get "The Terror" cos I'm guessing it'll be like over $40.

Still, "Riding to Work in the Year 2025" is still probably the best thing they've ever done.

i haven't cared about this band in a while but "the terror" sounds really good

At the moment I think I prefer Embryonic, but I'm still finding plenty to love on this album... 'You Lust' is still doing it for me.

well jim derogatis is calling it their worst album ever so you know it has to be good

I was walking around yesterday and "Jesus Shooting Heroin" got stuck in my head for some weird reason.

Still think "She is Death" and "Godzilla Flick" off the first record could both pretty much fit on any of their albums.

― Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Sunday, March 17, 2013 9:13 AM (1 month ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

"Jesus Shooting Heroin" has been stuck in my head also, like ever since I first came across that album. Genuis song title/idea imho.

― rattled, Sunday, March 17, 2013 9:58 AM (1 month ago)

everybody a month ago otm. first album is just ridiculous. song after song after song.

haven't spent any time with the new one, but heard the bulk of it in a record shoppe the other day and was much intrigued. dark, minimal, and (apparently?) w lots of instrumental bits. (???) i love the band, but as they've gone on, wayne's wounded wonder has come to harshly grate. didn't hear much of that, which is a plus. maybe i'll make a night of it...

also, agree about the insistent loudness of fridman's production style being a problem. distortion is cool, but "in the red" as an affect gets annoying quickly. see also: boris.

yeah I was just thinking about how part of why I'm into this one is that there's a lot less Wayne. even when he's singing its mixed lower and usually just one or two voices instead of the big mass harmonies they've been doing lately.

Definitely a serious grower, this one. I was in love with 'Embryonic' from first listen--but I had also had zero, or even negative, expectations with that one. Because it blew me away so much (and really stuck with me) I think I wanted more of the same, and so didn't take to 'The Terror' straight away. But as I listen, it becomes clear, it's entirely a natural successor--boring deep into a particular part of the 'Embryonic' landscape, but finding a lot of depth there once you adjust to inhabiting a narrower area. In a year of impressive releases by favored old fogeys (MBV, OMD, The Knife, Nick Cave, Thom Yorke) this one is probably the best.

was browsing during my lunch hour yesterday and heard this rather wonderful elongated electronic track.
after a few more tracks of intriguing stuff, i asked what it was.
turned out it was 'the terror'.
colour me impressed.

Hurrr's my review:
http://crackmagazine.net/music/the-flaming-lips/

Glad people are getting into this. I'm enjoying it almost as Embryonic now, probably my fourth favourite album behind that, Soft Bulletin and Clouds Taste Metalic.

Yes, in this case, less of Wayne's "wounded wonder" (brilliant term, btw) is welcome here. I find myself really enjoying the long moody instrumental passages and then his voice pops up and the mood is sort of shattered. But, I really like this record (as well as the last two) and am so happy that they've moved on from their shiny happy Yoshimi, Soft Bulletin phase. Which was about as cloying as the band had ever been.

I think the band's high water mark was the Ronald Jones era (Clouds, especially) it was the one and only time I thought they had a proper guitarist. (Seeing Jones live was always a thrill). Anyway, so glad the band is weird again.

also, agree about the insistent loudness of fridman's production style being a problem. distortion is cool, but "in the red" as an affect gets annoying quickly. see also: boris.

― I have many lovely lacy nightgowns (contenderizer), Thursday, 18 April 2013 01:39 (10 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Did he do "The Soft Bulletin"? Because in my short list of "albums mastered too loudly" that comes top! (the other is "Raw Power" the iggy one, but hey it's supposed to be too loud it's Iggy and the stooges!!!)

If so, is the LP version any better?

In a year of impressive releases by favored old fogeys (MBV, OMD, The Knife, Nick Cave, Thom Yorke)

You missed out Wire, but yeah.

Did he do "The Soft Bulletin"?

How's the loudness on this? Is it as loud as Embyonic?

and?

(xpost)

I don't feel like this is as loud as Embryonic. Less drums. I think the Lips big problem is that one they figured out how to get a Levee Breaks-style drum sound, they had to have it on everything, which effing ruled but once you have a blown-out drum sound you kind of need to bring everything else up in the mix or it would completely dominate. Hence the slippery slope into harse mastering.

"Levee Breaks" is exactly right. I used that to kick of the 'Embryonic'-tribute mix I made, 'Zygotic'.

Also--Wire have a new album? Shoot man, gotta find that!

i don't know how loud it is from a mastering perspective but the music is way mellower so i'd be surprised if it was mastered as loud as their last few albums

Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips has said that The Stone Roses debut album is "virtually the same song over and over again."

Coyne, who is going to cover the whole album with his bandmates, appeared dismissive of the songwriting ability of Ian Brown and his bandmates when speaking in a new interview with The Sun. Chatting about his forthcoming project, Coyne said: "The one we’re working on now is the Stone Roses’ first record. I don’t really love them but I guess I do by loving their music. It’s virtually the same song over and over again. If you like one song, you’ll probably like all of them. If you hate one, you’ll hate them all."

In 2010, The Flaming Lips released a track-by-track cover of Pink Floyd's seminal 1973 album 'Dark Side Of The Moon' They also remade the debut album by British prog rock group King Crimson 'Playing Hide And Seek With The Ghosts Of Dawn', which covered every song from the band's 'In The Court of The Crimson King'.

Earlier this week Coyne also revealed that he is working on a full-length joint album with Ke$ha, tentatively titled 'Lip$ha.

This was august, last year..

I have that King Crimson thing but haven't heard it yet. I'll probably check it out today.

Wow, I've never heard the Crimson thing -- or even of it.

I lost interest in these guys when they brought out "The Soft Bulletin" but "Embryonic" and this album have brought me right back around.

'enders game' songs are a nice 'zaireeka' throwback. more please

the robert smith song is o_O

I see they have done/issued their Stone Roses rendering..

^ I googled to see what Mark was talking about and FYI: two weeks ago "The Flaming Lips And Friends" released a cover of the first Stone Roses LP (+ Fool's Gold), 500 copies only on marbled orange vinyl.

Lips are on four out of 12 tracks.

It's a £150 constant on ebay, was looking for a, ahem..

Meepy Morp is refreshing

http://www.reddirtreport.com/red-dirt-news/all-your-power-what-would-you-do-christina-fallins-band-pink-pony-protested-norman

NORMAN, Okla. -- There’s an unwritten rule that reporters aren’t supposed to get involved in the stories they cover. As I have been covering this entire Christina Fallin/Native Appropriation debacle, it’s been extraordinarily hard because her and Pink Pony partner Steven Battles’ indignant racism towards indigenous peoples has become more sharpened and precise.

While once people were willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and defend their “artistic” choices as mere ignorance, Saturday night’s performance at the Norman Music Festival on the Blackwatch stage more than cemented the realization that they are deliberately provoking and trying to hurt Native Americans.

As a Choctaw, it was one of those moments where I couldn’t just sit by and let the story happen.

Earlier in the day, on the Pink Pony Facebook page, the low-rent techno band announced “I heard Pink Piny (sic) was wearing full regalia tonight.” Whether this was a message to taunt or inform, it put many local Natives into action, especially highly-acclaimed singer-songwriter Samantha Crain.

Through Facebook, she organized a silent, peaceful protest that would be held during the band’s midnight performance.

Support was overwhelming, but there were also the typical cries of “Don’t give them attention!” or “You’re playing into their hands!” Maybe so, but when it’s your culture and history that is being publicly desecrated, you tell me that it’s alright to stand by and allow it to happen.

As Crain and supporters gathered together by the side of the stage, respectfully out of the view of the main crowd, we stood patient, waiting for the music to start. Unfortunately, the first set, Steven Battle’s rock project, was marred with tons of on-stage tuning, feedback and the general impression that they haven’t rehearsed that day, if, honestly, ever.

Once the music started, we held up our homemade signs that read “Don’t Tread on My Culture,” “I Am Not a Costume” and, in honor of Flaming Lips’ frontman and noted Fallin supporter Wayne Coyne, who stood behind the partition with Fallin’s entourage, accompanied by his girlfriend, laughing and pointing at the protesters, “What Would You Do With All Your Power?”

From the stage, Battles goaded and tried to incite reaction from the peaceful protesters, calling us “haters” and, at one point, urging the crowd to throw the middle finger our way which, sadly, much of the crowd did, like dogs trained to salivate to the sound of the world’s most out-of-tune bell.

It was around this time that a seemingly inebriated woman named Lauren Lackey, a Norman pseudo-celebutante claiming to be a part of the Norman Music Festival, belligerently told protestors that we were ordered to vacate and couldn’t be there.

As she got in the faces of various picketers, I stood defiantly as four security guards surrounded me. As they tried to strong-arm me, I stood like the big brick wall that I am. That is when everyone surrounding us took out their cellphones and began filming. One security guard grabbed my wrist and I looked at him and said “Do it. The world is watching.” Hearing that, he backed up and just stood in front of me with his arms crossed.

Eventually, the Norman PD showed up and said we had every right to protest there, but Lackey continued in her ranting. However, and kudos to Blackwatch for this, they allowed Crain on the other side of the partition where Fallin’s entourage stood mocking us, holding her sign with a courage and determination that inspired all of our tired arms to just hold our signs up higher, more stoic than ever.

Within minutes after that, Fallin took to the stage dressed in pantyhose, garters and an obviously Native-inspired shawl that read in big black letters “SHEEP.” This was in reference, it is theorized, that the protesters were easily-led morons for not believing what the band said in their non-apology regarding their “love of native culture” and whatnot.

This was painfully and brutally reinforced when, during one of their numbers, Fallin lifted her shawl over her head and did a perverse mockery of a native war-dance, twirling in circles as the drummer—anonymously wearing a “white-face” mask, mind you—tried desperately to keep the beat.

To see her reenact a sacred ritual like that in front of drunk, hateful hipsters literally caused the protesters’ collective jaws to drop. In essence, to me, it felt like Fallin was throwing it down and ultimately declaring war on Natives, not only the culture, but the people as well.

She really is like her mother.

As the show wrapped up and things seemingly returned to normal, one thing kept flashing through my mind: the image of that sea of white faces, giving the protestors the finger. It became a full-blown hate rally at that point, only with worse music. And these are my peers! I saw people I knew, I work with, that I called friends, turn on me and my fellow protestors because of our race and what we believe in.

I knew at the moment that they wouldn’t be happy until they kill the rest of us off.

Yeah, a reporter isn’t supposed to get involved in the story. We’re supposed to take a step back, observe and tell you, the reader about it. Collect our check and then move on to the next one. But when pure, unadulterated evil is staring you in the face and daring you to take it on…the press pass goes down and the will to fight goes up.

Maybe Fallin and Battles went into this trying to get attention for Pink Pony, but with their Norman Music Festival performance, they publicly let it be known they want a war.

