FIRE Could You Understand Me (Skyf Zol) cd 17.98
Good grief! FUZZ. Don't you love it? These guys do. Or, should we say did, since this was recorded back in 1973. Fire were a power trio from Yugoslavia, relocated for the purposes of playing and recording to Holland. Could You Understand Me is the only album they made -- though they cranked enuff fuzz guitar on this sufficent for ten albums! Aside from one run of the mill bar band blues cut (track three), this disc BURNS (as per their name) with heavy duty psych guitar mayhem. The last and gnarliest track here is even called "Flames". It's an instrumental, nearly nine minutes of extremely distorted, repetitive, pedals mashed, goin' for broke brainmelt. Dunno how they recorded it, musta done something wrong, but it's brilliant. They can also pen a decent tune, with the title track fer instance having a nice melodic element amidst the fuzz riffage.
Their influences were most likely Hendrix and Cream and possibly Blue Cheer. But when Fire really get burnin', we think this sounds more like current psych-mongers The Heads from the UK, or Japan's motorpsycho outfits High Rise and Mainliner.
MPEG Stream: "Could You Understand Me"
MPEG Stream: "Flames"

FIRE Could You Understand Me (Killroy) lp 25.00
Now reissued on vinyl!
Good grief! FUZZ. Don't you love it? These guys do. Or, should we say did, since this was recorded back in 1973. Fire were a power trio from Yugoslavia, relocated for the purposes of playing and recording to Holland. Could You Understand Me is the only album they made - though they cranked enuff fuzz guitar on this sufficient for ten albums! Aside from one run of the mill bar band blues cut (track three), this disc BURNS (as per their name) with heavy duty psych guitar mayhem. The last and gnarliest track here is even called "Flames". It's an instrumental, nearly nine minutes of extremely distorted, repetitive, pedals mashed, goin' for broke brainmelt. Dunno how they recorded it, musta done something wrong, but it's brilliant. They can also pen a decent tune, with the title track fer instance having a nice melodic element amidst the fuzz riffage.
Their influences were most likely Hendrix and Cream and possibly Blue Cheer. But when Fire really get burnin', we think this sounds more like current psych-mongers The Heads from the UK, or Japan's motorpsycho outfits High Rise and Mainliner.
MPEG Stream: "Could You Understand Me"
MPEG Stream: "Flames"

FIRE ENGINES Codex Teenage Premonition (Domino) cd 14.98
The Scottish quartet Fire Engines only released one album back in 1981 along with a couple of singles. In the British Isles, the band developed a considerable following amongst the Brit-Pop nobility of Alan McGee (the one-time king of the Creation empire), The Jesus & Mary Chain, and more recently Franz Ferdinand. For better of for worse, Codex Teenage Premontion is not a compendium of that one album (entitled Lubricate Your Living Room) and those singles; for that, you need the Fond anthology released by Rev-Ola / Creation. Rather, this is a collection of super-raw live recordings and home-recorded demos. The Fire Engines' sound is driven by a punk jangle, reflecting the ramshackle energy of The Fall and even Captain Beefheart (e.g. Shiny Beast); but there's a maniacal repetitiveness to their incessantly shrill chords that can be downright toxic. There's numerous variations of their track "Discord" showing how fucked-up they could get during their live sets, and a Peel Session track of "Candyskin" which was their most well known single at the time. Curiously enough, they decided to round out the record with a 2004 recording of Franz Ferdinand's "Jacqueline."
MPEG Stream: "Discord (Peel Session)"
MPEG Stream: "Candyskin (Peel Session)"

FIRE ROOM Broken Music (Atavistic) cd 14.98

FIRE THEFT, THE s/t (Ryko) cd 16.98
Imagine this... Perry Farrell becomes the vocalist for Radiohead who've decided to take an excursion into some very Yes territory. Such was the vision which swirled into view as the first song of The Fire Theft's self-titled debut played. Odd! Who is this mysterious new band? Why, it's noneother than 3/4 of Sunny Day Real Estate (Jeremy Enigk, Nate mendel and William Goldsmith) who decided to regroup and embark on some new musical adventures. The rest of the album doesn't quite stir such unexpected images as the opening song, but instead settles into a more familiar yet still refreshing sound. Shades of their emo past float to the surface every so often, but as a whole the album evokes a more complex and dramatic path. Devout SDRE and Enigk fans have been asking about this for months, well kiddies, here it is!
MPEG Stream: "Uncle Mountain"
MPEG Stream: "Houses"

FIRE WITCH Critter / Kritta (We Empty Rooms) 3" cd-r 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Another killer heavy rock outfit from down under. Grey Daturas, Whitehorse, Agents Of Abhorrence, Striborg... In fact it was AQ faves Whitehorse who had been telling us about these guys for a while now, but it wasn't until quite recently that we finally managed to get in touch with them and get our hands on some of their music. And boy are we glad we did. Their label is called We Clear Rooms, which besides being a killer name, gives you a hint as to what you're in for. We were expecting some Whitehorse styled sludge and pummel, and while Fire Witch do indeed bring the noise with plenty of heaviness, they are a bit more moody and melodically subtle. Drums pound, guitars growl and roar, but there are long stretches of moody meandering, dreamy drift, in between the bouts of furious psychedelic freakouts. Two tracks, two versions of the same song. The first is an instrumental epic, a cross between Pelican and Khanate, just the right balance of head caving sludge and minor key post rock, slow building, lots of dynamics, expansive and grand, a massive grooving post sludge psychrock blow out. The second, lengthier track sonically resembles the first, but immediately strikes out on its own, WAY free-er tangent. the drums are way more spread out, the rhythms are much more abstract, the feel is much more plodding and glacial, guitars don't riff so much as they slither and scrape and squeak, a creepy soundscape of strange guitar sounds and a massive layer of low end rumble, letting the drums sit right up front where they belong, alternating between slow motion crush and complex tribalism, the drums offer up a densely woven world of pound and pummel, a tangled web of strangely shifting rhythms, over a blown out psychedelic swirl. Killer!
And the packaging, HOLY SHIT! Super deluxe origami style silkscreened fold-out sleeve wrapped in a vellum slip case. The disc is printed and sits inside beneath a clear plastic insert, beneath yet another printed insert and with a miniature reproduction of an old show flyer where they played with the Grey Daturas. Cool. The packaging says this was limited to "around 100 copies" but according to the band, these are the last 30, that they had been saving specifically for us!
MPEG Stream: "Critter"
MPEG Stream: "Kritta"

FIRE WITCH Japan (Wantage USA) 10" 8.00
**SALE **SALE* *SALE**
The return of these Aussie low end heavies. Two basses, drums, NO guitar, recorded on the tail end of their recent Japanese tour, more of what we love from these guys, mathy, doomy low end heaviness.
The A side is all one track, and it's a beaut. The basses loooow slung, thick and syrupy, streaks of feedback everywhere, the drums scattered, the whole thing gorgeously abstract, the bass lines sound woozy and warped, it almost sounds like one of the basses is being played with a slide, part way through it erupts into a full on free for all, drums going nuts, basses buzzing and roaring, the band managed to sound super tight, but also loose and improvised, slipping from droney to super complex to mathy to space-y to sparse and plodding to freaked out and frenzied.
The flipside begins heavy and downtuned and mathy, sounding like a more metal ruins, super tight, locked into impossible grooves, before slipping into another stretch of drifting abstract free jam, before finishing off with a super rocking jam that is total early nineties Homestead worship. Awesome!
Beautifully hand screened covers, black and metallic silver on white (peep the inside of the cover, they're all printed on recycled Oxes / Arab On Radar sleeves, haha), each one hand numbered and signed, LIMITED TO 355 COPIES! Includes a photocopied insert too.

