STACK #147 Jan 2017

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MUSIC FEATURE

Transmissions From The Satellite Heart

The Soft Bulletin

At War With The Mystics

Embryonic

They remain funny, challenging, different and full of the unexpected. On the eve of the release of their latest album Oczy Mlody , Graham Reid considers the cornerstones of The Flaming Lips. Words Graham Reid

• Oczy Mlody is out January 13 via Warner.

I t was the costumes and huge balloons really, wasn't it? The Flaming Lips – the vehicle of frontman Wayne Coyne – proved that even at the height of post-grunge seriousness in the ‘90s, you were allowed to be silly and have fun. And he always looked like he was. But The Flaming Lips had already been around a long time (they started in the early ‘80s) before their dreamy, psychedelic, 2002 effort Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots took them to a massive international audience. We'll sidestep their earliest work (see 'And also' below) and will assume you've got Yoshimi , and we will avoid their covers albums ( With A Little Help From My Fwends , ...The Dark Side Of The Moon ) but aim for four key albums to introduce the strange and compelling world of The Flaming Lips.

Christmas On Mars and so on. But this one – emotional with ruminations on the Big Issues like the powerlessness of humankind (among other themes) – managed to marry the ideas with great songs and sonic landscapes, as well as a little necessary humour. If some of his music since has been a little off- target, you'd never count out The Flaming Lips. And also... The very early Lips stuff is gathered on the three-CD collection Finally The Punk Rockers Are Taking Acid , released in late 2002 – well worth seeking out to hear where they came from. If you like that, check out The Day They Shot A Hole In The Jesus Egg , a double-CD collection also from 2002, released to take advantage of the band’s high profile after Yoshim i. They were different back then. But then again, they've always been different.

Transmissions From The Satellite Heart (1993) The sort-of hit single She Don't Use Jelly could have had them pinned as a gimmick band, but this album was full of different delights which covered everything from dense rock noise to tripped-out soundscapes. Jelly opened the door but the rest of this opened heads. The Soft Bulletin (1999) After their four-CD project Zaireeka – all discs to be played either simultaneously or out of synch – this almost seemed very straight-

confirmed Coyne's particular genius in songs that alluded to global politics, but also kept the tripped-out component high as they bounced between the almost comedic to ethereal and space- bound rock. Not as easy as Yoshimi , but one for those ready for a challenge. Embryonic (2009) For some there was the sense that Coyne was losing the plot a little with expansive albums, digressions with famous friends, his long-gestating film project

ahead. In actuality it is quite a bent, psychedelic rock album full of textures, concise ideas and an almost symphonic ambition. It was immediately acclaimed as among the best of the year, if not the decade that was drawing to a close; it had heart and soul but also hit the head. If they grab you with this then find the expanded Soft Bulletin 5.1 edition which came out in 2002. At War With The Mystics (2006) This long awaited and much anticipated follow-up to Yoshimi

JANUARY 2017

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