Let’s try 3 albums today

In 2007, Radiohead released the album “In Rainbows.” It was a surprise release on the internet where you could pay any amount for. It was listener’s choice. I think I paid five bucks. I listened to it quite often. In the car, mowing the lawn and grocery shopping. It was also my first year with an MP3 player. These guys never seize to amaze me!

In 2008, my friend Heidi let me borrow a record by a band called Vampire Weekend. It was a self-titled album. This music has such a catchy, jammy, tribal and party sound to it. I was surprised how amazing this one was. I still play it a lot. Good stuff.

The Flaming Lips released an album entitled “Embryonic” in 2009. A friend once said of this release: “Finally they’re WEIRD again!” It’s complex, silly and definitely has Syd Barrett moments of atmospheric sounds. Not to mention, Karen O (The Yeah Yeah Yeahs) is heard making animal sounds. A must own!

That’s all for now. See you later!

#Flaming #Lips #2002 #Yoshimi #Music

 

“Do You Realize?” is one of the greatest songs written in modern music. It’s a precious song about life and how fragile it is. The song deals with taking advantage of the positivity that surrounds you while you’re here on earth. It’s about embracing what is beautiful and not feeling so morbid about death. 

Now this album by the flaming lips is certainly a great album but what makes it my number one album from the year 2002 is that very song “do you realize.” That’s how powerful the song is. It’s the glue that holds the whole record together. 

Certainly the whole album is an enjoyable listen and follows the soft bulletin quite nicely. But I can’t emphasize how awesome that song is. I will include the lyrics here as well as an audio file of the song because I want to let the song and the words speak loud and clear. 

It seems rather poignant now in my life because I just recently lost not one but two grandmothers one week apart. R.I.P. to two wonderful ladies…

Do you realize by the Flaming Lips:

Do you realize?, that you have the most beautiful face

Do you realize?, we’re floating in space,

Do you realize?, that happiness makes you cry

Do you realize?, that everyone you know someday will die

And instead of saying all of your goodbyes, let them know

You realize that life goes fast

It’s hard to make the good things last

You realize the sun doesn’t go down

It’s just an illusion caused by the world spinning round

Do you realize?, oh, oh, oh

Do you realize?, that everyone you know

Someday will die

And instead of saying all of your goodbyes, let them know

You realize that life goes fast

It’s hard to make the good things last

You realize the sun doesn’t go down

It’s just an illusion caused by the world spinning round

http://youtu.be/5zYOKFjpm9s

 

#1999 #Flaming #Lips #music

Wrapping up the 90’s. This is not just a great album, this is an unbelievably rare album. Albums like this come once in a lifetime for most bands. Few bands are able to create musical experiences that could be called religious just out of their sheer beauty.
This album is beautiful, desperate, hopeless, hopeful, lost and constantly searching. This album reaches into your heart and holds it from beginning to end.
The Flaming Lips are deceptively simple, with songs like “Buggin'” and “Race for the Prize” which contain what seem to be simple lyrics or a simple story, but it’s never that simple. Reach deeper into the album, do a little more research. “Race for the Prize” isn’t about a race, it’s not about a scientist it’s about finding a passion for something and loving it so much that you would hit rock bottom for it.
Songs like “Suddenly Everything Has Changed” are introspectively genius, and with the mere descriptions of everyday tasks (folding laundry, putting away groceries, driving a car) and those being the moments in which everything changes.
“Waiting For Superman” is a beautiful song about desperation and waiting for the saving grace to lift up everything up of our shoulders that’s “gettin’ heavy.”
Outside of the incredible lyrical beauty is the best production job I’ve heard in years on par with the likes of Brian Wilson’s “Pet Sounds.” The album itself bears many parallels to Pet Sounds with the diverse array of instruments and sounds with orchestra, also the beautiful instrumental interludes, plus an overall wall of sound Phil Spector-ish boom to everything, especially within “The Gash.” It’s been said that music is a combination of sounds and silences, in “The Gash” the second is completely omitted.
The Flaming Lips encompass everything I love about music. They’re catchy, with wonderful hooks, they make incredible ear opening sounds that just amaze, the production is deep and complex, and above all they say something without saying “Look at us! We’re saying something!” Every step of their work is done with complete humility, almost as if they’re surprised anyone would care. Their music goes completely off the edge, with visions as great and far reaching that completely challenged and destroyed everything we ever thought about music. And most importantly, it works.  I’ll say I think they’re one of the most genius groups to enter the scene in years. They are musical conceptualists that will always have my attention and interest.

A RECAP

I have reached the halfway point on my top twenty record albums of the year 2013 (according to me). Just thought I would take a moment here and list numbers 20 through 11 before I continue later with the TOP TEN. My choices are based on originality (how fresh does it sound? to my ears?), longevity (how many times do I play it?, flow (consistency is key here) and basically I ask myself if it’s a fantastic album. Perhaps I can’t form a real emotional attachment to it or maybe it has 1 or 2 flaws that I just can’t overlook. Finally, is it an album I couldn’t possibly bring myself to part with? There’s my criteria. Anyway, here’s the halfway list:

20 ICEAGE—–YOU’RE NOTHING
19 CROCODILES—–CRIMES OF PASSION
18 TY SEGALL—–SLEEPER
17 THE FLAMING LIPS—–THE TERROR
16 THEE OH SEES—–FLOATING COFFIN
15 FUZZ—–FUZZ
14 BOMBINO—–NOMAD
13 MAZZY STAR—–SEASONS OF YOUR DAY
12 TEGAN & SARA—–HEARTTHROB
11 FOXYGEN—–WE ARE THE 21ST CENTURY AMBASSADORS OF PEACE & MAGIC

stay tuned for more later…….