FIRE WITCH LIARS! (We Empty Rooms / Bro Fidelity) cd 13.98
Finally available again, now on a proper cd, the first two long out of print cd-rs, I Spit Lies and Critter / Kirtta, from Aussie heavies Fire Witch, a bad ass guitarless, two bass and drums killing machine from down under, who weave delicate soundscapes of low end drift and simple pounding rhythms, peppered with blasts of skull crushing heaviness, free noise splatter, and gorgeous shimmering ambience. They're sort of aligned with bands like Whitehorse and the Grey Daturas, but somehow, what these guys do is way different.
I Spit Lies is two looooong tracks, "I Spit" and "Lies". The former is a slow burning gradual build, with bass feedback draped over a throbbing low end pulse and a simple shuffling rhythm, with occasional lapses into sludgy doom, before resuming the lugubrious groove. Right in the middle there's an extended stretch of delicate drifting low end swirl, that eventually gives way to some seriously hooky propulsive post rock crunch.
The latter is equally mathy, almost groovy, another simple rhythm underpinning soaring bass melodies all held together by the pulsing bass #2. Eventually, things gradually break apart, into epic expanses of space, with just the occasional chord or drum hit. It's doomy, but more in the way Low or other slowcore bands are doomy. A gorgeously abstract ultra minimal deconstructed slow motion math rock, that by the end of the song has turned into a grinding heavy, almost metal groove. Fucking awesome!
Critter / Kritta is two tracks, two versions of the same song. The first is an instrumental epic, a cross between Pelican and Khanate, just the right balance of head caving sludge and minor key post rock, slow building, lots of dynamics, expansive and grand, a massive grooving post sludge psychrock blow out. The second, lengthier track sonically resembles the first, but immediately strikes out on its own, WAY free-er tangent. The drums are way more spread out, the rhythms are much more abstract, the feel is much more plodding and glacial, guitars don't riff so much as they slither and scrape and squeak, a creepy soundscape of strange guitar sounds and a massive layer of low end rumble, letting the drums sit right up front where they belong, alternating between slow motion crush and complex tribalism, the drums offer up a densely woven world of pound and pummel, a tangled web of strangely shifting rhythms, over a blown out psychedelic swirl. Killer!
Usually we lament the fact that bands choose to jettison the guitar, there are so many bass and drums duos out there, many of which would sound so much better with a guitarist, but one of the bassists in Fire Witch swings his bass like an axe and it makes all the difference in the world!
Housed in a super swank, hand screened origami style cardstock sleeve, with a printed insert, LIMITED to 500 COPIES, each one hand numbered of course...
MPEG Stream: "I spit"
MPEG Stream: "Critter"
MPEG Stream: "Kritta"

FIREBALL Blessed Be (High Roller Society Records) 12" 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
BACK IN STOCK -- second pressing! Here's what we said about the first pressing:
Vinyl-only (limited to 500 copies) debut release from an all-girl garage-fuzz five-piece band that takes their record collector obsession with mystical '70s heavy psych stoner rock to an insanely distorted, primal extreme -- these four songs rumble along like an unholy hybrid of Comets On Fire, Angelblood, Hawkwind, Harry Pussy and Amon Duul II. And we sure are sure about the latter 'cause they cover the slayin' "Archangels Thunderbird" from ADII's Yeti album on the b-side of this, and do it so well (the vocals are perfect!), it's worth buying just for that alone, though the other three tracks are great too. They also give thanks to the Edgar Broughton Band, the James Gang, UFO (really early UFO weed, I mean, we'd guess), and you can hear that strain of heavy, hippy, boogie/space rock here, but updated into the grungy lo-fi avant-punk now (either that or cast back into the prehistoric past!). Did we mention the utter utter distortion in which this whole record is bathed? 'Cause they're women, somebody has said that they sound like "hot tar being poured onto the Go-Gos." But not in a torturous way at all, we should hasten to add. It's love, this sound. One song here it titled "Witchy Ways" and yes, these young ladies from Brooklyn are a new wave coven conjuring noisy psych rock grunt.
On 180 gram vinyl, packaged in a hand-screened cover with insert. Get one while you can... and then, like us, wait expectantly for a full-length.

FIREBIRDS, THE Light My Fire (Radioactive) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Here's a reissue of some kind of 1969 psychsploitation artifact...if you're into heavy FUZZ a la Blue Cheer you ought to perk up yr ears at this. There's not much information given (something all too many cd reissues needlessly suffer from) and in fact the track listing is not even accurate: the album starts off rather than ends with their instrumental cover version of The Doors' "Light My Fire", and while you do get the song "Free Bass" (yes, a lengthy bass solo) it seems that "Free Drum" and "Free Fuzz" are missing in action. This may be the fault of the original LP sleeve, though again the reissuers could have made things a bit clearer. Anyway, what we do know is that The Firebirds were a British band who played heavy psychedelic blues rock influenced by the likes of the Jimi Hendrix Experience and Cream and Blue Cheer, and while this ain't quite Vincebus Eruptum it does come close at times. One critic has called this album "soulless campy noise" and you know what? someone probably said the same thing about Blue Cheer too. Not recommended for everyone, but some of you out there, who are ready to really delve into the lower depths of heavy '60s psych LP reissue-dom, will dig this for sure...
MPEG Stream: "Reflections"
MPEG Stream: "No Tomorrows"

FIRELILLY s/t (Red Planet) cd 9.98
The debut album from this new Bay Area electronic pop band is brimming with confidence and solid songwriting. It starts out all sweet, chiming and heartfelt treading in the territory of bands such as Postal Service and Magnetic Fields with a little bit of Guided By Voices' Robert Pollard-ness too. There's definitely echoes of '80s Brit synth pop thoughout. That said, as the album progresses, things gradually shifts into and between a darker, more atmospheric, almost gothy feel a la Tindersticks and a heavier, more guitar driven sound. Nice.
MPEG Stream: "Pixie"
MPEG Stream: "Tomorrow"

FISCHERSPOONER Odyssey (Capitol) cd 13.98
Odyssey... the new eau de parfum... er, eau d'album from the fashion house of Fischerspooner. They've revamped their formula since their audacious debut -- holding onto those tried and true arpeggiated basslines and rocking things up with electric guitar, live drumming and... flute! They've apparently even given the diva singer the boot, drawing the spotlight more to Casey Spooner's vocals which come across as much more sing-song-y and sensitive guy (think: a more 'pumped' Neil Tennant of Pet Shop Boys), but please excuse us for being more than a little wary of their sincerity and substance when the group's career thus far has been unabashedly fabricated from truckloads of gloss, glitter and gall. This time when soliciting contributions the unapologetically shrewd and calculating duo shunned the fading electro-clash fashionistas and approached the likes of Susan Sontag, Linda Perry and David Byrne for assistance. Plus here's a head-scratcher for ya: they close the album with a cover of a Boredoms song -- a strange, truncated but oddly effective synthesized transformation of "Circle" from Vision Creation Newsun! There's two bonus tracks: one is a remix of "Just Let Go" and the second is an incongruous swirly pop song sung by Lizzy Yoder. Hmm, dare we guess that they're testing that genre's waters for a potential next new direction? Something to consider 'cuz it just might be the best song on the album. Sure had us scratching our heads a second time, goin' wtf!? though.
MPEG Stream: "Get Confused"
MPEG Stream: "Down Up"

FISCHERSPOONER (V/A) The Other Side New York (Time Out) dualdisc 17.98
Here's a novel concept... Why not let Fischerspooner be your tourguide to gettin' around New York City? Those obsessive who-what-where-when mavens at Time Out (makers of those hip city guides that are usually found in magazine and book form) thought it a dandy idea, and have issued a series of three travel guide dualdisc (cd one side, dvd on the other) sets compiled by select taste-makin' startlets from London (Damian Lazarus), Paris (Black Strobe) and New York (Fischerspooner).
The eclectic musical selections are a funfilled romp although they're oddly not limited to New York based artists -- Bloc Party, Fiery Furnaces, Au Pairs, Princess Superstar, Broadcast, David Carretta, Plastique De Reve, Big Boys, Lassigue Bendthaus, Electronicat, Thomas Schumacher, Model 500, Richard Bartz, Martin Rev, Pixeltan and Laurie Anderson. Of course, shrewd businessmen that they are, they also include one of their own in the mix -- a remix of "Emerge".
The dvd side of The Other Side is hosted by Casey Spooner and offers a glimpse of his choice picks around the Big Apple.
MPEG Stream: LASSIGUE BENDTHAUS "Jealous Guy"
MPEG Stream: PLASTIQUE DE REVE "Rodeo Mechanique"