Well, kids, you got one.
- See more at: http://www.reddirtreport.com/red-dirt-news/all-your-power-what-would-you-do-christina-fallins-band-pink-pony-protested-norman#sthash.bFDBAzJ5.dpuf

Wayne...still a dick.

We are talking Oklahoma here, scientifically proven to be the worst state in the Union.

http://www.reddirtreport.com/rustys-music/update-flaming-lips-drummer-fired-insulting-waynes-pal-christina-fallin

UPDATE: (7:34 a.m. April 29, 2014) Red Dirt Report's Louis Fowler just offered us some new information on the reported firing of Kliph Scurlock as drummer of The Flaming Lips: "(Red Dirt Report) has obtained physical CONFIRMATION from multiple sources who, at this time, cannot be named for various reasons that will eventually come to light, that Kliph Scurlock was indeed fired from the Flaming Lips for speaking out against Christina Fallin's headdress photo. We at Red Dirt Report applaud Scurlock for his bravery in standing with the Native peoples of Oklahoma, no matter the cost."
- See more at: http://www.reddirtreport.com/rustys-music/update-flaming-lips-drummer-fired-insulting-waynes-pal-christina-fallin#sthash.6WPScnqD.dpuf

South Carolina or Florida are way worse than OK

xpost "Physical confirmation?"

Florida and South Carolina both have things going for them that OK lacks, sucky though all three states may be.

Why doesn't Texas fall into the ocean?

Because Oklahoma sucks so hard.

Josh, a commenter something about a text message. I assume that.

Ah. Yeah, that would make sense. I guess I was stuck on the "physical" part. Like someone discovered a swab of Coyne's asshole DNA or something.

i don't know shit about the governor or state of OK but to be fair the governor did call out her daughter on her bullshit

the flaming lips' social media is covered in this shit

it's kind of funny

Florida and South Carolina both have things going for them that OK lacks, sucky though all three states may be.

― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 29 April 2014 14:35 (Yesterday) Permalink

That thing is: "The Ocean"

i take back what I said about oklahoma, in light of last night's "botched" execution, fuck you oklahoma.

What is good about Oklahoma?

The basketball team, I guess. I don't follow basketball. How the heck did they end up with a good basketball team?

not really a fan of shitting on states when it's really some aspect of the state government that you want to shit on. i'm fine with shitting on stupid state and other governments. but a bunch of different kinds of people live in OK and every state has some cool stuff going on. florida and SC included

He's never going to acknowledge this, which makes him even shittier in my eyes. Just say you're sorry you might've offended some people and move on.

Don't even address firing the drummer or being friends with a bunch of 18-year-old girls. All you have to do is apologize to those you offended in the Native community. What's the harm?

have a feeling he does not actually give a shit and is having some mid life issues

i hate this guy so much

Of course he doesn't give a shit. That's why he sucks.

I still like Clouds Taste Metallic, though. *<:-|

http://gawker.com/how-the-flaming-lips-lost-a-drummer-over-native-america-1570423161/all

This story keeps gaining traction.

Their social media is covered in slime right now.

I still think it'll probably go away by the end of the month and Wayne will continued to not acknowledge everything. I'm pretty disappointed.

more like the flaming so deeply immersed in irony as a lifestyle for so long that they are now incapable of acknowledging blatant racism as troublesome lips

I knew them hanging out w Miley was a sign of trouble.

Jordan SargentJordan Sargent
Yesterday 4:44pm

Wayne Coyne, by the way, is kind of a dick. You may remember this bullshit he pulled with Erykah Badu http://jezebel.com/5916667/erykah...

He also allegedly cheated on his wife http://newsok.com/flaming-lips-s...

Sorry Jordan, but whatever that is it isn't music journalism. Digging dirt on someone's divorce has nothing to do with this head-dress shitshow, it's just gross. I'm not interested in defending Coyne over this but pulling together different issues as if to prove that someone is de facto a dick, WTF is that? Just as depressing as when lots of people decided they were experts on Kim and Thurston's divorce.

Uh.... Kliph now has a pretty big, pretty damning story on P4K.

Kliph

why not Qlyphh

or Clyffe

xp Well that's a first-hand account of the incident in question from someone who was in the same band for 12 years, not "Oh btw he might have cheated on his wife" as if that's anybody's business. Pretty damning though. Wonder what Coyne will say when the next interviews roll around.

he'll say he's hard at work on his Christmas on Mars musical

Wayne sounds like a horrible human being.

Has he always been one?

Sorry Jordan, but whatever that is it isn't music journalism. Digging dirt on someone's divorce has nothing to do with this head-dress shitshow, it's just gross. I'm not interested in defending Coyne over this but pulling together different issues as if to prove that someone is de facto a dick, WTF is that? Just as depressing as when lots of people decided they were experts on Kim and Thurston's divorce.

― What is wrong with songs? Absolutely nothing. Songs are great. (DL), Friday, May 2, 2014 2:06 PM (30 minutes ago) Bookmark

i didn't "dig dirt" for one. that is from a widely available news story.

secondly i made that comment before kliph (publicly) confirmed what happened, so i thought it was pertinent to say "by the way, wayne coyne has a documented history of being an asshole to people who were close to him"

can't believe jordan posted gossip on a gossip site when will this madness end

There was a time when I almost became a proper Flaming Lips fan and I remember Kliph being super friendly on the official Flaming Lips messageboard, covering production details for asking fans. I lost touch with their output around At War with The Mystics (which was embarrassingly bad) and despite lots of friends telling me how good Embryonic and The Terror are, I only casually listened to those two, part of which is because of the Coyne and Badu story with was nagl.

The Pitchfork article has a song by Thee Tee Pees in the "Latest Tracks" right next to it...

holy shit

ha

this was that band's last 7-inch

http://imageprocessor.websimages.com/width/310/crop/0,0,310x491/www.manglorrecords.com/teepeesREDscan02png-1.png

Good catch , Poo.

At 9:54 p.m., he texted me again pressing the headdress photo issue. In my desire to have this done and over with, I apologized and said I wouldn't do it again. He responded, "… Ha ha… You so full of shit … You're a fucking coward !! Go stick up for your Indian friends if its so important to you !!" It devolved from there, with him later texting, "I think….. I am gonna make it so your 'beliefs' no longer have any association with the Flaming Lips .."

wow if these are really Wayne's texts then eff him

Fuck Wayne Coyne. Let him do his dumbass commercials and racist hubaloo, just gtfo out of my newsfeed.

my favorite part of this was definitely when the 53-year-old man called somebody a "hater" in a text message

~bookmarked for 20 years from now~

What a weird series of stories. Kliph's whole screed. Wayne having a midlife crisis. And this whole shit with the headdress.

Am I just overdosing on Donald Sterling stories? Or does social media seem to have poisoned them all?

Geez.
http://pitchfork.com/news/55124-the-flaming-lips-wayne-coyne-blasts-hateful-pathological-liar-kliph-scurlock/

The fact that he went to RS alone smells of BS. It's one thing for Kliph to call Wayne a horrible person in retrospect, because Wayne is in a position of power and people in that position can acts like asses with impunity. But for Wayne to call Kliph a horrible person? Who they have been struggling with for some time? Bullshit. If that were true, if he's just an ex-drummer who means nothing to him, they would have fired him eons ago. This is total damage control on the part of Wayne. Which he clearly needed to do.

I hope Kliph stole one of those giant bubbles on the way out.

He knows we struggled with him for years and it didn't occur to us that it seemed that significant

The only world where this makes sense is a world where At War With the Mystics is a better album than Embryonic or The Terror. Fuck this, at least you could try and put on a good face and acknowledge the two albums you made w him were the best you had done in years. But yeah instead of trying to be the bigger man and be positive, this interview is 90% shit talking.

God, this interview is just.... the answer to every question always ends with 2-3 sentences of him just bashing their old drummer. Ugh

Well, this bit:

I had a lot of friends there. I thought [Pink Pony] making fun of the protestors seemed stupid. I thought their music was stupid. I thought their attitude was wrong. And I just thought, "Why don't you just go out there and play your music, tell them you're sorry and play some cool music, and that would be what the festival is about?" And Pink Pony handled it badly. I agree with all that.

But she's still my friend who I'm not going to throw away. I'm not going to jump on and say, "Well, now that I realize that you handle social media badly, you can't be my friend." She's still my friend. She's young. And I think she's very sorry that it all happened, and that whatever she said exploded into this thing. I think there's a lot of regret. I left because I just didn't think it was very good. But then to hear that they were making fun of people, and people probably got too drunk, I thought it was bad.

But when Kliph apparently handles social media badly, out he goes.

He's not a 27 year old young girl..

RMDE. Wayne seems to have learned a lot from Amanda Palmer.

So the Native American protestors were upset that she was bad at using social media?

Didn't he post a pic of himself and his dog or something with headdresses?

Anyway, Wayne Coyne is not someone you look at and think that he is in any way a trustworthy person

Wayne Coyne is not someone you look at and think that he is in any way a trustworthy person

^otm

Apparently the dog is a famous Instagram dog whose schtick is to sport items of clothing associated with people or groups the owner respects. Ah so that's alright then...
Too little too late. Wayne acting the innocent over the headdress incident... even if he wasn't aware of the significance, the first thing he should have done after his pal being called out on it was to try and understand why people had a problem with it, not post a photo taunting his critics. Similar pattern to the Erykah Badu spat. She tells him to kiss her glittery ass, he posts a photo of his glittery lips. Real grown up! Yet he talks about young people who don't know any better. FFS, Christina Fallin is 27, not some daft teenager.

Has the band settled on a new drummer?
Well, there's two guys. I think we're going to use two different guys. Who is the guy that plays with Radiohead and Portishead?

oh jeez

"The only reason he knows anything about Native American issues is he's trying to join this group that I think their family is Native American. But I don't even want to speak about the hate, you know. I don't have any hate for him."

"...it just uses up this space that we could be talking bout this cool shit we're doing with Sean Lennon and My Morning Jacket and Miley Cyrus, and I don't want any of that tainted."

Yes, we wouldn't want that.

He knows we struggled with him for years and it didn't occur to us that it seemed that significant

The only world where this makes sense is a world where At War With the Mystics is a better album than Embryonic or The Terror. Fuck this, at least you could try and put on a good face and acknowledge the two albums you made w him were the best you had done in years. But yeah instead of trying to be the bigger man and be positive, this interview is 90% shit talking.

― ▴▲ ▴TH3CR()$BY$H()W▴▲ ▴ (Adam Bruneau), Friday, May 9, 2014 8:35 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

agreed- if you have to hire 2 drummers to replace your previous one, he was more than a little significant.

Kliph and others were upset that you Instagrammed the photo of your three friends and the dog in headdresses. Do you regret that now?

