Big Stevie
Well-known Member
Hi, i just received the limited edition today from the US - any hint on how to get the CD out of the fur? no part
seems to be moving withour major force... Thanks
seems to be moving withour major force... Thanks
New Flaming Lips "Embryonic"
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Big Stevie
Well-known Member
OK, I managed by using gravity to my advantage... tricky one, though!
(with the box came a laserpointer. The print of the cover art, though, was sent in a huge separate package from the US to Germany - at least now I know what the high handling fee was used for....)
(with the box came a laserpointer. The print of the cover art, though, was sent in a huge separate package from the US to Germany - at least now I know what the high handling fee was used for....)
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/entertainment/the_tab/musical-rebirth-103031309.html
Musical rebirth
Flaming Lips go in new direction with Embryonic
By: Rob Williams
Posted: 16/09/2010
SOME people have called the Flaming Lips’ double album Embryonic self-indulgent, unfocused, strange and rambling.
The band included.
The album was initially going to be nine or 10 songs, but grew into 18 experimental pieces that include art-rock, electronic noise, distorted fuzz, spacey psychedelia and formless jazz.
In a typically sprawling response -- which came on the heels of a warning from the band's publicist that he was prone to going off on tangents (a fact he acknowledges) -- frontman Wayne Coyne says, "We started off with that in mind, but every time we were jamming we got to the experimental, self-indulgent part of us, and after a while all the songs and the things we were prepared to do on Embryonic we scrapped and went freakier and more punk rock and electronic and hypnotic.
"By the time we got to the end of it we got -- not confident, that's not the word -- it is what we are and what we wanted to make. I don't know what the world will make of it."
But what can you expect from the leader of a band as uncompromising and experimental as the Oklahoma quartet? Since their humble beginnings in 1983 as a punk-influenced outfit, the Flaming Lips -- Coyne, bassist Michael Ivins, multi-instrumentalist Steven Drozd and drummer Kliph Scurlock -- have confused, confounded, dazzled and amazed their die-hard legion of fans with such twists and turns as Zareeka -- a four-disc set meant to be played on four different stereos at the same time -- The Parking Lot Experiments, which featured music on 300 cassette tapes played through car stereos at parking lot events, or the surreal film Christmas on Mars, which could become an annual viewing tradition at your family's home as the group's Silver Trembling Fetus ornament hangs from the tree.
"I don't know if it's family viewing for normal families. I think that's part of the idea of all that Christmas stuff -- I don't think everybody embraces it like I do," Coyne says over the phone from his Oklahoma City home/compound whose interior is decorated like a spaceship and where the aforementioned sci-fi film was shot over the course of seven years.
The film premièred at music festivals across the United States in 2008 in a giant circus tent, featuring a quadraphonic sound system so loud it competed with nearby stages, tickets that looked like perforated sheets of LSD and collectable popcorn boxes.
It was a natural extension of the band's celebrated over-the-top concert experience, which has earned them the title of one of the greatest live bands in the world. A typical Flaming Lips show features Coyne walking on the hands of the crowd in a giant human hamster ball, a video show, giant balloons, confetti, microphone cameras and costumed dancers made up of audience members.
Winnipeggers will get to see it for themselves when the band plays the Burton Cummings Theatre Tuesday (tickets are $36 and $56 at Ticketmaster) with retro pop group Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti.
"Its intention is really to obliterate everything you have in your mind -- just give up and don't try to fight this. If you give up, you will be glad you went along with this," Coyne says. "When I can get the audience to make animal noises during I Can Be a Frog, hopefully you'll do it and not think about it. A lot of it becomes audience reactions; the show wouldn't be what it is without a lot of the audience playing along.
"Part of what we do is bring this gigantic overload of an electronic atmosphere with us. It's part of our art. It's what we do. We don't want to stand there and say, 'Look as us with keyboards and guitars and drums,' although there are good bands that do that. Part of what we're doing is we're radically creating our own trip."