FISCHOFF, DAVE The Crawl (Secretly Canadian) cd 14.98
Wonderful! Hop aboard Dave Fischoff's dreamy twilight pop ship and float up up up amid the shimmering stars. His soft, sensitive vocals melt into the lush, sweeping orchestral pop of The Crawl. A Chicago Public Library librarian by day, Fischoff namechecks Beach Boys, Burt Bacharach and Boards Of Canada as influences for this his third full length, and they definitely do make themselves apparent. That said, the results are a dreamy sweet confection which nuzzles in comfortably next to the likes of mellow pop-tronicans Canada's Caribou and pretty much everyone on Germany's Morr Music label. Absolutely sigh inducing!
MPEG Stream: "The World Gets Smaller When You Dream"
MPEG Stream: "Last Room"

FISHER, MORGAN Hybrid Kids 1+2 (Cherry Red) 2cd 21.00

FITZ-GERALD, G.F. Mouseproof (Sunbeam) cd 16.98
Reissue of strangely eclectic and genre-hopping British psych-folk record from 1970, combining country-rock, seventies harmonies, political satire, jazz and early electronic instrumental excursions. This is a mellow hodge-podge of aural recipes akin to the one off releases by United States of America and White Noise. While not every song hits, the album closer, "Opal Pyramid Drifting Over Time", an eight minute instrumental with washes of wah guitar, piano repetitions, jazzy drumming and chanting harmonies is definitely worth the price of admission.
MPEG Stream: "May Four"
MPEG Stream: "Opal Pyramid Drifting Over Time"

FIVE OR SIX Acting On Impulse (Cherry Red) cd 17.98
Five Or Six were a shortlived UK post-punk band from the early '80s with a revolving door of members, the most well known of which included Ashley Wells who later went to form Spring Hill Jack and David Knight who continues to work with Karl Blake in Shockheaded Peters. While Five Or Six never got into the avant-jazz electronica of Spring Hill Jack or the monstrous art-pop of Shockheaded Peters, the band was intent on pushing beyond the three chord punk attack. Given a dour demeanor and a penchant for moody atmospherics, their small catalogue of albums and singles rightly earned favorable comparisons to Joy Division and 154-era Wire. Tracks such as "Another Reason" and "The Trial" are grounded upon low-slung basslines grooved against percussive dirges, bleak electronic drones, and spindly guitar leads. This compilation is certainly the best place to start with the Five Or Six catalogue, as their albums could be hit and miss. David Knight admitted that the group somewhat cancelled out many of the strengths of the many members, leaving only a handful of great tracks. Fortunately, all of that great material is found here. So if the early 4AD / Factory Records post-punk dirge is your thing, this will certainly float your boat.
MPEG Stream: "Another Reason"
MPEG Stream: "Lost Cause"
MPEG Stream: "Sleepwalk"

FIVE STYLE Minature Portraits (Sub Pop) cd 11.98
Sub Pop's answer to Tortoise--and they really must have really liked seeing Tortoise play as Tom Ze's backing band.

FIX, THE Speed Of Twisted Thought (Touch And Go) cd 12.98
One of the most unsung midwest hardcore bands of the (very) early 80's, Lansing, Michigan's The Fix bludgeoned and bloodied every eardrum in earshot way back in those halcyon days when "Midwest Rules" was the credo amongst many of the early Touch & Go bands.
As it turns out, The Fix records are some of the hardest (and priciest) to come across so as part of the recent 25th. anniversary Touch & Go celebration (congrats, btw) we see the reissue of this "hardcore 101 primer" compiling both 7"s, various comp singles, session outtakes and live tracks.
Included are some swell "back in the day" liner notes from Byron Coley, Mr. Hank Rollins, Thurston Moore & Tesco Vee. Any band that has that foursome singing their praises has got to be pretty fucking fearsome.
The Fix lasted less than two years, and a few of the members ended up starting an amazing band called Blight (a killer re-issue reviewed here a while back) who also burnt out pretty fast, but the legacy of these bands still occupies a unique niche in the history of American Hardcore.
No band these days, no matter how 'punk', would ever be able to recreate these sorts of sounds and emotions, it was a special time, where emotional music wasn't just some Hot Topic Emo (TM) brand, but a lifestyle, full of real anger and frustration and desperation, the sounds of true, dead end, teenage angst.
MPEG Stream: "Cos The Elite"
MPEG Stream: "Famous"
MPEG Stream: "Rat Patrol"

FJORDNE The Last 3 Days Of Time - Folio Series (Dynamophone) cd-r 11.98
Freshly reissued as part of the Dynamophone Folio series! Fjordne's The Last 3 Days Of Time album was previously released as part of the label's special Parcel series - each volume came packaged in a round metal tin. The Folio series comes in a full color single-fold cardboard sleeve. Just as lovely the second time around!
Here's what we said about the release back in 2008...
Wonderful! As is reflected in the icy blue cover art, this is a wintry album - contemplative and shimmering soundscapes populated by acoustic guitars, piano, fleeting vocal gasps and seemingly microscopic electronics. Imagine a not so distant Japanese cousin of the Diskont album by Germany's Oval. Yes, it's that good! Winding and unwinding like the delicate clockwork mechanics revealed amid the feathers of the diminutive birds on the cover, these ten tracks are simply gorgeous from start to finish... as has been pretty much everything released to date by this fine, young SF independent label. Needless to say, very recommended! A perfect fit for those who've also been enjoying the soothing immersion into the releases on labels such as A Room Forever and Mystery Sea.
MPEG Stream: "Dazing Off"
MPEG Stream: "Everyone Has A Season"

FJORDNE The Last 3 Days Of Time - Parcel Series (Dynamophone) cd-r 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Wonderful! As is reflected in the icy blue cover art, this is a wintry album - contemplative and shimmering soundscapes populated by acoustic guitars, piano, fleeting vocal gasps and seemingly microscopic electronics. Imagine a not so distant Japanese cousin of the Diskont album by Germany's Oval. Yes, it's that good! Winding and unwinding like the delicate clockwork mechanics revealed amid the feathers of the diminutive birds on the cover, these ten tracks are simply gorgeous from start to finish... as has been pretty much everything released to date by this fine, young SF independent label. Needless to say, very recommended! A perfect fit for those who've also been enjoying the soothing immersion into the releases on labels such as A Room Forever and Mystery Sea.
Part of the Dynamophone Parcel series, the cdr comes beautifully packaged in a round metal tin with a ribbon attached inside to facilitate opening the tin and getting the disc out.
MPEG Stream: "Dazing Off"
MPEG Stream: "Everyone Has A Season"

FLAHERTY, PAUL & CHRIS CORSANO The Beloved Music (Family Vineyard) cd 14.98
Not sure what it is, but a lot of the new wave of post-hardcore improvised jazz leaves us really cold. Naysayers and squares have always described free jazz as just a bunch of noise, a bunch of honking skronking non-music. And as much as we fancy ourselves lovers of free jazz AND diggers of all manner of noise, we have occasionally lamentedly found ourselves playing that role, you know, the grumpy and bitter old music man, reflecting on the glory of the good ol' days, admonishing the younguns "That's nothing but noise, give that dangnabbit rackit a rest!" Or something appropriately crotchety like that.
But every once in a while, for whatever reason, one of those records sneaks through and kicks our ass. This is one of those records.
It helps that Corsano and Flaherty have been honing their improvisational mind melds for years now. Their interplay is fluid and fierce, a free jazz freakout as sublime as it is pummeling. Corsano (who also does time in free folk weirdos Sunburned Hand Of The Man) and Flaherty (a legend amongst free jazz fiends) spar and weave, Flaherty's sax spewing thick gushes of corrosive sound, a downright Borbetomagusian cascade of shreiks and groans, sputters and wheezes, but it's Corsano who holds it all together, an incredible gush of dense and delirious drumming, from impossibly subtle shuffle and skitter to an avalanche of percussion pummel unrivalled. Holy shit! So massive and emotionally charged, freaked out and wild and free. But Corsano and Flaherty manage to imbue each white hot burst with strangely soothing atonal melodies and rhythms that manage to be downright catchy, so much so that on repeated listens we find ourselves almost humming along to Corsano's solo stretches. Amazing stuff!
MPEG Stream: "The Great Pine Tar Scandal"
MPEG Stream: "A Lean And Tortured Heart"