I regret that some people took it wrong, and yeah. The dog isn't our dog, the dog is a famous Instagram dog that we happened to be in the presence of – Mayor B is an Instagram dog. And he wears everything. He only wears things that obviously his owners must think are cool. One of them is a John Lennon New York shirt with glasses. I don't think Mayor B is saying, "Look how stupid and hateful I am" to John Lennon.

this fucking guy

blaming the dog, classic

I regret that some people took it wrong = yeah you and Rand Paul, dude.

the kicker:

I don't publicly ever say it, but I live in a neighborhood that was predominantly Native American in the late Seventies and Eighties. I haven't done it publicly, but there's cases of me helping Native Americans.

THERE'S CASES.

dogs: fully in control of what they wear

Yep, still sayin', "fuck this guy".

I'm sorry, I have to post this again because lol WOW lol

"I don't even like talking about our ex-drummer," he said, "because it just uses up this space that we could be talking bout this cool shit we're doing with Sean Lennon and My Morning Jacket and Miley [Cyrus], and I don't want any of that tainted."

god that shit sounds so cool

"I would say you shouldn't follow my tweets; you shouldn't even probably want to be a Flaming Lips fan because we don't really have any agenda. We go about doing things through our imagination. And I would say that if we wrongly stepped on anybody's sacredness, then we're sorry about that. That was never our intention."

wtf kind of clause is "if we wrongly stepped on anybody's sacredness"

small detail of the original thing that made me hate wayne even more was fucking over deerhoof to do a song w/ kesha

The dog isn't our dog, the dog is a famous Instagram dog

Like I think I've mentioned before, I wrote this dude off after the bullshit he pulled with the Badu video, and now every new thing he says or tweets just further proves how much of an asshole he really is. Kind of a shame, since the last two Flaming Lips albums were the best they've done since the 90s.

wait what happened with Deerhoof?

Kliph says they were doing a song with Deerhoof for that "& Friends" thing, but it got bumped off the tracklist to make room for the Kesha song.

wayne seems like a real great guy who doesn't hold grudges

can't resist display name

too slow

That dog is a scapegoat

DAMMIT xp

heh, through this shit storm I have been gratified to learn that our beloved Dero wrote last year that he's VERY LET DOWN by the last Flaming Lips album. It seems that dero has not been betrayed by such abject crass commercialism since REM's Monster. They're more like a corporation than a band, you see… (my bad if this covered in one of the many Dero's a hack threads)…

http://www.wbez.org/blogs/jim-derogatis/2013-04/flaming-lips-drop-depressing-and-dismal-dud-106616

when Neil starts talking about The Ship of the Imagination on Cosmos, Wayne Coyne stares blankly, not understanding that it isn't a real ship

Man I just can't understand any Flaming Lips fan that considers Embryonic the start of some kind of decline, considering the terrible shitshow that came before it.

I'll keep the comments loose and ambiguous, but I had a cameraman buddy shooting the Cassavattes' son's last big pic in OK, and Lips dude was in a scene. He told a few stories how this unwashed, leather jeans wearin' fool would constantly show up, days on end, when he had no bidness bein' there, and would proceed to undermine camera techniques 'cause he was a pro that had done a few movies himself. My buddy just wanted to throttle him so badly.

Honestly, I'd choose Kesha over Deerhoof, too.

Taken from a Reddit AMA:

GrimyLittlePimp 3 points 2 days ago
What was it like working with Kliph Scurlock?
And how do you feel about all that... unpleasantness?

permalinksavereportgive goldreply
GruffRhysVerified 3 points 2 days ago
Kliph is a genius! He's a great drummer, and the Flaming Lips a great band

I'll go with Gruff's take.

Man I just can't understand any Flaming Lips fan that considers Embryonic the start of some kind of decline, considering the terrible shitshow that came before it.

Most of their fans don't know any of the albums that came out prior to what, The Soft Bulletin? At War with the Mystics is like, they're favorite Flaming Lips record. They're usually 13-17 and also girls. Wayne can be seen posing with them regularly on Instagram...some might even be topless.

Oh yeah well girls what do they know about Flaming Lips albums.

I didn't mean it that way, but reading it back I sound terrible.

The Internet is hard.

Well then, feel free to clarify.

Wayne likes the ladies

that post was actually written by a famous Instagram dog

Wayne panders to teenage girls.

yah

And he seems to be using his art gallery to exploit pretty young girls.

that post was actually written by a famous Instagram dog

lols

What's with all the personal animosity toward Wayne here? I get that he might be an asshole – and he is clearly really, really pissed off in this article.

But unless I'm missing something, right now this seems like a lot of he-said/he said shit for people to be unloading on him the way they are.

idk didn't he just blame a dog for the fact that he was photographed wearing native headgear.

he said/dog said

he said/dog said

idk didn't he just blame a dog for the fact that he was photographed wearing native headgear.

I agree that going to RS is damage control – and poor damage control at that.

But "not a trustworthy person," "exploiting young girls" ... these are kind of serious accusations that seem to go beyond anger with him over this whole—weird—episode.

Again, maybe I'm lacking some important piece of context or evidence, but what makes Wayne such a dick?

I don't really know their music and read that interview because someone mailed me the link asking if i recognized certain behaviour , so I dont have any context or evidence. You say he sounds really pissed off in this article, but does that anger strike you as sincere, as in does he sound personally hurt or wounded by what has happened? To me he reads as someone who believes they are infallible and will not stand for any challenge to their perceived authority

"I regret that some people took it wrong"

by itself this doesnt always mean much, but its often a pretty big red flag for me, and in the context of this interview it says a lot. This is someone who is always right and will do whatever they want with no remorse or 2nd thought, and when they think they are caught out, will issue at best only this kind of non-apology that accepts no wrongdoing on their part

I dont know anything about this other than reading that interview (and havent even read the other guys thing), but that interview reads like the words of an incredibly manipulative person to me, but one that has misjudged how it will look on the page.

Obviously we can only judge for ourselves but i thought based solely on that interview showed a person I would be very wary about having in life. Does it matter, well not really for me, this type of music I never play!

I listened to half of The Terror yesterday. I found it pretty uninspired.

Clearly the ex-drummers fault.

this band used to be pretty cool, genuine love for much of it up through yoshimi, but ever since they turned into an erykah badu-baiting megaphone and beach ball day-glo coachella fodder act they've been pretty useless

Wayne Coyne comes across as kind of a dick really. It's probably partly because he's been happy to play the nice guy for the ten-plus years his band have had nothing but fawning critical goodwill, but the second he he's called out for doing something ill-advised or put under any kind of scrutiny he reacts incredibly badly.

people who have a happy go lucky good vibes public persona can never really keep it up forever, and the harder they try to maintain, the weirder it is when the veil drops. at some point shit is gonna get really ugly with Andrew W.K.

why is it gonna get really ugly with Andrew W.K.? the Steev Mike conspiracy has been floating around for years, but his reputation hasn't suffered too badly for it. "happy-go-lucky vibes dude turns out to be a manufactured popstar who doesn't party hard behind closed doors" is barely even newsworthy anymore, whereas "happy-go-lucky vibes dude turns out to be a vindictive, race-baiting asshole who steps all over his bandmates" is a justifiable cause for outrage. in Wayne's case people are calling him out because his behavior is malicious in a way that transcends simply failing to stay true to his public persona. I can't see Andrew WK coming under the same sort of fire unless it turns out he doesn't pay his songwriters or whatever; afaik none of the current accusations imply that he's done anything outright unethical.

I enjoy The Terror.

uh sorry unreg, comment rescinded i guess

When you read Kliph's Twitter, he just seems like some happy-go-lucky guy. I kind of used that as proof Wayne is full of shit, as that's pretty much his major argument against his old pal.

I would like to thank some dude and unregistered for the fantastic belly lol I just experienced

won't someone please think of Andrew WK?

Regardless of who said what, Wayne posted race-baiting photos of a dog in a head dress, ergo, he's an asshat.

We enjoy a good belly laugh

That is offensive to Buddha.

Joke. Coyne is an epic ass, and this whole chapter is coming at the toilet end of a well documented stream of missteps, mistakes, inappropriate stuff and a whole bunch of bs that has made the music seem an afterthought.

Are you describing their live show?

What's with all the personal animosity toward Wayne here? I get that he might be an asshole – and he is clearly really, really pissed off in this article.

My "personal animosity" started when he released that vido with the nude footage of the Badu sisters without their permission and, subsequently, completely came off like an entitled asshole during his "apology" in which he seemed completely blind as to why that might not have been an okay thing to do.

Remember when he posted a picture of glitter all over his lips after she told him to kiss her ass?

I nearly forgot that particular bit of class.

Did anyone have major complaints about Coyne before the Badu thing? Because either he was a dick all along and covered it up brilliantly, which makes me feel really uneasy, or he's taken a weird turn in the last couple of years, including the divorce and the coke habit. The recent behaviour is so out of step with how he previously came across that I don't know what to make of it.

can someone tell me what exactly happened with the badu thing

ehh ill just google it

My lone interaction with him came in the form of a random conversation before one of his shows and he was a REALLY nice guy, he approached me and I didn't realize he was the singer/guitarist of the FLips until about midway through our conversation. I must emphasize how nice and down to earth and charming he was...

But it was also 22 years ago, so there's that (plus I got off the bus around Zaireeka)

"Believe me, I was warned and knew that she was an unpredictable freak," says Coyne, who was on a plane when the online melee occurred and suspects that Badu's remarks were spurred by her fans' reaction to the clip. "A lot of the Erykah Badu audience does not know or give a shit or will ever care about the Flaming Lips. That's the side of it that she fights for," he explains. "I didn't take it serious. I took it as, she's being controversial. A lot of the things that were said I thought were just fun, and it was fun to play along with. That's the beauty of Twitter."

Wayne and Badu recorded "First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" for a collab album curated by Wayne. Wayne wanted to make a video for it that involved Erykah naked in a tub while fake blood and semen was poured over her. She demurred but said her sister would do it on condition that they would get a say in editing and final approval before it went out to the public. Wayne agreed, they shot the video, he edited it, Erykah didn't like it and exercised her veto, Wayne released it anyway, Erykah got pissy about it on Twitter, Wayne egged her on and crowed about the triumph of art while behaving like the whole thing was a fake controversy created to generate interest in the project, Erykah got even more pissy, Wayne pulled the video, Amanda Palmer popped up and said "hey, you can pour fake semen and blood on ME ME ME ME ME ME" and then that video was released and as far as I know no one cared anymore.

22 years of "worship" can do that to a bloke.

In 1989, touring to support the release of their third album, 'Telepathic Surgery', the Flaming Lips fell in with Jonathan Donahue, a young student who booked gigs for the university in Buffalo. 'We're a lot alike' reckons Wayne Coyne 'I'm not a drug-addled, self-destructive megalomaniac, though...I have a little megalo, but no maniac. But I think initially he liked us because we did things ourselves, we weren't helpless rock stars.