The show has evolved along with the music of the Lips. They started as a ragged, punk-influenced group of alt-rockers before becoming a symphonic pop band with 1999's The Soft Bulletin -- often cited as one of the greatest albums of the 1990s -- and continued in that vein with 2002's Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots and 2006's At War with the Mystics. Embryonic marked another shift in direction, which continued on a track-by-track version of Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon, also released last year.
Their music has been dubbed everything from life-affirming to downright depressing, thanks to the overriding themes of love, life and death.
"Embryonic doesn't just speak simply about a triumphant view of optimism -- I feel like that has been overstated and simplified when it comes to people talking about our music, that what we sing about is pure optimism," Coyne says. "I realize physical pain can defeat you and death doesn't necessarily mean a light at the end of the tunnel. A lot of times life is just a struggle and we don't sit there and smile and say, it's 'Great.'
"Embryonic is saying life ... can be a challenge and horrible. I don't know if optimism ever can defeat the horrible, sad things about life. That's what I'm singing about: there's a chance it can, and I hope we win."
The challenging nature of some of their material has essentially certified them as a cult band, even though they're on a major label (Warner) and have three Grammy wins. They only have one true hit to their name, 1993's She Don't Use Jelly, which led to a famous appearance on Beverly Hills 90210. The clip of the band's introduction at the Peach Pit After Dark is still played at their shows.
Despite their lack of mainstream success, they do have several other accolades to their name. They have an alley named after them in Oklahoma City (yes, an alley, not a street), their 2002 single Do You Realize?? is Oklahoma's official state song and their music has started popping up on television commercials.
Coyne attributes those feats to the band's longevity and the fact Lips fans are getting jobs in government and with advertising agencies.
They also have some fans on Broadway.
There have been discussions to turn the Yoshimi album into a Broadway show, despite the fact it isn't a concept album and a story would have to be written around the songs to make it cohesive.
"Part of my dilemma is I don't want to give this thing to someone, and like an idiot, I want to do it myself," Coyne says. "I think it would take a couple of years of dedicating myself to that. I don't want to stop making Flaming Lips albums and touring the world for that time right now.
"It's not unfathomable, but it's a big commitment. It would also take about $20 million."
[email protected]
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition September 16, 2010 E10
Musical rebirth
Flaming Lips go in new direction with Embryonic
By: Rob Williams
Posted: 16/09/2010
SOME people have called the Flaming Lips’ double album Embryonic self-indulgent, unfocused, strange and rambling.
The band included.
The album was initially going to be nine or 10 songs, but grew into 18 experimental pieces that include art-rock, electronic noise, distorted fuzz, spacey psychedelia and formless jazz.
In a typically sprawling response -- which came on the heels of a warning from the band's publicist that he was prone to going off on tangents (a fact he acknowledges) -- frontman Wayne Coyne says, "We started off with that in mind, but every time we were jamming we got to the experimental, self-indulgent part of us, and after a while all the songs and the things we were prepared to do on Embryonic we scrapped and went freakier and more punk rock and electronic and hypnotic.
"By the time we got to the end of it we got -- not confident, that's not the word -- it is what we are and what we wanted to make. I don't know what the world will make of it."
But what can you expect from the leader of a band as uncompromising and experimental as the Oklahoma quartet? Since their humble beginnings in 1983 as a punk-influenced outfit, the Flaming Lips -- Coyne, bassist Michael Ivins, multi-instrumentalist Steven Drozd and drummer Kliph Scurlock -- have confused, confounded, dazzled and amazed their die-hard legion of fans with such twists and turns as Zareeka -- a four-disc set meant to be played on four different stereos at the same time -- The Parking Lot Experiments, which featured music on 300 cassette tapes played through car stereos at parking lot events, or the surreal film Christmas on Mars, which could become an annual viewing tradition at your family's home as the group's Silver Trembling Fetus ornament hangs from the tree.
"I don't know if it's family viewing for normal families. I think that's part of the idea of all that Christmas stuff -- I don't think everybody embraces it like I do," Coyne says over the phone from his Oklahoma City home/compound whose interior is decorated like a spaceship and where the aforementioned sci-fi film was shot over the course of seven years.