FLAMEN DIALIS Symptome - Dei (MIO Records) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
BACK IN STOCK, last ever copies however as the MIO label has sadly chosen to close up shop! So we grabbed a few of our faves (this and the Jean Cohen-Solal). Here's our review from when we first listed this:
We've been doing this long enough to know that there's certain types of AQ customers we can rely upon. One catagory being those into the weird, obscure '70s prog-psych stuff. Folks who know what the Nurse With Wound list is (heck maybe even have it memorized), and can't help but be more excited about lost treasures from 30 years ago being reissued on cd than they are about the latest indie-rock or electronica gem (though chances are you might dig those too). Well if you're one of those folks, or maybe just feel especially sonically adventurous today, we've got another reissue for ya: Flamen Dialis. Which is, we're told, the ancient Roman name for the high priest of Jupiter, and is a suitably archaic name for an quite arcane sounding band. Like Magma (and some of our favorite previous MIO reissues, Jean-Cohen Solal and Birge-Gorge-Shirac) this group hailed from France, and indeed this has a bit of that cosmic Magma vibe to it. They released this now very rare record, their sole album, in 1979, and there's also a 7" Flamen Dialis single from 1978 included on this cd reissue too. The music they made was progressive and psychedelic, but not exactly rock. It's weird and atmospheric, soundtracky stuff, very ritualistic and repetitive in nature. With chants and whispers, martial drums and zinging synths, vibraphone and Mellotron, flutes and even some brief blues guitar licks and what sounds like a rhythm machine, this is quite otherwordly and dreamlike -- not exactly dreamy (or nightmarish either) just strange. Both eerie and a little goofy too... Like a soundtrack (or a dream), themes are revisted, and the album drifts smoothly from Medieval European to Eastern sounding exoticism. We're reminded a bit of that Musique de la Grece Antique album of pseudo-ancient Greek music by the Atrium Musicae de Madrid (an AQ perennial) and Igor Wakhevitch and Franco Battiato and Magical Power Mako and, well, if you're with us this far you *are* one of the AQ customers mentioned above and maybe should just trust us when we say you ought to check this out!
MPEG Stream: "Dernier Croisade"
MPEG Stream: "Decouverte"

FLAMIN GROOVIES Flamingo (Karma Sutra / Buddah) lp 16.98

FLAMIN GROOVIES Teenage Head (Karma Sutra / Buddah) lp 16.98

FLAMIN' GROOVIES Flamingo & Teenage Head (Rev-Ola) cd 16.98

FLAMIN' GROOVIES Shake Some Action (DBK Works) cd 16.98

FLAMIN' GROOVIES Slow Death (Norton) cd 14.98

FLAMING GROOVIES Supersnazz (Norton Records) lp 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

FLAMING LIPS A Collection of Songs Representing... (Restless) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
I guess you could call this a 'best of' collection of tracks from 1984 - 1990 from the Flaming Lips, but most of the tracks are such odd choices as to qualify for such a title (not that they aren't good). Nonetheless, more of the weird post-Butthole Surfers psychedelia and lysergic pop one has grown to expect from the.

FLAMING LIPS At War With The Mystics (Warner Bros.) cd 16.98
How do you make a record after releasing two of the best records of the last decade? Back to back amazing albums that will stand the test of time. How do you follow up that feat?? Well instead of making something quite as monumental and epic as those records the Lips just decided to make another damn good album. At war with the powers that be and those on the other side who get it all so wrong in their fanatical ways. Somehow The Flaming Lips have managed to become a voice of reason in these all too weird times. With some nods to their Clouds Taste Metallic past and for sure many of the same reach for the sky dream-on elements of The Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots. Some of the all out fun moments on this record prove once again that no one knows joy better then Wayne Coyne does. "Haven't Got A Clue" will be right up there with one of our favorite songs of the year. The Flaming Lips still got their endearing spirit and creative minds in full swing. We're pretty damn happy that they keep on keeping on.
MPEG Stream: "Haven't Got A Clue"
MPEG Stream: "Vein Of Stars"
MPEG Stream: "The W.A.N.D."

FLAMING LIPS At War With The Mystics 5.1 (Warner Bros.) cd+dvd 24.00
This whole reissuing records months or years after they come out, even when the original is still available and working out for everybody just fine, is getting way out of hand. You buy a record, and a few months later, you gotta buy it again if you want the bonus tracks and the making of DVD. But what can you do? When it's a band you love, you kind of just have to suck it up. Thankfully, the Flaming Lips have gone to great lengths to make this reissue well worth buying all over again. It's a little pricey, but it is so jam packed with extra goodies it's pretty dang hard to resist.
The normal record is included of course as a remastered 2.0 stereo version (we're not even sure what that means but it sounds good!). The bonus DVD is where all the action is. First, a 5.1 surround sound version of the record, 5 outtakes, in 2.0 stereo, as well as their version of "Bohemian Rhapsody", in 5.1 surround sound of course! 8 tracks from different radio sessions, also presented in hi res 2.0 stereo. Phew. But wait, that's just the DVD-AUDIO portion. There are also three videos, all of the extra tracks presented in Dolby digital 2.0 stereo and Wayne Coyne giving the commencement speech at Classen High. Holy crap. That's a lot of extras. But just in case you forgot what the record even sounds like, here's what we had to say about it the first time around:
How do you make a record after releasing two of the best records of the last decade? Back to back amazing albums that will stand the test of time. How do you follow up that feat?? Well instead of making something quite as monumental and epic as those records the Lips just decided to make another damn good album. At war with the powers that be and those on the other side who get it all so wrong in their fanatical ways. Somehow The Flaming Lips have managed to become a voice of reason in these all too weird times. With some nods to their Clouds Taste Metallic past and for sure many of the same reach for the sky dream-on elements of The Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots. Some of the all out fun moments on this record prove once again that no one knows joy better then Wayne Coyne does. "Haven't Got A Clue" will be right up there with one of our favorite songs of the year. The Flaming Lips still got their endearing spirit and creative minds in full swing. We're pretty damn happy that they keep on keeping on.
MPEG Stream: "Haven't Got A Clue"
MPEG Stream: "Vein Of Stars"
MPEG Stream: "The W.A.N.D."

FLAMING LIPS Clouds Taste Metallic (Warner Bros) cd 12.98
Not counting their four disc anomaly known as Zaireeka, this was the album that preceded Flaming Lips' super smash hit of gigantonormous proportions, The Soft Bulletin. 'Tis very very excellent in its own psych-pop-addled ways!!
MPEG Stream: "This Here Giraffe"
MPEG Stream: "Christmas At The Zoo"

FLAMING LIPS Ego Tripping At The Gates Of Hell (Warner) cd ep 10.98
A new EP from AQ fave the Flaming Lips with 4 brand new songs as good as anything on their most recent full length Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots (re-listed and reviewed again elsewhere on this list). The opener "Assassination Of The Sun" is one of the best Lips songs in a while. Wonder how it managed to get left off Yoshimi. Gorgeous sweeping strings, an unbelievably catchy hook, and Wayne's sweetly cracked falsetto. So good. This is gonna be on mixtapes everywhere befor you know it. The second track "I'm A Fly In A Sunbeam" is a dreamy instrumental slab of fuzzy, waltzy Lawrence-Welk-on-LSD sentimental sweetness. Which smoothly segues into the classic Lips epic dream-pop of "Sunship Balloons". Our advice is to skip the next three tracks, totally LAME house/disco/dance remixes that just suck. Maybe their recent foray onto the dancefloor with their tweaked cover of that Kylie Minogue song made them think they should givee it another try. They were wrong. But the finale redeems them, as it's a Christmas song, and if there's any band who should be allowed to do a Christmas song, it's the Flaming Lips, since most of their songs sound like Christmas songs anyway, all chimes and strings and fuzzy snowy harmonies. That and the fact that they have a full length film coming out this Christmas called Christmas On Mars. So definitely pick this up, but stay away from the dancefloor. You have been warned.
MPEG Stream: "Assassination Of The Sun"
MPEG Stream: "Do You Realize (T.P.S. Remix)"