Nathan Roberts, who was the Lips' old drummer back in the day, posted a message of support on Kliph's Facebook:

Nathan Robertsposted to‎Kliph Scurlock
about an hour ago
"Take heart Kliph... Remember, he said the EXACT same thing about me...almost word for word."

It sounds like Wayne really likes trashing anyone who steps to him.

Did anyone have major complaints about Coyne before the Badu thing?

i remember thinking it was ~odd~ and slightly discomfiting that their live show onstage audience participation had shifted from a variety of fans in animal costumes to young women in nothing, though yeah that was relatively recent and seems an early marker in that shift we see now rather than something that's necessarily always been there. tho the other day a friend pointed out this quote about jonathan donahue from 1999 that doesn't sound like the kind of thing a pleasant good vibes guy would say: "'We're a lot alike,' reckons Wayne Coyne. 'I'm not a drug-addled, self-destructive megalomaniac, though... I have a little megalo, but no maniac'.""

ha, xp on that quote.

I'd be inclined to say it's a weird turn. I've seen all kinds of speculation for this - midlife crisis, death of his mother - but who knows. Apparently there's stuff in the Derogatis book suggesting he's always had a more ambitious and controlling side to him, but then band leaders often need to be like that and it doesn't necessarily make them assholes. Perhaps fame and life problems have brought that side out more.

helluva drug

xp He's always been more complicated than a pleasant good vibes guy and happy to admit it too. He has quite a tough moral streak which is why he laid into Beck and Arcade Fire years ago, and good luck to him when his targets are people treating crew and supporting musicians like shit BUT it's pretty grim when he turns on his own drummer. I know some people itt are sure that he is categorically a hateful human being but I find this genuinely puzzling. I've interviewed WC a few times, including some hanging around with him and the other guys, and it's hard to square those impressions with this current shitshow.

It's 100% possible to be charming and pleasant and still categorically be a hateful human being.

You must know more sociopaths than I do

I did go to an Ivy League school, so...

rivers cuomo really hurt you, huh?

He always had a good rep, but current Evil Wayne turn seemed to coincide with him leaving his wife, which in turn coincided with tales of him macking on young fans.

Which also coincided with the real fame whore stunts and truly ott silliness.

like i said

real fame whore stunts

they've done this stuff since day one

aren't most people into psychedelia also assholes? isn't that the point of the michael cera movie with the cactus?

lol

I'd agree with what DL said a few posts back. He's utterly charming in the Fearless Freaks documentary, but it still gives a good sense of a more complex personality. I always respected him for calling out rock star bullshit as you mention. I interviewed him for tQ three years back and he was really charming and open. He quite happily chatted away on the phone for an hour and a half, which is pretty generous. When I subsequently met him after the Ally Pally show he was really friendly and gave me a hug. There was perhaps the sense he was 'meeting his public', but he seemed genuine enough. As a long term fan who has always responded to his good vibes, it's been pretty disheartening to watch all this shit unfold.

As for the stunts... well, they've always had big ideas, which the less generous could dismiss as gimmicks, but I think there's a distinction between projects like Zaireeka and the car park jams, which are artistically valid, inventive and fun, and the stunts of the past couple of years, where it seems that he's become addicted to doing one wacky stunt after another. As a result, the two good records they've made (Embryonic and The Terror) have been buried in the sparkly neon avalanche. I don't actually object to them working with Miley - anything to wind up rockists - but it's all too much.

I was thinking more of guesting on 90210 (silly bid for attention) than Zaireeka (genuinely interesting work that doubles as stunt)

Aw but the 90210 thing is hilarious.

I too thought it was funny at the time. It's still an obvious fame-whore stunt.

that is kind of a mean-spirited and weird way to look at it

perhaps that sounds a bit harsh - I just meant that the motivation to go onto 90210 looks essentially like the same motivation to record with Miley Cyrus, ie "aren't we WACKY to be associating with this mainstream goofiness? It's going to be so fun and crazy and unpredictable!" Which, okay, that's what he wants to do. At a certain point (ie 30 years on) the juxtaposition isn't quite as entertaining, to me, as it maybe once was.

The 90210 thing is soooo different from what he's doing now. Different time, different goal, different context. It was a novelty not the norm.

he's made it the norm by virtue of necessity - how else do bands stay in the spotlight in the current media climate

and he's made it the norm by pursuing that tactic for 30 years

aren't most people into psychedelia also assholes? isn't that the point of the michael cera movie with the cactus?

― the glimmer man (Sufjan Grafton), Monday, May 12, 2014 12:42 PM (34 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah, otm. Psychedelic people tend to put a religious emphasis on their drug experiences, which is fine if you want to unwind once in a while but if you do that constantly then you just keep getting more and more self-absorbed the longer your addiction lasts.

Growing up loving the Lips Clouds/Zaireeka era in all the old interviews he kept stating he doesn't do drugs but good for people that do, but restating that personally he doesn't do drugs. It wasn't a huge focus of their act. Feel like it's a big part of the band brand nowadays. First Miley collab pic was not her singing or them working on music but her rolling a joint. When he was working w Kesha he kept hammering on about how cool she was because she does acid. Etc. Saw an interview last night where someone asked him about a collab and what brought them together and he just said "Well, they do a lot of drugs, so they must like us".

Someone upthread mentioned coke(???). I had no idea about this. It would certainly explain asshole behavior.

I've known a few assholes, all of them have a particularly charming side.

it does not mean they are not sincere when they are being charming

it means, etc

Is it really that unusual for music journalists to encounter engaging, entertaining, charismatic people who are also capable of being gigantic assholes when they turn off the charm? This is a personality trait you run into in classical and opera constantly; given the various stories I've heard about a number of famous pop/rock musicians, I assumed the trait carried over to that arena as well.

so in summary: gross disrespect for women, defies contractual agreements, blames racism on dog.

no racism is the name of his dog

Someone upthread mentioned coke(???). I had no idea about this. It would certainly explain asshole behavior.

He's definitely tweeted/instagramed a few pictures of coke in the studio, I specifically recall one with Kesha with a bunch of lines laid out on table in the studio.

xp Give journalists a little more credit, DJP. When someone's charming you probe the charm. You work out if it's just diverting patter or if they're willing to be candid and self-critical. You look for little cracks in the charm that suggest something less pleasant. You look at how they interact with other people, whether they've had the same bandmates, mgmt, crew, etc for years, what their general reputation is. That's why I'm surprised. This kind of disconnect really is unusual.

I started writing a bunch of irrelevant nonsense that doesn't really belong on this thread, but yeah I have dealt with several (would-be, perceived and actual) sociopaths in my life and Wayne Coyne's behavior doesn't shock me, nor his ability to be massively charming to the right people.

you're fooled until you're not

Would totally read a DJP thread about megalomaniac opera/classical musicians.

I didnt see it before, therefore it wasnt there, and now that i see it, it must be that they've changed - otherwise I would have spotted it before.

obligatory morbs obama zing

As I say, DL, they can be totally sincere with the charm, there's nothing to see-through, it can all be for real...

Anyway, I've said "They" enough now..

I have met a few of those people in the opera world too, and more of them are coke heads than you might think -- at least in Europe.

i have definitely interviewed some VERY charming actors and then heard horror stories from the publicists.

not the same thing at all (unless......??????) but i've read a lot of stories abt the lost prophets dude and how incredibly charming and "gracious" he was.

well, quite.

Next up...

very bad people can be very charming. in fact this is how they often get away with and are able to be even badder.

exactly.

We all like to think of ourselves as "good judges of character" and so on...

I feel like we've gotten a little too serious, can we go back to unregistered's takedown of some dude's Andrew WK joke?

I've never fully understood the whole Steev Mike thing.

or why anyone would care about it so deeply so as to produce these nutty time-cube like exposes

Someone upthread mentioned coke(???). I had no idea about this. It would certainly explain asshole behavior.

― ▴▲ ▴TH3CR()$BY$H()W▴▲ ▴ (Adam Bruneau), Monday, 12 May 2014 17:23 (3 hours ago) Permalink

From an interview with The Quietus last year:

I wanted to talk about your drug experiences while recording The Terror – were you sort-of inflicting brain damage on yourself?

WC: I only take MDMA and coke and stuff. I've only done acid a few times, but these drugs are like the recreational fun drugs. That's what I call them. I'm not doing them in any soul-searching way. Even mushrooms, I'm like [high voice] "ah, it's fun, we're awake and we're having fun!" Never "I need to go inside myself and discover". There are drugs that let you relax, there are drugs that let your mind not be whatever it is that's torturing you for a while, and sometimes when you wake up you have a different perspective. "Why did I worry about that so much?" That, for me, is the beauty of those sorts of drugs. Your mind that can't escape itself, drugs allow it to be not so intense.

I'm like [high voice] "ah, it's fun, we're awake and we're having fun!"

http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20121217060553/simpsons/images/4/49/Mr_Burns_needle.png

Oh no, MDMA, it's even worse than i thought :(

STEREOGUM: I noticed at festivals Diplo has started running around in a bubble much like yours, and I was wondering if you had any thoughts on that.

COYNE: Well, I don’t have that many thoughts on it. We played a show with Diplo in Costa Rica about two years ago, and we all hung out together. And we went and explored some forest together and got drunk together and did some cocaine together and talked about music and live shows and all this and hung out with his people from his Major Lazer ensemble and stuff. And we talked about, literally, the space bubble and lasers and confetti. And I had a feeling, not in a bad way, but I just had a feeling. He was like, “Man, I gotta do some shit that isn’t just me standing there behind the record player.” And I was kind of — not because it was bad — I was kind of wanting to stop doing the space bubble anyway.

so basically everyone hates Diplo

He's definitely tweeted/instagramed a few pictures of coke in the studio, I specifically recall one with Kesha with a bunch of lines laid out on table in the studio.

― djenter the dragon? (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Monday, May 12, 2014 6:20 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

That was this story

In what can only been seen as an effort to work with someone even less-talented than Yoko Ono, Wayne Coyne and the Flaming Lips were in Nashville over the weekend recording some music with Ke$ha. We know this because Wayne Coyne sent out several tweets about it.

Being a good judge of character, I say this journo is an asshole.

Yeah, I linked that more for the pics rather than the writing.

A rolled up single?

http://www.ntwha.com/episode-063-kliph-scurlock/

This is a pretty interesting listen. He sounds pretty chill for a hatefilled hater hating guy.

wayne coyne seems like one intensely passive aggressive dude

Thanks for linking that story Turrican, I'm at work and didn't really want to try googling for it. But I somehow missed Kesha's dumb-ass follow-up tweet when I first heard about it.