The film premièred at music festivals across the United States in 2008 in a giant circus tent, featuring a quadraphonic sound system so loud it competed with nearby stages, tickets that looked like perforated sheets of LSD and collectable popcorn boxes.
It was a natural extension of the band's celebrated over-the-top concert experience, which has earned them the title of one of the greatest live bands in the world. A typical Flaming Lips show features Coyne walking on the hands of the crowd in a giant human hamster ball, a video show, giant balloons, confetti, microphone cameras and costumed dancers made up of audience members.
Winnipeggers will get to see it for themselves when the band plays the Burton Cummings Theatre Tuesday (tickets are $36 and $56 at Ticketmaster) with retro pop group Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti.
"Its intention is really to obliterate everything you have in your mind -- just give up and don't try to fight this. If you give up, you will be glad you went along with this," Coyne says. "When I can get the audience to make animal noises during I Can Be a Frog, hopefully you'll do it and not think about it. A lot of it becomes audience reactions; the show wouldn't be what it is without a lot of the audience playing along.
"Part of what we do is bring this gigantic overload of an electronic atmosphere with us. It's part of our art. It's what we do. We don't want to stand there and say, 'Look as us with keyboards and guitars and drums,' although there are good bands that do that. Part of what we're doing is we're radically creating our own trip."
The show has evolved along with the music of the Lips. They started as a ragged, punk-influenced group of alt-rockers before becoming a symphonic pop band with 1999's The Soft Bulletin -- often cited as one of the greatest albums of the 1990s -- and continued in that vein with 2002's Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots and 2006's At War with the Mystics. Embryonic marked another shift in direction, which continued on a track-by-track version of Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon, also released last year.
Their music has been dubbed everything from life-affirming to downright depressing, thanks to the overriding themes of love, life and death.
"Embryonic doesn't just speak simply about a triumphant view of optimism -- I feel like that has been overstated and simplified when it comes to people talking about our music, that what we sing about is pure optimism," Coyne says. "I realize physical pain can defeat you and death doesn't necessarily mean a light at the end of the tunnel. A lot of times life is just a struggle and we don't sit there and smile and say, it's 'Great.'
"Embryonic is saying life ... can be a challenge and horrible. I don't know if optimism ever can defeat the horrible, sad things about life. That's what I'm singing about: there's a chance it can, and I hope we win."
The challenging nature of some of their material has essentially certified them as a cult band, even though they're on a major label (Warner) and have three Grammy wins. They only have one true hit to their name, 1993's She Don't Use Jelly, which led to a famous appearance on Beverly Hills 90210. The clip of the band's introduction at the Peach Pit After Dark is still played at their shows.
Despite their lack of mainstream success, they do have several other accolades to their name. They have an alley named after them in Oklahoma City (yes, an alley, not a street), their 2002 single Do You Realize?? is Oklahoma's official state song and their music has started popping up on television commercials.
Coyne attributes those feats to the band's longevity and the fact Lips fans are getting jobs in government and with advertising agencies.
They also have some fans on Broadway.
There have been discussions to turn the Yoshimi album into a Broadway show, despite the fact it isn't a concept album and a story would have to be written around the songs to make it cohesive.
"Part of my dilemma is I don't want to give this thing to someone, and like an idiot, I want to do it myself," Coyne says. "I think it would take a couple of years of dedicating myself to that. I don't want to stop making Flaming Lips albums and touring the world for that time right now.
"It's not unfathomable, but it's a big commitment. It would also take about $20 million."
[email protected]
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition September 16, 2010 E10
October issue of Sound+Vision magazine has feature story on Flaming Lips. Band's producer Dave Fridmann when asked if we can expect surround mix for Embryonic: 'We are talking about how to present Embryonic in a surround "manner". Blu-ray audio is one option. ... We're also trying to figure out how to make it a little more interesting than "just" a raw surround release. We haven't stumbled on it yet, though. We want to make it more engaging.'
Well, DVD-A stereo, at any rate...
The Flaming Lips - Embryonic
The Flaming Lips - Embryonic
This is a very cool, somewhat trancey record. The hi-res stereo mix is quite good. Borders on sounding somewhat surroundy at times. On the hunt for the DTS...
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