FLAMING LIPS Embryonic (Warner Bros) cd 14.98
Okay, we love the Flaming Lips. We have for ages. We recently revisited In A Priest Driven Ambulance, Oh My Gawd!, Telepathic Surgery, and Hear It Is, and we were struck by just how awesome those records still sound, and how amazingly and brilliantly fucked up that band was, and basically still are. Every record, we were just waiting, dying to see what the band would do next, what kind of skewed pop brilliance they would cook up, or what sort of deafening noise weirdness they might smother perfect pop songs with. Live was even better. One of their early shows here, involved more Christmas lights than we had ever seen, then there was the whole Zaireeka unmixed 4cd set meant to be played simultaneously. Who would have thought that a band like that would achieve mainstream success. Who would headline Lollapalooza, Treasure Island, that they would be the kind of band your PARENTS WOULD LIKE. But they did, and we were cool with it. The Soft Bulletin was a genius record, and with the release of that record, they moved up and on. And everything they got they deserved and THEN SOME. But then a weird thing happened, they stopped experimenting so much. Sure they had strings, and unique production techniques, and live they had the big plastic ball and people in furry suits, but the records began to run together and sound the same. Still great, and by modern pop standards, plenty strange, but by FLAMING LIPS standards, they were getting closer and closer to becoming one of those bands that required the word 'old' when describing them as a band you dug. "Yeah, I was pretty into OLD Flaming Lips".
So we weren't all that hopeful about this new record, even when we heard rumblings of how weird it was, we figured it was just mainstream pop weird, not Flaming Lips weird. But whattayaknow? It is weird. FLAMING LIPS WEIRD! And wonderful, and twisted, still poppy and sort of catchy, but way more NOT. In some ways, it seems like commercial suicide. A band that popular, purposefully making a record, that most normal festival goers would NEVER blast in their SUV on the way to Whole Foods. But fuck it, if anyone can pull it off, and come out the other side smelling like roses, it's the Lips. Listening to Embryonic, it's exciting to think about these obtuse fractured jams blasting through the same PA as Kanye or Lady GaGa. And obtuse and fractured they are. Tripped out, druggy, psychedelic, rhythmic and layered. Effects everywhere, sounds careening all over the stereo field, vocals distorted, guitars twisted and mangled, chiming and screaming and buzzing, the vocals more mantra like than ever. Sure it's not like the old OLD record, but hell c'mon, these guys are in their 40s and 50s, and their making some seriously challenging freaky avant space rock drone pop what-the-fuck.
But don't get us wrong, there's plenty of prettiness, lovely melodies, lilting vocals, warm whirring instrumentation, but it's surrounded on all sides, by strange samples, fuzzed out bass lines, warbly synths, long stretches of staticky drift, super distorted drums, wild psychedelic guitar freakouts, it's the kind of record, that will most likely deter plenty of casual listeners, but those who dig deep. let the sounds wash over them, who get lost with the band, in whatever fucked up mysterious world music like this exists in, well, then, those folks are the chosen ones, and will discover something magical, melodic and fucking genius.
MPEG Stream: "The Sparrow Looks Up At The Machine"
MPEG Stream: "Aquarius Sabotage"
MPEG Stream: "Powerless"
MPEG Stream: "Worm Mountain"
MPEG Stream: "Watching The Planets"

FLAMING LIPS Embryonic (Warner Bros) 2lp + cd 27.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Now available on deluxe double colored vinyl, packaged with cd of the full album!
Okay, we love the Flaming Lips. We have for ages. We recently revisited In A Priest Driven Ambulance, Oh My Gawd!, Telepathic Surgery, and Hear It Is, and we were struck by just how awesome those records still sound, and how amazingly and brilliantly fucked up that band was, and basically still are. Every record, we were just waiting, dying to see what the band would do next, what kind of skewed pop brilliance they would cook up, or what sort of deafening noise weirdness they might smother perfect pop songs with. Live was even better. One of their early shows here, involved more Christmas lights than we had ever seen, then there was the whole Zaireeka unmixed 4cd set meant to be played simultaneously. Who would have thought that a band like that would achieve mainstream success. Who would headline Lollapalooza, Treasure Island, that they would be the kind of band your PARENTS WOULD LIKE. But they did, and we were cool with it. The Soft Bulletin was a genius record, and with the release of that record, they moved up and on. And everything they got they deserved and THEN SOME. But then a weird thing happened, they stopped experimenting so much. Sure they had strings, and unique production techniques, and live they had the big plastic ball and people in furry suits, but the records began to run together and sound the same. Still great, and by modern pop standards, plenty strange, but by FLAMING LIPS standards, they were getting closer and closer to becoming one of those bands that required the word 'old' when describing them as a band you dug. "Yeah, I was pretty into OLD Flaming Lips".
So we weren't all that hopeful about this new record, even when we heard rumblings of how weird it was, we figured it was just mainstream pop weird, not Flaming Lips weird. But whattayaknow? It is weird. FLAMING LIPS WEIRD! And wonderful, and twisted, still poppy and sort of catchy, but way more NOT. In some ways, it seems like commercial suicide. A band that popular, purposefully making a record, that most normal festival goers would NEVER blast in their SUV on the way to Whole Foods. But fuck it, if anyone can pull it off, and come out the other side smelling like roses, it's the Lips. Listening to Embryonic, it's exciting to think about these obtuse fractured jams blasting through the same PA as Kanye or Lady GaGa. And obtuse and fractured they are. Tripped out, druggy, psychedelic, rhythmic and layered. Effects everywhere, sounds careening all over the stereo field, vocals distorted, guitars twisted and mangled, chiming and screaming and buzzing, the vocals more mantra like than ever. Sure it's not like the old OLD record, but hell c'mon, these guys are in their 40s and 50s, and their making some seriously challenging freaky avant space rock drone pop what-the-fuck.
But don't get us wrong, there's plenty of prettiness, lovely melodies, lilting vocals, warm whirring instrumentation, but it's surrounded on all sides, by strange samples, fuzzed out bass lines, warbly synths, long stretches of staticky drift, super distorted drums, wild psychedelic guitar freakouts, it's the kind of record, that will most likely deter plenty of casual listeners, but those who dig deep. let the sounds wash over them, who get lost with the band, in whatever fucked up mysterious world music like this exists in, well, then, those folks are the chosen ones, and will discover something magical, melodic and fucking genius.
MPEG Stream: "The Sparrow Looks Up At The Machine"
MPEG Stream: "Aquarius Sabotage"
MPEG Stream: "Powerless"
MPEG Stream: "Worm Mountain"
MPEG Stream: ""

FLAMING LIPS Fight Test (Warner Bros.) cd ep 10.98
A nice little ep from the Flaming Lips, whose last 2 records we have raved about (hell, we've loved everything they've ever done) and who continue to be one of the only major label bands that does everything right (taking full advantage of being bankrolled by a massive corporation), freaky videos, performing via radio signal to an audience all wearing receivers, boombox parking lot concerts, a quadruple disc to be played back on 4 cd players, a forthcoming movie about Christmas on Mars, and now this Flight Test ep. The best part of this release is that it had been selling for close to $50 on eBay as recently as a couple months ago. So unless you were one of the few folks who could afford a $50 radio promo cdep, now is the time to snap this up for only ten bucks! The main reason to pick this up is the covers, a gorgeously faithful version of Radiohead's Knives Out as well as Kylie Minogue's Can't Get You Out Of My Head, realised here as a lugubrious, slow motion pop song, all warbling vocals and ominous strings, a nice change from the hi-energy house music of the original. Also features some different versions of tracks from Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots, their most recent full length, as well as a few new songs: The Strange Design Of Conscience and the brilliantly titled Thank You Jack White (For The Fiver-Optic Jesus That You Gave Me).
MPEG Stream: "Can't Get You Out Of My Head"
MPEG Stream: "Knives Out"