Kliph sounds like a really good guy on that podcast and I know from personal experience that he's a really nice guy online. Never met or spoke with Wayne...

xp: Yeah, I had some of that googling guilt in response to this thread.

lmao @ tweeting ke$ha's coke

irl lols at Ke$ha's response

Unsurprisingly, the protesters are unsatisfied with his half-apology

This has a lot of the FB conversations between Pink Pony and the protestors that got Kliph riled up in the first place. The responses were tone-deaf and unbearably smug:

http://www.thelostogle.com/2014/03/07/christina-fallin-appreciates-native-american-culture-and-other-beautiful-things/

Wayne and Badu recorded "First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" for a collab album curated by Wayne. Wayne wanted to make a video for it that involved Erykah naked in a tub while fake blood and semen was poured over her. She demurred but said her sister would do it on condition that they would get a say in editing and final approval before it went out to the public. Wayne agreed, they shot the video, he edited it, Erykah didn't like it and exercised her veto, Wayne released it anyway, Erykah got pissy about it on Twitter, Wayne egged her on and crowed about the triumph of art while behaving like the whole thing was a fake controversy created to generate interest in the project, Erykah got even more pissy, Wayne pulled the video, Amanda Palmer popped up and said "hey, you can pour fake semen and blood on ME ME ME ME ME ME" and then that video was released and as far as I know no one cared anymore.

― chillin' on an "awesome pretzel" hoagie (DJP), Monday, May 12, 2014 11:53 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I watched the Palmer version this morning*. She was nude in a tub, but was not given blood and semen treatment.

*the fucking internet wormholes I go down as an ilxor, I swear to christ.

This whole thing feels so puffed up and manufactured to me – from Fallin (who I had never heard of before) and her "you don't know what's in my heart" response, to the legions of protesters up in arms about this nobody, to Kliph's internet crusade, to Wayne's rambling RS interview.

It's not that what Fallin did wasn't offensive – but that it was so easily and obviously offensive that it doesn't actually seem like it comes from a place of ignorance as much as old school shock value.

Which makes the outrage around all this seem just as manufactured as as controversy on a college campus – no one is actually hurt by any of it but everyone feels better about themselves for having spoken up about it.

we should definitely only get outraged by sophisticated and subtle racism

No doubt Fallin was aiming for publicity with her racist antics, but the response from the OK Native community and their allies is perfectly valid. Casual racism like this DOES hurt people. Coyne has attempted to distance himself from Fallin to an extent, but so far he's failed to really examine his own actions and understand why the offence was caused. Typical refusal to acknowledge his privilege.
I don't think he's a sociopath who has been pretending to be a nice guy. I'm sure he is, or at least was, a good guy overall, but a combination of factors, including cocaine and a bad hipster crowd, seem to have brought out the worst in him. I can only hope he comes to his senses.

I think Kliph's Internet crusade was forced out of him. There were at least half a dozen stories circulating the net about his being fired from the band and he finally typed up his little (big) statement on his personal Facebook. I doubt he expected to attract the kind of attention that he did. He's not exactly a high profile musician.

yeah Kliph was out of the band for like a month before he said anything.

Fallin is the daughter of the governor of Oklahoma don't think she qualifies as a "nobody"

Which makes the outrage around all this seem just as manufactured as as controversy on a college campus – no one is actually hurt by any of it but everyone feels better about themselves for having spoken up about it.

― Naive Teen Idol, Tuesday, May 13, 2014 5:14 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

come on

I think a better way to put it is that relatively speaking, the original sin was not such an unforgivable offense that had the parties involved acknowledged the aggrieved party's feelings and actually apologized, yeah, it probably would have blown over immediately. But no, Coyne had to be a dick, fire someone, stand up for the wrong friend and otherwise fan the flames, making everything so much worse.

Also re: manufactured outrage, OK has a substantial Native American population (8.6 percent of the state), 4th highest by percentage in the US. That (plus the aforementioned fact that Fallin is the governor's daughter) is pretty relevant.

http://m.pitchfork.com/news/55155-fired-flaming-lips-drummer-kliph-scurlock-apologizes-for-controversy-says-wayne-coyne-not-racist/

LOL Pitchfork, that's from last week

True

Now we have

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BnhXk1wIMAEtqCI.jpg:large

and

http://consequenceofsound.net/2014/05/miley-cyrus-to-write-and-record-new-album-with-the-flaming-lips/

f you thought Wayne Coyne’s obsession with Miley Cyrus was just a fad, I have bad news for you: in a new interview with Rolling Stone, Cyrus revealed that she and The Flaming Lips are writing songs together for her next album. Not only that, but she expects the band to join her in the studio once she wraps up her Bangerz tour.

“On my last record, everything we did was with computers,” she told Rolling Stone. “But they’re real musicians – they can change keys on a whim. I’ve never seen anything like it. They’ve had me on this journey that’s greater than anything I’ve been on. It’s really deep.”

Cyrus and the Lips have already shared the stage not once, but twice. She also sings on two tracks off The Lips’ upcoming Sgt. Pepper’s covers album in “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” and “A Day in the Life”.

In the interview, Cyrus also noted how she and the band have went clubbing, got tattoos on their lips, and even attended a 2 Chainz show together. She also credited Coyne for teaching her how to sing into sadness. “Because I would’ve felt like I can’t keep smiling, and I can’t, like, go dance on this gold car, and act like I’m happy when I’m fucking not.”

TBH...I'd check it out.

yeah the 1995 me is probably disgusted by how the 2014 me is not appalled by this.

will probably suck though.

honestly I'm more into Wrecking Ball than I am the Lips' new shit. they used to be great though.

I checked out their Kesha/Ke$ha(?) collaboration and it sounded surprisingly ok. I liked it way more than I liked the Neon Indian one.

Flips + Miley makes total sense really. Both of them try too hard to be "weird", all too happy to perform racially questionable stunts, they like to "party", Wayne's horny and single, Miley's horny and single I mean it really all adds up.

But they’re real musicians – they can change keys on a whim

tbh this depresses me more than anything else in the article

Miley's also going to quickly tire of her relationship with Wayne, leading to The Terror Pt. II.

I think a better way to put it is that relatively speaking, the original sin was not such an unforgivable offense that had the parties involved acknowledged the aggrieved party's feelings and actually apologized, yeah, it probably would have blown over immediately.

Yes – and I should probably have said "seriously hurt." Unless I'm missing something she said in the 8M Facebook threads and tweets about this, in the scheme of things wearing a sacred headdress because you think it looks cool is more cultural insensitivity than RACISM (related, both bad, but not the same). And I also agree that her position as the guv's daughter and being in OK adds to the insensitivity quotient.

Generally I'd say that even if you think Wayne went too long with his Disney science teacher routine following TSB (debatable but defensible) there's pretty much no other band currently going that has been able to stay as consistently relevant and productive for as long as the Lips have. A big part of their ability to do that is that they've taken a lot of weird twists and turns (garage experiments, pop culture moments like Microsoft ads and 90210). They don't always work but their refusal to be predictable is undeniably central to what makes them interesting as artists. Even more extraordinarily, they have rarely treaded into being an outright self-parody.

Point is, doing that kind of thing for 30 years in the public eye requires a certain amount of showmanship, risk and arrogance (and pure talent), and sometimes those ventures will pay off...and sometimes they will crash and burn.

Clearly a big piece of Wayne's persona in today's media culture is curated through social media – which just has had the effect of making his spiel more of a high wire act than it already was. Collaborations are more off the wall, media stunts are more outrageous and more personal. And that can cut both ways. All of which makes me think that one output of all this may be another left turn away from all this.

Regardless, that RS article seems to suggest he could stand to bone up on his print media skills tout suite.

interesting perspective, Naive Teen Idol

My only takeaway from that Kliph apology -- people still by records?

buckaroo banzai was miley cyrus' pappy???

http://pitchfork.com/news/55204-watch-the-flaming-lips-and-miley-cyrus-cover-the-beatles-lucy-in-the-sky-with-diamonds/

*scream*

*queefs*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJQucJaN8Qo

*shriek*

I was there last night. It was not good. The rest of the show, however, was spectacular.

Is the arrangement different than the one they did w Sean Lennon a month or so ago? There's no way I am watching that.

Many years ago they did "Can't get you out of my head" with Beth Orton.

It was interesting.

That I'd like to hear/see.

In other news, I just listened to Heady Fwends for the first time and "Ashes in the Air" is fucking awesome.

US rockers The Flaming Lips are to release their own version the Beatles' Sgt Pepper album in October

The track-for-track tribute will be named With A Little Help From My Fwends, frontman Wayne Coyne told Rolling Stone magazine.

It will feature collaborations with singers such as Miley Cyrus and Moby.

"Fwends" fucking hell lad, sort it out

disgusting

He looks really fucking creepy these days.

starting to wonder if that Virgin Mobile ad he did was an acknowledgment that he's actually slowly turning into Richard Branson

uh this "Fwends" shit. Coming right after him slandering his ex-drummer from his perch in RS is just another layer of gross. He really sounds like every hippie asshole who has done so many drugs they think their own shit doesn't stink (but don't mind judging others as 'hateful').

Was there a precise moment where Wayne Coyne became a dickhead or did it happen really slowly

It's been pretty fast. There was him bad-mouthing the Arcade Fire and stuff like that, but he really seemed to lose goodwill when he left his wife and was purportedly seen macking on young fans.

One thing I like about Coyne's version of this scandal is that everyone was stupid but him: Scurlock, Fallin, the other members of Pink Pony, the protesters, people who were offended by his bold use of imagination, etc.. They're all idiots who either don't know how to use social media or are oversensitive or are misrepresenting his lack of ideology or making him responsible for the actions of a famous Instagram dog, etc.

And then the rest of his band doesn't care as long as they keep getting those fat paychecks.

I'd love to hear Drozd and Wayne talk to each other.

Struggling to think of someone i used to like who rubs me up the wrong way to such an extent as this guy

kliph's account of the firing struck a huge blow against my admiration of Coyne, but what killed it was going to his Twitter account and reading through all these tweets about sex parties with stoned 20yrold girls.

Yeah I had to unfollow him and the official Lips twitter about 18 months to 2 years ago when they both started making me feel super gross.

I'd love to hear Drozd and Wayne talk to each other.

― afriendlypioneer, Friday, May 16, 2014 1:21 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i felt bad for dude when that last album came out and Coyne told the press that Drozd had been suicidal when they made it and Drozd had to clarify in interviews that he totally wasn't and seemed really burnt out about doing things like "that fucking 24-hour song"

http://consequenceofsound.net/2013/04/interview-steven-drozd-of-the-flaming-lips/

Wow I'm guessing COS lost some formatting with their redesign, that's really annoying to read with no distinguishing between the author's questions and Drozd's actual responses.

kliph's account of the firing struck a huge blow against my admiration of Coyne, but what killed it was going to his Twitter account and reading through all these tweets about sex parties with stoned 20yrold girls.