Number 17 (favorite 2013 albums)

Album: The Terror
Artist: The Flaming Lips

Wayne Coyne and the gang have done it again. They keep reinventing themselves, making sure they stay relevant. After close to 30 years as a band, they’re actually getting better. Known for catchy songs like ” She Dont Use Jelly” and the “Do You Realize?” anthem , the Flaming Lips went the minimalist route on their newest release, The Terror.

Normally they take the freaky, alternative and silly road. But here they rely on sonic noises, ring tones, keyboards and Wayne’s (lead singer) passionate yet dark vocals to make everyone question their life. Are we alone? How much beauty is left in the world? Find out for yourself below:

Concerts: The Flaming Lips Concert Aragon Ballroom 7/7/11 CHICAGO

My wife Denny and I went to see The Flaming Lips last night at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago, Illinois. This a historic ballroom located on West Lawrence Avenue approximately five miles north of downtown in the uptown neighborhood, it was built in 1926. Starting in the 70’s many rock concerts took place here. A nickname for this venue was called the “brawlroom” because of the tough crowds. The architecture inside here is very Spanish looking with the different columns and such. I have been to dozens and dozens of concerts. BUT this was one concert hall that I just never went to before. Upon walking in here with my Benedryl-induced wife, we were deafened by this band called Marnie Stern. They were freaking loud! Weird, but they did have a technical style to them. I’m guessing the guys in the Flaming Lips chose them as their opening band. I’m sure they like them. My wife did not care for them so much. However I thought it wasn’t bad. It certainly set the mood for the live band experience. First we we approached the main floor arena area and were going to just stand in the back and watch. But I knew her feet would hurt and she’d probably stumble over since she was a little fatigued. Then I looked up and saw the historic looking balcony mezzanine section.

We went up the stairs and looked around at the audience of freaks (which consisted of dudes wearing bunny ears and animal costumes). The girls seemed to look normal but the dudes were funny with their outfits of choice. Anyway, we made it upstairs and scrambled to find a sitting area. We finally located ourselves behind these 2 thin columns. I actually grabbed an extra chair from the back and just plopped it right down next to her seat. We had a pretty ok view (about two thirds was viewable from our vantage point) We were content because we were sitting and could comfortably enjoy the show. There was about a 30 minute gap before Wayne Coyne (lead singer and songwriter) and the Lips took the stage. Lots of artsy synthesized vamping music set the mood. A couple next to us introduced there selves to me. I won’t mention their names but I think they were tripping on acid. Lots of smiles and hugs and touching were among them. Anyways they were harmless and it was all good. I saw a couple of guys from work there too. So it was good to be there among friendly mellow people. Now Wayne Coyne is a nice guy. He’s real friendly and tries to get the crowd in the mood. He succeeded. He talks a lot about the music in between songs and speaks well. Wayne warned us of all the flashing lights that would be used during the Flaming Lips performance and that if at any time if we felt sick, that we should take a break and grab some water. I thought this was an incredibly polite spiel, as most bands would not even bother to warn the audience of such things. A half moon sized lcd screen lies behind them all lit up in multiple colors and screen shot images.

The show begins with an image of a nude silhouette girl dancing around drums and slowly starting to bang them as the countdown begins to this freak ride we were about to take. The members arrive one by one through the screen. A door appears out of nowhere as they are entering through the screen. Big ballons drop from the ceiling. Confetti shoots from multiple sides. Wayne arrives inside of  a big air bubble and starts crowd surfing as they push him all around. It is a funny sight. Lots of gimmicks were used to enhance the show. Loud sounds from these guys weren’t bad. You could say that these guys are psychedelic rockers! What we were in for was a real treat as they began playing their 1999 release The Soft Bulletin. in its entirety. Bulletin was a major turning point for the band as it was a critical success and truly their most artistic one yet.  The album is considered one of the best in the band’s catalog. They really stretched it out to about 90 minutes. Like I said their was fog sprayed at the audience by Wayne as he wears a nice suit and jeans with what looked like a fur scarf around his neck. His hair is semi long, salt and pepper tones that match his beard. He even puts on these big hands and tries to pickup a balloon and throw it. There were serious moments too when he speaks of someone who lost a friend who was supposed to come to the show but died. So the song “Waitin’ for a Superman” was dedicated to him. Then there’s a mini encore break and they come out to do an INCREDIBLE cover of Pink Floyd’s Brain Damage/Eclipse. Probably the best cover I have ever heard of this song. As before I mention this ginormous half moon projection screen so there are thousands of stimulating images that accompany the tunes before, during and after the floyd tribute. The song ends with this close up of a real human heart beating. Then it gets calm.

Now I should mention that there’s an interesting camera that captures the band shot from the just beneath section of the front row so its looking up and you can see the drummer and practically the nose hairs of the singer. But very inventive camera-work for sure. That being said, they conclude with their biggest hit and the official theme song of Oklahoma City….”Do You Realize? ” It was also played at our wedding reception and is a special song for me and my lovely wife. A very gnarly rendition of it was done that was inspirational even with projection images of giant bunnies and naked cheerleaders dancing around. Wayne gets emotional and bids the Chicago fans a fond farewell and says he loves this audience in particular as his favorite. Then the house lights come on and its over. “Please come again!” We stumbled out like cattle and drifted into the dark streets of the uptown and headed back to our car with muffled ears, enthusiasm and tired bodies. She and I had a really fun time. This was like a circus freak show. Visually, musically and vocally stimulating and entertaining. Loved it!