FLAMING LIPS Finally The Punk Rockers Are Taking Acid (Ryko / Restless) 3cd 32.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
I think it's kinda funny that people have been buying/playing this collection incessantly. Why you ask? Well, you'll find none of the off kilter grandiose baroque pop of the Soft Bulletin, none of the surreal noise-pop epics of Clouds Taste Metallic, in fact if they weren't told this was the Flaming Lips, I'm guessing the majority of folks would have no idea. And I can see a lot of Soft Bulletin fans being WAY not into this. Not to say this is bad, because it's not. It's amazing! But it's also sloppy and ramshackle and noisy and chaotic and occasionally tuneless with EXTENDED freak out jams and yelped and howled vocals. This stuff is the very earliest Lips material, some of it from before Wayne even started singing (and the vocals were handled (rather poorly) by his little brother) and it shows. Definite eighties / college radio / Homestead records / Butthole Surfers / Scratch Acid vibe, which makes sense, since that's the scene that spawned the 'Lips. There are hints of what was to come, perfect little melodies, super catchy hooks, but most of the time they're buried under drug addled, spaced out RAWK, with squealing guitars and splattery drumming. Reminiscent of the Replacements in the way that something so messy and noisy and chaotic can manage to be so catchy and practically perfect at the same time. This three disc set compiles the first Flaming Lips ep, the Hear It Is album, the Oh MY Gawd!!! album, the Telepathic Surgery album and TONS of bonus tracks!! Features some of their earliest classics: Jesus Shootin' Heroin, One Million Billionth Of A Millisecond On A Sunday Morning, Drug Machine In Heaven and lots more. Andee says completely essential!!! But not if you're only Lips experience is The Soft Bulletin. Fans of freaked out, fucked up, spaced out psychedelic drug rock, will find LOTS to like here.
RealAudio clip: "With You"
RealAudio clip: "Jesus Shootin' Heroin"
RealAudio clip: "Everything's Explodin'"
RealAudio clip: "One Million Billionth of a Millisecond on a Sunday Morning"

FLAMING LIPS Hit To Death In The Future Head (Warner Bros) cd 12.98

FLAMING LIPS Hit To Death In The Future Head (Warner Bros.) lp 25.00
As much as we love the later, lush psychedelic experimental pop of the Flaming Lips, and the grungy, drug addled noise rock whatthefuck weirdness of those early records, we have to say our hearts truly belong to the three records that fall right in between, a fantastic trilogy of noisy psychedelic pop and twisted noise rock experimentalism, that chronicled the group's shift from the underground to the mainstream, and capturing them when they had a foot firmly in both. That shift started with this, 1992's Hit To Death In The Future Head, and continued on through 1993's Transmissions From The Satellite Heart and 1995's The Clouds Taste Metallic. All of these have been reissued on vinyl, and hopefully we'll list them all, but it makes sense to start here. Cuz before Hit To Death, while the band were definitely pop savvy, they were also still punks, and antagonistic and naturally sonically subversive, they tossed off bits of pop like it was nothing, often tossing that pop into the midst of a 10 minute drugged out psych jam, or some warped garbled noisiness, Hit To Death, while not devoid of that stuff, was the first time where the band seeming went for it, happy to play a pop song without dousing it in noise or pulling it a part after the first chorus. That said, for a pop record, even one as tangentially 'pop' as this one, it's weird as fuck. The awesomely titled opener "Talkin' 'Bout The Smiling Deathporn Immortality Blues (Everyone Wants To Live Forever)" is a super rocking noise pop classic, hooky as hell, but still rife with weird processed vox and wild psychedelic guitars, no amount of which could disguise just how good these guys were at whipping up some crazy catchiness. "Hit Me Like You Did The First Time" explodes out of the gate with a killer superdistorted processed psych guitar melody, draped over acoustic guitar strum, swoonsome strings, and weird rubbery bass, and then when the song kicks in proper, it's another chunk of sunshiney acid drenched psych pop. It is the Flaming Lips though, so there is plenty of weirdness, fucked up sounds, bizarre production, it's only really slightly removed from their previous record In A Priest Driven Ambulance, but for every blast of psychedelic noisiness there's a strummy jangly chunk of indie pop like "Gingerale Afternoon (The Astrology Of A Saturday)" or a gorgeous plaintive psych pop classic like "Halloween On The Barbary Coast", which still ranks as one of the band's best. And that's really only scratching the surface, every track on Hit To Death is so great, hooky, heavy, tripped out, dreamy, super rocking, hypnotic and mesmerizing, anyone paying attention when Hit To Death came out, knew these guys were destined for bigger things, and even now, nearly 20 years later, it sounds as fresh and creative as ever, and still pretty much like nothing else out there.
MPEG Stream: "Talkin' 'Bout The Smiling Deathporn Immortality Blues (Everyone Wants To Live Forever)"
MPEG Stream: "Hit Me Like You Did The First Time"
MPEG Stream: "Halloween On The Barbary Coast"

FLAMING LIPS Telepathic Surgery (Restless) cd 13.98

FLAMING LIPS The Day They Shot A Hole In The Jesus (Restless) 2cd 19.98
Part two in the comprehensive reissue of the Flaming Lips' early years. Now that the Lips are 'critical darlings' and 'alternative rock superstars' or whatever, people are obviously curious about all that stuff they were doing way back when nobody but a handful of punk rockers really cared. What they were doing was kicking out some ungodly jams. Loud and snotty and drug addled and psychedelic and spaced out and truly inspired. This 2 disc collection contains what is arguably their best pre-'pop' album In A Priest Driven Ambulance. The 'pop' is even closer to the surface than on their two previous records, Hear It Is and Oh My Gawd (recently reissued as the 3cd set Finally The Punk Rockers Are Taking Acid), but it's still buried safely under 16 tons of sludgy guitar, squealing feedback, splattery drums, straggly leads, bizarre religious imagery and ranting stream of conciousness lyrics. With the occasional Pink Floyd-ish existential acoustic epic. As far as the early stuff goes, if you're only exposure to the Lips is The Soft Bulletin or Yoshimi, this is probably their most 'accessible' album. And if you haven't already, pick up the three pre-Soft Bulletin albums: Hit To Death In The Future Head, Transmissions From The Sattelite Heart, and Clouds Taste Metallic to hear the amazing stuff that led up to their Soft Bulletin breakthrough!
RealAudio clip: "Unconsiously Screamin'"
RealAudio clip: "Take Meta Mars"

FLAMING LIPS The Soft Bulletin (Warner Brothers) cd 12.98
Following a wholly unique progression, from drug-addled psych rock jam band to off kilter pop geniuses, the Flaming Lips keep on stretching the boundaries of 'pop' music, never losing sight of the song. They seem to have a unique understanding of the absurdity of the music they produce. We're not talking about the garden variety, pedestrian pastiche efforts of so many of today's indie pop bands (i.e. avant garde = birdsounds or 'out there' segues). The Lips' weirdness isn't manufactured or forced, it seems rather to be the result of some sort of dropped-on-their-head childhood mishap or an unprecedented series of synaptic misfires. It comes as less of a surprise then that this band was dragged kicking and screaming into mainstream success by a catchy little pop song about masturbation.
The Flaming Lips seem to be taking great advantage of their lofty position on a major label, doing their best to piss off the business minded folk of Warner, while at the same time managing to make truely amazing and creative records, like their last release 'Zaireeka', a 4 cd set composed to be listened to simultaneously on four separate cd players. While certainly not as labor-intensive for the listener as Zaireeka, The Soft Bulletin is another set of perfectly imperfect popsongs, albeit now accessible to the traditional one cd player household.
It's hard to describe The Flaming Lips without providing a visual reference, take their live show at Slims a few years back. It began with a pathetic solitary spotlight illuminating the band huddled around their instruments and plucking fragile solitary notes. With the initial crack of the drums, a dizzying kaleidoscope of tens of thousands of Christmas lights burst to life and engulfed Slims, offereing a hallucinatory visual equal to the Lips' psychedelic pop dadaism.
The Lips' disparate and patently un-pop elements; huge and fuzzy John Bonham-esque percussive bombast, ultra low frequency Moog oscillations, Wayne Coyne's still-getting-out-of-puberty voice crack, bizarre song struture, and an insane mastery of recording studio-as-instrument, come together more seamlessly than ever on The Soft Bulletin, making it our record of the week, and for some of us, record of the year.
I'm kind of shocked that it's taken people so long to catch on, as the last 3 Flaming Lips albums are as essential as the new one, and currently in stock: Clouds Taste Metallic (1995), Transmissions From the Satellite Heart (1993), Hit to Death in the Future Head (1992).
MPEG Stream: "Race For The Prize"
MPEG Stream: "Waitin' For Superman"