― sean gramophone, Friday, May 16, 2014 3:33 PM (22 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

jesus really?

well, yeah

One thing I like about Coyne's version of this scandal is that everyone was stupid but him: Scurlock, Fallin, the other members of Pink Pony, the protesters, people who were offended by his bold use of imagination, etc.. They're all idiots who either don't know how to use social media or are oversensitive or are misrepresenting his lack of ideology or making him responsible for the actions of a famous Instagram dog, etc.

― intheblanks, Friday, May 16, 2014 5:21 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

It's all a bit rich coming from someone who managed to lock down Oklahoma airport by trying to pass through security with a grenade in his suitcase. I mean, how fucking stupid is it possible to get?

kliph's account of the firing struck a huge blow against my admiration of Coyne, but what killed it was going to his Twitter account and reading through all these tweets about sex parties with stoned 20yrold girls.

― sean gramophone, Friday, May 16, 2014 3:33 PM (22 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

jesus really?

― socki (s1ocki), Friday, May 16, 2014 7:56 PM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yup, really.

fwiw i've always assumed people in bands as famous as the flaming lips do shit like that all the time. rock stars do some weird shit.

https://twitter.com/search?f=realtime&q=wayne%20coyne&src=typd

the miley fan base hate for wayne is getting even more hateful than the hate wayne was getting last week

wow people are really mad that "made Miley into an LSD addict"

woah

thank you for that

holy shit!

c'mon guys LSD is maybe a couple times a year type thing

"LEAVE MILEY ALONE!"

kliph needs to emerge and lead the cult of miley

i think some part of me forgot that miley actually has a huge teenage fanbase and doesn't just exist in this weird internet vaccuum

Okay, it's not like Miley didn't have previous "form" regarding drugs, but...

also i don't have much of an opinion on wanye coyne in general but "the terror" is pretty fucking good! just listening to it know for the first time.

Coyne's probably reading half of this stuff thinking "oh my god, you're just a bunch of fucking hater punks, y'all should use social media properly"

no such thing as bad publicity #allI'mSayin

don henley meets dan snyder

Well, not gonna take it.

Re the 'shit don't stink' thing..

I remember an interview about 2 years ago where he described his white suit and how he never washes it on tour but it's ok because even though he sweats loads apparently does not smell at all.

O RLLY?

he's a fruitarian

fruitarian sweat doesn't smell bad

Yeesh

Miley Cyrus News ‏@MileyUncensored 11m

I am sorry but I don't like Wayne Coyne or the influence he is having on Miley. LSD can kill, what if she overdoses

#DeathToWayneCoyne ‏@MileySlayAlot 15m

@waynecoyne Fucking kill yourself you piece of fucking worthless trash you're nothing but dirt on the ground I hope you hang yourself

#SuckMYdICTIONARY ‏@MilesBiew 47m

@waynecoyne Youre an Evil, Sexist, Ugly, Nasty-ass Pedophile! You deserve to rot in HELL!!

it's almost like they read this thread

popcorn.gif

Those folks really don't know how to use social media. Oh wait they do.

Wait till they find out he sacked Kliph

Queen Mess ‏@PopeMiley 2m

@waynecoyne You need to get away from Miley. You're going to ruin her like you almost ruined kesha. Stay away from young people in general

I love how 50 is "really old" to these folks.

There is no 'almost' in the ruination of Kei$ha.

Mariana ‏@constanceftw 8m

@mileyarmy having @waynecoyne in her life it's her decision. let's move on from the phase of thinking she's ours to control

dirty hippie ‏@joecyrus123 7m

I just think @waynecoyne should leave @MileyCyrus the hell alone because miley doesn't need no LSD shit to have fun FFS

LSD shit

#DeathToWayneCoyne ‏@MileySlayAlot 34m

@waynecoyne I hope you get so fucked up on LSD that you end up falling down several flights of stairs and then break every limb in your body

can you imagine the reaction if miley was getting that sort of tweet from flaming lips fans?

I love how 50 is "really old" to these folks.

― afriendlypioneer, Friday, May 16, 2014 6:24 PM

I'm 45 and I agree...45-50 is "really old".

I'm 41 and agree 45+ is "really old"

kliph's account of the firing struck a huge blow against my admiration of Coyne, but what killed it was going to his Twitter account and reading through all these tweets about sex parties with stoned 20yrold girls.

― sean gramophone, Friday, May 16, 2014 3:33 PM (22 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

jesus really?

― socki (s1ocki), Friday, May 16, 2014 1:56 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

isnt this m/l the only reason why anyone pursues a career in rockstardom

@waynecoyne I hope you get so fucked up on LDS that you end up falling out a window and then shot by an angry mob

Pretty sure that tweet was meant for Mitt Romney.

I'm 41 and agree 45+ is "really old"

― ۩, Friday, May 16, 2014 6:32 PM

I didn't feel old at 41 but it was 44 where I started to really feel it....not physically, just like, seeing the end for the first time as a very real thing. Have fun!

All the creepy people on twitter just need to pretend to be a teenage girl and they can get away with saying anything about pop stars.

you should try that

i leave that to the dave the bricklayers of the world

lol

also i don't have much of an opinion on wanye coyne in general but

Damn your eyes now this is how I'm going to pronounce his last name for the rest of my life :/

lol

Oh wait weird I totally read it as being Conye

Kanye West

Wanye Coyne

Exactly

Wanye Conye sounds like a good s/n

Coyne for President 2012

Bitcoyne

Wanye Manor

I love how 50 is "really old" to these folks.

― afriendlypioneer, Friday, May 16, 2014

______________________________

I'm 45 and I agree...45-50 is "really old".

― Iago Galdston, Friday, May 16, 2014

______________________________

I'm 41 and agree 45+ is "really old"

― ۩, Friday, May 16, 2014

i'm 46 and i feel like 45+ is time for denny's™ senior specials and drunken, angry grumbling about "kids today."

IT'S WAYNE (COYNE)'S WORLD! WAYNE (COYNE)'S WORLD! PARTY TIME! *SNIIIIIIIIIIIIIFFFF* EXCELLENT!!!

isnt this m/l the only reason why anyone pursues a career in rockstardom

― write 500 words of song (sleepingbag), Friday, May 16, 2014 6:32 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ya but tweeting about it smh

otm

wayne coyne introducing miley cyrus to lsd is the new bob dylan introducing the beatles to weed

think i decided conye was irredeemable c the badu video business. haven't look back, and what i catch peripheral isn't pretty.

but yeah go old dude yay w/e

http://i.imgur.com/RhApKFw.png

lol the flaming lips

“But they’re real musicians – they can change keys on a whim. I’ve never seen anything like it."

this is just spectacular

I'd like to think MC's banks of programmed safety backups feature all her songs in several different keys, so that on a moment's notice her band knows which version to queue up.

"OK, we're doing 'Wrecking Ball."

"In D minor?"

"No, let's shake it up a bit tonight. Follow my lead, boys!"

lol the flaming lips

― brimstead, Friday, May 16, 2014 10:28 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

otm

what does m/l mean

teen text code for "mom looking"

does that mean miley is 1. married 2. preggers?????

yes and yes

Countdown to Wayne involvement in...

https://www.yahoo.com/celebrity/blogs/celeb-news/khloe-kardashian-becomes-latest-celeb-slammed-for-wearing-native-american-headdress-155456158.html

I knew we knew about this but seriously this is just the most horrible thing to read:

"Flaming Lips Finalize Sgt. Pepper Tribute With Miley Cyrus, My Morning Jacket, MGMT, Foxygen, More"

Finalize, like a finality suggesting no one will ever be able to listen to those songs without thinking of Wayne Coyne's spacejizz all over it

Last couple of albums have been great, but Wayne Coyne both personally and professionally has made it easier than ever this past year or so to never want to see or hear his band ever again.

Why so, Josh?

Seriously? Oh, maybe you misread "personally" as me personally. No, I just meant him as a person and him as a music professional. That headdress thing, rumors of his groupie hunting, all the silly stunts, musical or otherwise, the very notion that he has even covered both "Dark Side of the Moon" and "Sgt. Pepper." Etc. It's all kind of like your favorite Looney Tunes characters being voiced by new, not quite right actors.

didn't beck shit out one of these a month for a while

Beck did them as free live-in-studio videos, not ltd-edn expensive LPs

sucker

the Oar one is really good imo

Recall the drummer of the Oar one is that rad session guy who played with Bill Withers, etc.

James Gadson?

I've not really followed Coyne enough to detect anything to dislike about him as a person, Josh, so was intrigued - thought I might have missed something major.

I don't give a toss what WC's personality is like; I just wanted to kick the band in the face after I heard Yoshimi.

djh - Coyne also pulled a really shitty stunt with the video that featured Erykah Badu and her sister naked, he released the video without her permission and tried to justify it with a really shitty "apology" that just made the whole thing worse.

And then there was his friendship with the right wing OK gov's daughter and his totally shitty defense of her appropriation of Native American tradition in the most asshole of fashions (in every sense). And then the totally shitty way he fired their drummer.

And yeah,Yoshimi was pretty lame, too.

how did I miss this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbujal3IcZM

Weird thing is that many many people loved Yoshimi when it came out. I always found it a bit too precious.

Well, there was the "New Jersey" principle in effect, for sure. I recall plenty of people agreeing with you, though, esp. following "Soft Bulletin."

I don't have either record now, but I liked Yoshimi better than Soft Bulletin at the time.

xpost Bon Jovi "New Jersey"?

BEST/MOST "BON JOVI'S NEW JERSEY" ALBUM EVER

the very notion that he has even covered both "Dark Side of the Moon" and "Sgt. Pepper." Etc. It's all kind of like your favorite Looney Tunes characters being voiced by new, not quite right actors.

― Josh in Chicago

Of all the cover albums i've listened too, their reinterpretations of these classic albums are different enough that i actually find them pretty refreshing. DSotM was ruined for me and i doubt i've listened to it all the way through in 20 years, however, the Lips version i've actually listened to several times. BTW, they've also done a cover of the Stone Roses debut that, again, is different enough from the original to merit multiple listens (and i think the original is just about perfection).

Also, ITCOCK

http://thetalkhouse.com/music/talks/charlotte-church-talks-the-flaming-lips-with-a-little-help-from-my-fwends/

Boom!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WV6XLTM5PdU

It's hard to believe I still like a few of their albums.

I got as far as 'I read the news today oh boy' and couldn't do it. I don't think I've gone from liking a band to never wanting to hear them again so quickly... and I even thought the 6 hour track had merit. I guess Wayne's shenanigans (which I only knew about from this thread) really turned me off.

he's like an alternate reality marc bolan where he lived and really got into styx

I liked Miley's interpretation of Paul's bit.

Mainly by virtue of it being an interpretation rather than a tired bar-band retread like the Flaming Lips portions of the song.

The Flaming Lips have become a really bad band. Going to stop giving Drozd the benefit of the doubt. He went down with the ship.

