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 CD
REVIEW - The Flaming Lips / Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots
(Warner Brothers) |
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Artist
: The Flaming
Lips
Title :
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
Label :
Warner Brothers
Reviewed By :
H.Barry Zimmerman
Site : www.flaminglips.com |
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The
Flaming Lips are one of Americas great bands. These guys ( Wayne
Coyne, Steven Drozd and Michael Ivins ) are a rarity in today's
stamped out cloned up music culture. The Lips are highly experimental
and creative beyond a casual fascination. The time spent on
their albums since day one could always be heard in the details.
They are not checking the MTV gage to see what they should or
should not be doing. This is the rare quality. The sounds here
are created out of a deep love for the sounds. The Lips are
artist , recording artist , on the same level with The Beatles
or The Beach Boys in some regard , due to their raging ambition.
The latest of these masterworks is ‘ Yoshimi Battles The
Pink Robots ‘ , which is their 9th full length album ,
and you can take a guess - it’s great. This is not a concept
album , though several songs do deal with the Yoshimi concept.
Some of my favorite moments are the Yoshimi songs which are
the coolest little rock storybook for the child in all of us
, consisting of tracks 2 ‘ One More Robot / Sympathy 3000-21
‘ ( 3000-21 is the robots serial number ) and tracks 3
& 4 ‘ Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots Prt. 1 &
2 ‘ ( which includes the simulated battle . karate ‘
hai’yauz ‘ and all ). Musically this disc is chilled
out. Not one screaming guitar or noise out - the old way has
been replaced with a more controlled calmer modernism , which
has been the ascending pattern since ‘ The Soft Bulletin
‘ album ( 1999 ). The textures underneath are electronic
and sci-fi sounding ( The Flaming Lips are from the future ).
There is still the root instrumentation of guitar , bass and
drums - it’s still The Lips. They are less rocking and
more hand drawn - they are not slinging sound , they are using
tiny brushes of guitar. Things sound like they were written
in a sitting position.
Some of my favorite moments outside of the battle scenes are
track 5 , ‘ In The Morning Of The Magician ‘ , in
which Michael’s bass guitar is just working the cool psyche
groove during the introduction ( he’s playing on his toes
on the entire album ). The song then goes into a dream of strings
and pleasant water noises as Wayne sings ( “ What is love
and what is hate?/ and why does it matter? / is to love just
a waste? “ ). The song examines love , is it a concept
or is it real? - what is this thing that gets so much attention
in the world ? Track 6 ‘ Ego Tripping At The Gates Of Hell
‘ deals with looking at life with a broad angled lens and
experiencing all of the treasure instead of just depending upon
the highlight film moments to get you through ( “ I was
waiting on a moment / but the moment never came / all the billion
other moments / were just slipping all away / I must have been
tripping / were just slipping all away / just ego tripping “
).
The Lips have forever asked the big questions and I always loved
that about them - they are of the seeking class. ‘ Ego
Tripping At The Gates Of Hell ‘ , would be my choice for
the first video project , but alas , I was not given a vote
. Track 9 ‘ Do You Realize? ‘ a straight ahead love
song of life will be the first single. It begins with funny
little voices counting off the song ( “ 1 2 3 4 “
) and away they go , finding magic in the natural weirdness
happening all around us, every day ( “ Do you realize the
sun doesn’t go down / it’s just an illusion ‘caused
by the world spinning round “ ). The Flaming Lips have
evolved in so many ways and we have been allowed to follow along
through their discoveries. They seem to be all grown up now
. No longer brainstorming the eternal night for answers. Instead
they seem to be sifting through all that they have found while
out , knee deep in the night. ‘ Yoshimi Battles The Pink
Robots ‘ is a great way to spend the next 47 minutes and
26 seconds , an absolutely fantastic album.. My final thought
is this , I hold rock’n’roll music in a spot reserved
for sacred things and I appreciate it when those who create
it , give it their all. I can feel the respect for the sacred
thing in these songs and in all the work of The Flaming Lips.
The love for rock’n’roll and the desire to paint it
sacred is the key element that separates the good bands from
the great ones , and The Flaming Lips are one of the best. Grade:
A+
H.Barry Zimmerman |
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