FLAMING LIPS The Soft Bulletin (Warner Brothers) cd 12.98
Following a wholly unique progression, from drug-addled psych rock jam band to off kilter pop geniuses, the Flaming Lips keep on stretching the boundaries of 'pop' music, never losing sight of the song. They seem to have a unique understanding of the absurdity of the music they produce. We're not talking about the garden variety, pedestrian pastiche efforts of so many of today's indie pop bands (i.e. avant garde = birdsounds or 'out there' segues). The Lips' weirdness isn't manufactured or forced, it seems rather to be the result of some sort of dropped-on-their-head childhood mishap or an unprecedented series of synaptic misfires. It comes as less of a surprise then that this band was dragged kicking and screaming into mainstream success by a catchy little pop song about masturbation.
The Flaming Lips seem to be taking great advantage of their lofty position on a major label, doing their best to piss off the business minded folk of Warner, while at the same time managing to make truely amazing and creative records, like their last release 'Zaireeka', a 4 cd set composed to be listened to simultaneously on four separate cd players. While certainly not as labor-intensive for the listener as Zaireeka, The Soft Bulletin is another set of perfectly imperfect popsongs, albeit now accessible to the traditional one cd player household.
It's hard to describe The Flaming Lips without providing a visual reference, take their live show at Slims a few years back. It began with a pathetic solitary spotlight illuminating the band huddled around their instruments and plucking fragile solitary notes. With the initial crack of the drums, a dizzying kaleidoscope of tens of thousands of Christmas lights burst to life and engulfed Slims, offereing a hallucinatory visual equal to the Lips' psychedelic pop dadaism.
The Lips' disparate and patently un-pop elements; huge and fuzzy John Bonham-esque percussive bombast, ultra low frequency Moog oscillations, Wayne Coyne's still-getting-out-of-puberty voice crack, bizarre song struture, and an insane mastery of recording studio-as-instrument, come together more seamlessly than ever on The Soft Bulletin, making it our record of the week, and for some of us, record of the year.
I'm kind of shocked that it's taken people so long to catch on, as the last 3 Flaming Lips albums are as essential as the new one, and currently in stock: Clouds Taste Metallic (1995), Transmissions From the Satellite Heart (1993), Hit to Death in the Future Head (1992).
MPEG Stream: "Race For The Prize"
MPEG Stream: "Waitin' For Superman"

FLAMING LIPS The Soft Bulletin 5.1 (Warner) cd + dvd 23.00
FLAMING LIPS FANS!!! THE SOFT BULLETIN IS BACK!!! BIGGER AND BETTER THAN EVER!!! Okay, sorry for all the yelling, but we figured that this newly renovate cd/dvd edition of an AQ all-time favorite deserved a gigantic monster truck rally kind of (re)introduction, don't you?
Now you can experience it in "Advanced Resolution Surround Sound". Oooooh, got yer bong loaded?
The audio section of the dvd contains the full album presented in the abovementioned Advanced Resolution 5.1 Surround Sound (24bit 96kHz) as well as Advanced Resolution 2.0 Stereo (24bit 96kHz). The video section of the dvd includes what is descriptively named "Bleep-Blop Visualizations" with Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound (16bit 44.1kHz) and Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo (16bit 44.1kHz). Maybe more notably than that, there's also videos for "Waitin' For Superman" and "Race For The Prize", outtakes for "1000ft Hands", "The Captain" and "Satellite Of You", and finally, radio sessions of "Up Above The Daily Hum", The Switch That Turns Off The Universe", "We Can't Predict The Future" and "It Remains Unrealizable" (all Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo 16bit 44.1kHz).
If you grow weary of all the high tech whachamacallits, there's also a so-called conventional cd for when you wanna rough it. Heh heh.
In case your memory's a bit rusty or you've somehow yet to encounter Soft Bulletin, here's what we said about the album waaay back in 1999:
Following a wholly unique progression, from drug-addled psych rock jam band to off kilter pop geniuses, the Flaming Lips keep on stretching the boundaries of 'pop' music, never losing sight of the song. They seem to have a unique understanding of the absurdity of the music they produce. We're not talking about the garden variety, pedestrian pastiche efforts of so many of today's indie pop bands (i.e. avant garde = birdsounds or 'out there' segues). The Lips' weirdness isn't manufactured or forced, it seems rather to be the result of some sort of dropped-on-their-head childhood mishap or an unprecedented series of synaptic misfires. It comes as less of a surprise then that this band was dragged kicking and screaming into mainstream success by a catchy little pop song about masturbation.
The Flaming Lips seem to be taking great advantage of their lofty position on a major label, doing their best to piss off the business minded folk of Warner, while at the same time managing to make truly amazing and creative records, like their last release Zaireeka' a 4 cd set composed to be listened to simultaneously on four separate cd players. While certainly not as labor-intensive for the listener as Zaireeka, The Soft Bulletin is another set of perfectly imperfect popsongs, albeit now accessible to the traditional one cd player household.
It's hard to describe The Flaming Lips without providing a visual reference, take their live show at Slims a few years back. It began with a pathetic solitary spotlight illuminating the band huddled around their instruments and plucking fragile solitary notes. With the initial crack of the drums, a dizzying kaleidoscope of tens of thousands of Christmas lights burst to life and engulfed Slims, offereing a hallucinatory visual equal to the Lips' psychedelic pop dadaism.
The Lips' disparate and patently un-pop elements; huge and fuzzy John Bonham-esque percussive bombast, ultra low frequency Moog oscillations, Wayne Coyne's still-getting-out-of-puberty voice crack, bizarre song struture, and an insane mastery of recording studio-as-instrument, come together more seamlessly than ever on The Soft Bulletin, making it our record of the week, and for some of us, record of the year.
MPEG Stream: "Race For The Prize"
MPEG Stream: "Waitin' For Superman"

FLAMING LIPS Transmissions From The Satellite Heart (Warner Bros) cd 12.98

FLAMING LIPS Waitin' For a Superman (Warner Bros) 2cd 17.98
Two, three song cd singles packaged together as a set. Track one on both is the radio edit of the Lips' heart rending "Waitin' For a Superman" from the Soft Bulletin. The other two tracks are from the now out of print Zaireeka and are, you guessed it, meant to be played simulatenously.

FLAMING LIPS Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (Warner Bros.) cd 14.98
The Flaming Lips return with yet another gem and it's beginning to look as if they are only getting better with age. We used to think that about Tom Waits, Stereolab, and (some here think) Radiohead, but all those folks have released mediocre (perhaps bad?) records, whereas Flaming Lips' career-long consistency through 12 albums is pretty amazing. Certainly many of their indie rock, pre-Warner fans have long since abandoned their current efforts just as many who discovered them via their hit "She Don't Use Jelly" (or possibly more recently with "Waitin' For A Superman") probably don't find much to enjoy in their early drug addled, psychedelic bombast. But with such a continually evolving yet uncompromising sound, they're bound to alienate some. There's a striking resemblance on Yoshimi to the recent works of Radiohead, but then again there's definitely much that parallels the Lips' career with that of our faves from across the Atlantic. Like Radiohead, The Flaming Lips have chosen ever more increasing studio experimentation, combining electronic music elements with lush arrangements and cohesive album-oriented productions. But more significant perhaps is that Yoshimi, a semi-concept album, shares a similar paranoid and alienated angst that Radiohead has been honing these last several albums. But where as Radiohead takes a decidedly maudlin, Orwellian approach in their song writing, the Flaming Lips work in an absurdist, comedic fashion more akin to Philip K. Dick. "One More Robot / Sympathy 3000-21" could have been cut straight out of a P.K.D. story: "Unit three thousand twenty one is warming / makes a humming sound - when its circuits duplicate emotions - and a sense of coldness detaches as it tries to comfort your sadness..." All this arranged about as close to a Sade song as Coyne and the Lips can conceivably get (which I also see as a friendly jab at the sterile audiophile machinations of modern "soul".) The humanization of machines vs. humanity stripped of love and hate is the theme that's mulled over throughout. Most of the songs on the album are in direct reference to a painful breakup (either real or concocted) and the fictional battle between Yoshimi and the Pink Robots is more of a parable for struggling in the aftermath of having one's heart dashed to pieces. The two themes are intertwined on the album, but loosely enough so that you aren't forced into a Pink Floyd Wall of a concept album. While not as completely rife with hits as The Soft Bulletin, there's a lot to be warmed up to with Yoshimi. At first listen it seemed as though the Lips and Mercury Rev-ifier Dave Fridman had produced nothing but 45 minutes of studio wizardry and ear candy, but continual listens finds these songs opening up like a veritable flower blossom. "In the Morning of the Magicians" with its recurring, heart rending instrumental bridge will even bring a tear to the most desiccated of eyes. And "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots" (Part 1, *not* part 2) will have you singing along in your best cracked falsetto soon enough. I imagine the bean counters at AOL/Time Warner had a hard time listening to this more than once, if at all, as they neglected to print up enough copies in the first run and now we - and stores everywhere I suppose - are struggling to find a distributor with remaining copies on hand. And we're not sure of the significance or if the title and her appearance on this record are mere coincidences or -gasp- something more, but AQ fave/crushworthy drummer/vocalist Yoshimi of the mighty Boredoms is a musical guest!!
RealAudio clip: "In the Morning of the Magicians"
RealAudio clip: "One More Robot / Sympathy 3000-21"
RealAudio clip: "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots pt. 1"