One thing I quickly discovered after watching that is that Flaming Lips CD's actually make very good frisbees.

I mean, seriously, can anyone please tell me what the fucking point of this is?

the money goes to an oklahoma veterinary charity and the publicity goes to the flaming lips

also wayne coyne used to go to parking lots, give 40 car drivers 40 cassettes and "conduct." this isn't a pragmatic individual.

I have a suspicion all the charity money will go to purchasing headdresses for all the animals in veterinary care.

Charlotte Church:

So what purpose does this record serve? Even the Crazy Frog had the purpose of earning its creators huge wads of cash. By pledging the profits of this record to an Oklahoma City animal charity, Flaming Lips have decided not to raise awareness for a universal concern, and as laudable as it is to be supporting any charity, it does seem like another missed opportunity. It does not satirise or pastiche, it offers nothing new that hasn’t been employed to greater effect on previous Flaming Lips records. It is no accomplishment at all, as far as I can see. There is no thought and no purpose. What the shitting hell is the point of this record?

http://images.publicradio.org/content/2008/12/15/20081215_wayne_coyne_mars_33.jpg

hello my name is wayne ask me about my point

also wayne coyne used to go to parking lots, give 40 car drivers 40 cassettes and "conduct." this isn't a pragmatic individual.

― da croupier, Friday, November 7, 2014 8:56 PM (41 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah, but that's a far more interesting idea.

that's like...your opinion man

Church OTM, too.

the point is that wayne chases beauty, and some people think wearing a billowy cape while singing beatle songs with miley cyrus is beautiful

besides the fucker already covered dark side of the moon and the stone roses' first album, everybody needs get their eyes out of the hatorade bottle and catch up

Yes, two more equally pointless exercises.

your mistake is assuming the emperor doesn't realize he's naked

he's like an alternate reality marc bolan where he lived and really got into styx

This sounds absolutely amazing btw

One thing that annoys me is that Embroyonic was such a great album that really got me excited about them again after Mystics was so underwhelming. I thought The Terror was almost as good but feel like it totally got lost amongst all these other pointless albums. If it had been the only release they put out after Embroyonic it might have got the attention it deserved. I'll never write them off but with these albums and Wayne's general attitude these days it's a crap time to be a Flaming Lips fan.

I loved Embryonic but never got around to the Terror. Now that I've heard all this inbetween I'm irritated enough by Coyne to not want to bother.

Clouds taste shite

Coyne looking increasingly like wizzard-era roy wood

If only they sounded anything like Wizzard. I'd be all over them.

lol

me too (xpost)

Appropo of nothing, the 5.1 surround mixes of Yoshimi and AWWTM are really good.

Also, listening to 7 Skies H3, the 50 minute edit of their 24 hour song. It's pretty good, mostly instrumental so far. Some great great kettle drum choir stuff banging away. It sounds a little like "The Gash" extended.

Loving the two new singles (especially "The Castle"). The Flaming Lips are classic n' Wayne is such a nice dude.

I thought it was well known around the net that the dude is a delusional, creepy pervert and not very nice.

^ There's those stories, yeah. I met Wayne around the time Yoshimi came out and he was one of the nicest musicians. Perhaps that's changed, don't know.

Haven't heard a good horrible Wayne Coyne story in a while, actually.

Just checked and the headress fiasco was two years ago.

Probably because they've been busy making a new record!

I heard one of the new songs. It doesn't have drums, and it isn't good.

After an initial listen through of the new record I am struck at just how bad it is. Aimless and middling. Keyboard based but without the eerie tension that makes The Terror so interesting. It's almost like they have been so enamored with re-making other bands music that they have forgotten how to craft their own songs. There is a real paucity of ideas here. Doesn't bode well for the upcoming tour.

Haven't heard the album yet but the two singles go absolutely nowhere. This is probably the least excited I've been about one of their albums (not counting the covers albums) since I got into them 18 years ago.

http://consequenceofsound.net/2017/01/dissected-every-flaming-lips-album-with-guest-commentary-from-wayne-coyne/

Interesting to read Wayne's thoughts here.

cool interview. too bad they didn't get Wayne's Words on "Hit to Death".

is "The Terror" album cover really that bad? it looks like a blown-up JPG full of artifacts. this was a big reason i didn't buy it, i think even the vinyl release looked like that. yuck.

imo the new album cover looks like something one of their interns whipped up one afternoon in Illustrator. not really excited about the new stuff.

fwiw, I think the cover art on "The Terror" suits the music perfectly.

I

Oops

** Is the "Terror" worth another re-listen? Heard it when it came out and liked it, but it seemed too bleak for my current mental state at that time.

i thought it was great when it came out, havent re-listened yet tho

I loved The Terror when it came out and played it a decent amount. I went back to it last year for the first time since around the time it came out, but I don't think I was quite in the mood for it. It's a tough listen if you're not in the right mood.

I just checked and I called The Terror a masterpiece on this thread when it came out. It is definitely not a masterpiece.

I think it's pretty successful at creating that sort of stark and hopeless feeling that the band, I think, was aiming for. And it manages to stay engaging for its entirety. While certainly not a masterpiece, I think it's a more than worthwhile listen. Although I can say that o don't think I've ever spun it in the daylight. It's best late at night.

I think The Terror is close to a masterpiece. You definitely have to be in the right frame of mind to appreciate it - things weren't going very well for me at the time and it was definitely the perfect accompaniment.

Haven't heard the new album yet but of the first three tracks only "How?" really warrants additional listens. Not looking forward to the rest.

i hadn't cared about anything flaming lips-related since the soft bulletin and i loved the terror when it came out

i dug embryonic a lot but haven't revisited it since '09 or '10. terror sounded cool too but i found it hard to care

listened to this 2 times today. where are the fucking drums?

forgettable as hell. a bunch of keyboard songs that all sound the same and bleed into each other. the most psychedelic thing about this record is flipping on the echo whenever someone says the word "high"

The thing about The Terror is it so successfully conveys a mood or state of mind which it doesn't waver from, but it's not the sort of mood or state of mind that I wanna be in for an hour. That, and the LP is frontloaded.

yes and that mood is this cold desperate mechanical feeling of being In An Priest Driven Ambulance. this album is just, some bored stoned guys with keyboards and echo pedals.

I took a long break from paying much attention to the Flaming Lips after Yoshimi, and only recently went back to the later albums. Only listened once but Embryonic seemed surprisingly incredible.

Haven't listened to the new one in full. The two singles were okay.

You guys weren't kidding about how bad this is. Just listened to it twice and could barely get through it the second time. It's as thin and forgettable as those last three Mercury Rev albums. This could well be their worst album since the 80s. At War With Mystics was disappointing but at least it had songs like vein Of Stars, My Cosmic Autumn Rebellion and It Over Takes Me. The only bit I really enjoyed on this new one is Sunrise and that's just because it borrows from that Miley Cyrus album they worked on. Seems like they used up all their best songs on that album instead.

I finally got around to reading that Wayne Coyne album rundown. Interesting stuff and I was happy to finally hear someone talk about the Ronald Jones years. I happen to love both of those records (esp Metallic) and was sorry to see him go. Seems like being in the public eye didn't suit him, which is too bad. I think when he showed up it was the first time the band had a real proper guitarist. I still appreciate his snakey guitar work to this day. I wonder what he's doing now?

Wayne mentions trying to reach out to Ronald Jones in this interview http://www.popmatters.com/feature/ronald-jones-john-tesh-and-metallic-clouds-an-interview-with-wayne-coyne/

I kinda like the new one after one listen at least! Don't shoot me, but it at least sounds interesting. Certainly has this pop element throughout that harkens back to Yoshime/Mystics, but as a synth slut, the tones and textures really call to me. Play it on a nice set of headphones. It's wonderfully produced at least

FWIW Embryonic and 7 Skies H3 are the only two records I have listened to from these guys more than a couple times in the past ten years.

yeah i would be lying if i said the new one isn't growing on me each time i listen. this may be one of those albums i have to hear a dozen times before it clicks.

You know, Half Japanese's first album doesn't predate Flaming Lips' first album by that much. New Half Jap is wonderful...

“To me, the great revelation about rap music is that rappers don’t look at it like: ‘We’re a band, and there’s a drummer and a bass part and a guitar part and somebody sings,’” he says. “Rappers are like: ‘There’s a track, I don’t give a fuck how it got there but I’m going to do something cool on top of it.’ We liked the idea that we’d be both sides of it. On this record, we’d go in as the Flaming Lips and make a track, then we’d hand it to the other part of the Flaming Lips to sing on top of it.”

It’s a method they’ll also apply to their next project, another Miley Cyrus album, which they’re planning to fit around her current day job. “She’s going to keep being a judge on The Voice, but I know she wants to make music at the same time,” says Coyne. “I’m thinking of a way we can make a record without her having to sit there for months and months. I think she likes it when it’s like: ‘You guys do some of the work, and then I get to come in and do something really cool.’”

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/jan/12/flaming-lips-wayne-coyne-on-miley-cyrus-acid-asap-rocky

started skipping "Sunrise" entirely, that must be the most boring Lips song ever. not surprised to hear it originates from their first Miley album. they are making another with her? they will be stuck in this boring dumbed down pop mode forever

there are some live drums in the last song but that's it. the sameness of everything really huts the record. "Almost Home" is a demo of a song that could be good with some live drums and some energy to it. here it sounds like the band is on auto-pilot. add in repeating themes from one song to the next and it's all a blur w the occasional extra farty synth.

fuck the drum machine on "Almost Home" doing those fake fills. i could be listening to Mega Man 2 and hear more far out shit than this.

How to deal with cops (1996): call up the insects you command and the waterbugs attack the policeman

How to deal with cops (2016): give them so much money that they can retire and live the greatest life they ever lived

I can't get beyond the first two tracks. Seems like Wayne is the weakest link - Is it worth it?

all those references to unicorns, wizards, and castles and shit are really paying off in these reviews. "These guys are crazy and psychedelic - they sing about unicorns!" but in almost all cases it's just that, there's no substance to any of it, it's just another thing in a list of Psychedelic Things. "Day Glo Strippers?" oh wow, crazy! what are they doing? anything? no? i suppose the phrase "There should be Day Glo Strippers" alone is supposed to blow my mind.

once upon a time they could make you cry while singing about fucking folding your laundry.

i know this is really old news for most people reading this thread, but i really, really like The Terror. i've been listening to it non-stop on repeat. like a lot of people, they completely lost me with At War with the Mystics. i loved everything they did up to that point, but the combo of the badness of the music + the increasingly saccharine antics drove me away. anyway, i heard The Terror was good when it came out but just didn't bother with it. big mistake. i suppose i should go back and revisit Embryonic as well at some point.

You Lust is a monster track

There's some great stuff on At War with the Mystics.

Embryonic and The Terror are of a piece, the Lips on a bad trip. They're both excellent.

I've been re-listening to the old stuff and it really holds up. Kind of surprised to find that i like "Transmissions" more than "Clouds" nowadays. One thing that really sticks out on those records is the high end: for instance in "Turn It On" even the kick drum has lots of high end to it. Couple that w Wayne's voice and the swirling, churning guitar noise and you have that classic sound. The new stuff is super muted in comparison, with very little high end and lots of bass.

oh yeah and i re-found this old documentary on the making of "Clouds". love the part with Ronald Jones finding "The Lindsey Buckingham sound"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilPbMCUSCoM

Tune out the lyrics or consign them to background colour and the new one is a fun, proggy trip.

Man this new album is such a let down.

If you haven't gone back to truly appreciate 'The Terror', perhaps this will convince you:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Stirk2PZfY

oh yeah that's great stuff. "You Lust" is really nice too.

the new one does have a lot of really nice moments. they seem to have gone back to a Soft Bulletin songwriting style, where there is a verse and a chorus and the two are pretty different so there is also an instrumental interlude, a nice little orchestrated bridge from one part to the next. some of these are my favorite parts on the new one, and yeah, very prog.

it's weird though, for all the places it goes, it still sounds too similar. maybe they are using the same sounds too many times? that chimey keyboard pops up on several tracks, sounding just a little bit different on each one, but not enough imo.

Wow, I hadn't seen that Turning Violent video before. Such a great song and I think The Terror is going to have a very long shelf life. I saw the band last week and after a very slow start they redeemed themselves with an entertaining (and very loud) second half of the show. Still too much reliance on bells and whistles though. At the very least, Wayne Coyne knows his audience.

i'm a very casual fan but in any case, the balloon thing is so very tedious

Christ, Oczy Mlody surely is the weakest, most pointless "proper" studio album they've released for decades...

Yeah.

Like, you'd have to go back quite far in their discography, probably before Hit to Death... to find a weaker LP...

as long as you're not including priest driven ambulance in that assessment ;-)

Hate that i've been sand-bagging on this one hoping for goodness - SB and 5.1 Yoshimi will have to do

Yeah it's pretty disappointing.

I fuckin' loved The Terror. Soundtracked my own life full of disaster at the time.

I'll not hear anyone say a bad word about At War With the Mystics knowing that Oczy Mlody exists.

I'll not hear anyone say a bad word about At War With the Mystics knowing that Oczy Mlody exists.

Both LPs represent the band reaching the end of a particular thread of creative inspiration (Zaireeka to Mystics and Embryonic to Oczy Mlody) so if my comparison holds up the Lips will soon be yanking the steering wheel towards somewhere else. :)

I'd be very happy if they started knuckling down and writing some songs again ... I like both Embryonic and The Terror , but I also think that At War With the Mystics was unfairly panned. I can't say I'm embarrassed by anything on it, really.

The weak songs on At War With Mystics are The Wizard Turns On which sounds like a rubbish Air song and Haven't Got A Clue which sounds like a mess. Free Radicals isn't that great either. It always reminded me of Suede Head Music era B-side. The rest of the album is really good and miles ahead of anything on the new album. Vein Of Stars has gone on to become my favourite song of theirs. My Cosmic Autumn Rebellion is immense too.

Interesting that you say it was unfairly panned Turrican, I do remember the Pitchfork review but it mainly got great reviews everywhere else. Uncut gave it 5/5 and said it was another masterpiece.

Have Got a Clue is pretty lame. also weird because it seems to have been written by a non-bandmember.

The Wand and Yeah Yeah Yeah = awful.

Wrong.

Interesting that you say it was unfairly panned Turrican, I do remember the Pitchfork review but it mainly got great reviews everywhere else. Uncut gave it 5/5 and said it was another masterpiece.

― kitchen person, Friday, July 14, 2017 2:03 PM (ten minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I didn't mean "unfairly panned by music critics" ...

It's definitely a lousy record, but I agree Oczy Melody is a whole new level of bad.

oh god i forgot about YYY

Great song, a lot of fun - which I expect automatically makes it repellent to a certain kind of music fan.

I don't think it's great or fun, and I think I like great & fun songs, but whatever floats your boat. The whole package--I found it all really insipid. Album has great art, though.

'The Wizard Turns On' is great, btw.

yeah Wizard is an album highlight

they need to bring back real drums

YES! I completely agree - now that Kliph's no longer in the band, Drozd should scratch that drumming itch again.

"The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song" is pretty much the worst thing they've ever written. Agree that "The Wand", "Free Radicals", "Haven't Got a Clue" are very underwhelming too.

From the same sessions, "Mr. Ambulance Driver" is pretty underrated I think. I mean, it's an ode to EDDIE RABBIT.

It kind of feels like the real long lasting tune from the sessions has become "Pompeii am Götterdämmerung", at least measured by how much they play the track live.

None of those songs are bad, IMO. Certainly not as bad as anything on Oczy Mlody. I listened to both Mystics and The Soft Bulletin yesterday, and to be honest I preferred Mystics. The only thing I would change about it is the mastering, which is horrible in places.

Mystics mastering is terrible for sure. Compression kills that record

oczy is sounding good right now, maybe this record was a grower

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9lnCTOcgTQ

great track

it's my favorite since yoshimi. the companion RSD live thing is pretty good too

https://thefutureheart.com/2017/03/17/record-store-day-live-album-oczy-mlody-onboard-international-space-station-concert-peace-flaming-lips/

Awesome Reggie, will check out

Like how they're going for an inverse of yoshimi or soft bulletin on this

Serious Lols from Adam
Posts itt

I like both Embryonic and The Terror, but this years effort was hopelessly shite.

you're right, turrican. i see the light. the new one is terrible, especially compared to those you mention

Dunno Turrican, don't think it's abject shite tbh

turrican say it ain't so but maybe you're a gholdfish trollah? for real this is a pretty decent album, haters beware. from their "the castle" to KG&tLW's "crumbling castle" this has been a dope year for fucked up music

i really like "Galaxy I Sink" too, maybe my favorite on the record.

i am way more into this album than when it came out (would rate it over Mystics) but still feel like it's undercooked. like it should be a sprawling double album but we only got half the tracks. the minimalism and noise elements tend to be boring here where they were more menacing and focused on "The Terror".

also i think they are reaching the limit of their production style, the bottom entirely falling out during the overloaded bass solo of "Nigdy Nie". it tries to be awesome and overwhelming solo but just ends up sounding like a bad recording.

I genuinely believe that it's their weakest album for a very long time and would certainly not rate it over Mystics.

why is it so weak? i don't hear it

love that the melody on the first track re-appears as a motif later on

great when artists do this, st. vincent pulled the same trick on her latest

turrican, how can you not love the strings on galaxy i sink, that's dope

Newest record is dope. Great sound design

Psychedelic like their earlier stuff but in a more sedate way. How is incredible

The release of the "early years" box set is a good reminder that this band sucked from the beginning. They were the Replacements (who also sucked) trying to be the Butthole Surfers.

right.

from priest onwards up until the last one they were pretty dope. their early early stuff does suck tho

nah, sure they were total amateurs but there is plenty of good stuff. "Everything's Exploding" rules. "Chrome Plated Suicide" rules. i love "Godzilla Flick" off that first record

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUCzn_eMFF4&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUCzn_eMFF4&

Oddly tempted to check out the new one, which is supposedly a Return to Form™.

They never put out an album that disappointed me. Apart from the Miley Cyrus collaboration. There has definitely been a lot of wheel spinning and a loosening up that is sometimes fun and sometimes frustrating, but there is definitely a sense of aimlessness. Wayne started smoking pot and I think he went through his college party phase late. Hoping that being a dad is going to bring some kind of focus back. Oczy Mlody wasn't bad but it was more like a mood piece. I liked King's Mouth a lot more than I expected, but it's such a concept thing that I never want to hear a particular song.

I take back what I said. At War With The Mysics was disappointing. A few good songs but gtfo with "Yeah Yeah Yeah" and all that shit. The Terror was the last one that I loved.

I like Wayne's personal stories so I'm hopeful for the new one. I would like songs about drugs and not another damn vague thing about The Sun or cosmic claptrap.

I'm hearing good things too, but please don't make me listen to this.

what form is it returning to though? the last Flaming Lips album I actually loved was Clouds Taste Metallic which is 25 years old now. tbh I haven't listened to anything since Embryonic, which was OK I guess, after disliking most of Yoshimi and Mystics and not really liking the Soft Bulletin much but I seem to be alone on that one

Embryonic has turned out to be one of my favorites of theirs.

what form is it returning to though? the last Flaming Lips album I actually loved was Clouds Taste Metallic which is 25 years old now. tbh I haven't listened to anything since Embryonic, which was OK I guess, after disliking most of Yoshimi and Mystics and not really liking the Soft Bulletin much but I seem to be alone on that one

You won't like the new one.

It has a song called 'Watching the Lightbugs Glow'. I think I'll give it a miss.

The Soft Bulletin is the last album of theirs I cared for. But i confess i dont make much effort any more. Still great live, but I'm out when it comes to recorded releases.

I saw someone rant on FB about how this is a mere SB rehash but that seems very unfair. Genuinely great album in its own right and the only similarity is that it's melodically strong all the way though

xpost That's funny, because it's their Muppet Rock live performances that mostly turned me off. I've skipped or ignored many of their last several releases, which have mostly seemed like stunts, and Wayne went from whimsical wizard to douchebag pretty quickly, but the last couple of albums I heard, like Embryonic and The Terror, were as I recall pretty cool.

I missed out on The Terror until last year for being put off by them for years due to the same reasons

The only real SB comparison I can really hear is that it appears to mine an ELO 'Time'/'Secret Messages' influence for the first time since

Lips bug songs >>> sun songs

I remember being super excited for At War with the Mystics because someone told me it was a return to their 90s guitar-based sound... I was like "YES! Finally, enough with this preschool shit!" Then I get it and hit play and the fucking "Yeah Yeah Yeah" song comes on... LOL

Mystics has some deep cuts I like a lot ("Cosmic Autumn Rebellion", "Pompeii", "Goin On") but some real dogs as well

Pompeii Am Götterdämmerung is my favorite off of Mystics. Meh record with like 3-4 killer songs.

For any people who disliked the Lips pop/whimsy trilogy of The Soft Bulletin/Yoshimi/Mystics give Embryonic and The Terror a try. Completely different atmosphere, sound and emotional palette, and my two favorite records by the band.

New one is quite good btw, and is a sonic turn from the last decade back into more of a bright instrumentation a la Yoshimi, but with much darker and introspective narrative to the lyrics. Definitely more autobiographical like their 90's records rather than the cosmic, fictional storytelling that came after.

Never liked the sound of their records from the 90's other than Clouds Taste Metallic. I don't get the nostalgia for that era. They weren't very good and felt like a middling indie band.