FLAMING LIPS Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (Warner Bros.) lp 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Now available on vinyl! Here's the description again: The Flaming Lips return with yet another gem and it's beginning to look as if they are only getting better with age. We used to think that about Tom Waits, Stereolab, and (some here think) Radiohead, but all those folks have released mediocre (perhaps bad?) records, whereas Flaming Lips' career-long consistency through 12 albums is pretty amazing. Certainly many of their indie rock, pre-Warner fans have long since abandoned their current efforts just as many who discovered them via their hit "She Don't Use Jelly" (or possibly more recently with "Waitin' For A Superman") probably don't find much to enjoy in their early drug addled, psychedleic bombast. But with such a continually evolving yet uncompromising sound, they're bound to alienate some. There's a striking resemblance on Yoshimi to the recent works of Radiohead, but then again there's definitely much that parallels the Lips' career with that of our faves from across the Atlantic. Like Radiohead, The Flaming Lips have chosen ever more increasing studio experimentation, combining electronic music elements with lush arrangements and cohesive album-oriented productions. But more significant perhaps is that Yoshimi, a semi-concept album, shares a similar paranoid and alienated angst that Radiohead has been honing these last several albums. But where as Radiohead takes a decidedly maudlin Orwellian-like approach in their song writing, the Flaming Lips work in an absurdist, comedic fashion more akin to Philip K. Dick. "One More Robot / Sympathy 3000-21" could have been cut straight out of a P.K.D. story: "Unit three thousand twenty one is warming / makes a humming sound -- when its circuits duplicate emotions -- and a sense of coldness detaches as it tries to comfort your sadness..." All this arranged about as close to a Sade song as Coyne and the Lips can conceivably get (which I also see as a friendly jab at the sterile audiophile machinations of modern "soul".) The humanization of machines vs. humanity stripped of love and hate is the theme that's mulled over throughout. Most of the songs on the album are in direct reference to a painful breakup (either real or concocted) and the fictional battle between Yoshimi and the Pink Robots is more of a parable for struggling in the aftermath of having one's heart dashed to pieces. The two themes are intertwined on the album, but loosely enough so that you aren't forced into a Pink Floyd Wall of a concept album. While not as completely rife with hits as The Soft Bulletin, there's a lot to be warmed up to with Yoshimi. At first listen it seemed as though the Lips and Mercury Rev-ifier Dave Fridman had produced nothing but 45 minutes of studio wizardry and ear candy, but continual listens finds these songs opening up like a veritable flower blossom. "In the Morning of the Magicians" with its recurring, heart rending instrumental bridge will even bring a tear to the most desiccated of eyes. And "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots" (Part 1, *not* part 2) will have you singing along in your best cracked falsetto soon enough. I imagine the bean counters at AOL/Time Warner had a hard time listening to this more than once, if at all, as they neglected to print up enough copies in the first run and now we -- and stores everywhere I suppose -- are struggling to find a distributor with remaining copies on hand. And we're not sure of the significance or if the title and her appearance on this record are mere coincidences or -gasp- something more, but AQ fave/crushworthy drummer/vocalist Yoshimi of the mighty Boredoms is a musical guest!!
RealAudio clip: "In the Morning of the Magicians"
RealAudio clip: "One More Robot / Sympathy 3000-21"
RealAudio clip: "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots pt. 1"

FLAMING LIPS Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots (Warner Bros.) lp 26.00
One of SIX new Flaming Lips lps in the recently launched vinyl reissue program for everyone's favorite psychedelic weirdos turned mainstream indie rock heroes, 2002's Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots, was the record that followed the group's massive breakthrough album, 1999's The Soft Bulletin. Yoshimi found the band returning with yet another gem which saw the band maturing, but seemingly only getting better with age. We used to think that about Tom Waits, Stereolab, and (some here think) Radiohead, but all those folks eventually released mediocre (perhaps bad?) records, whereas The Flaming Lips' career-long consistency through at the time 12 albums was pretty remarkable. Certainly many of their indie rock, pre-Warner fans abandoned the group well before this record, having soured on their current efforts, and probably just as many folks who discovered them via their hit "She Don't Use Jelly" (or possibly "Waitin' For A Superman") probably couldn't find much to enjoy in their early drug addled, psychedelic bombast. But with such a continually evolving yet uncompromising sound, they're bound to alienate some. There's a striking resemblance on Yoshimi to the recent works of Radiohead, but then again there's definitely much that parallels the Lips' career with that of our faves from across the Atlantic. Like Radiohead, The Flaming Lips have chosen ever more increasing studio experimentation, combining electronic music elements with lush arrangements and cohesive album-oriented productions. But more significant perhaps is that Yoshimi, a semi-concept album, shares a similar paranoid and alienated angst that Radiohead has been honing these last several albums. But where as Radiohead takes a decidedly maudlin, Orwellian approach in their song writing, the Flaming Lips work in an absurdist, comedic fashion more akin to Philip K. Dick. "One More Robot / Sympathy 3000-21" could have been cut straight out of a P.K.D. story: "Unit three thousand twenty one is warming / makes a humming sound - when its circuits duplicate emotions - and a sense of coldness detaches as it tries to comfort your sadness..." All this arranged about as close to a Sade song as Coyne and the Lips can conceivably get (which we also see as a friendly jab at the sterile audiophile machinations of modern "soul".) The humanization of machines vs. humanity stripped of love and hate is the theme that's mulled over throughout. Most of the songs on the album are in direct reference to a painful breakup (either real or concocted) and the fictional battle between Yoshimi and the Pink Robots is more of a parable for struggling in the aftermath of having one's heart dashed to pieces. The two themes are intertwined on the album, but loosely enough so that you aren't forced into a Pink Floyd Wall of a concept album. While not as completely rife with hits as The Soft Bulletin, there's a lot to be warmed up to with Yoshimi. At first listen it seemed as though the Lips and Mercury Rev-ifier Dave Fridman had produced nothing but 45 minutes of studio wizardry and ear candy, but continual listens finds these songs opening up like a veritable flower blossom. "In the Morning of the Magicians" with its recurring, heart rending instrumental bridge will even bring a tear to the most desiccated of eyes. And "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots" (Part 1, *not* part 2) will have you singing along in your best cracked falsetto soon enough. We imagine the bean counters at AOL/Time Warner had a hard time listening to this more than once, if at all, as they neglected to print up enough copies for the first run, and we're not sure of the significance or if the title and her appearance on this record are mere coincidences or -gasp- something more, but AQ fave/crushworthy drummer/vocalist Yoshimi of the mighty Boredoms was a musical guest!!
MPEG Stream: "In the Morning of the Magicians"
MPEG Stream: "One More Robot / Sympathy 3000-21"
MPEG Stream: "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots pt. 1"