Review: The Flaming Lips - Embryonic

"I wish I could back...back in time" - are the words in which Wayne Coyne passionately pleads on the track Evil and this is what The Flaming Lips accomplish with Embryonic. They manage to find their psychedic roots; what they did and still do best. This comes off like it was released somewhere between Transmissions From The Satellite Heart and Clouds Taste Metallic. Don't get me wrong , I loved Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots but it had a great deal of clean, controlled studio tricks and had been touched up by David Friedmen's brush. Friedman is behind the controls again here with Scott Booker and The Lips but the sound is so different. This is raw; at times sounding like a live 70's era electric Miles Davis and other times sounding like something from Pink Floyd's Meddle. Once a while an album will instantly stop you in your tracks and keep you there. And for me, Embryonic is this album. If I had to give my pick for album of the year already...well...you know.

At first listen, I was so moved by the rawness and how dark and spacious the songs played out [track #9 "Powerless"]. This "loose feeling" plays out through both discs and pulls the listener though space and time with standout tracks like "Watching the Planets", "Silver Trembling Hands", "Evil, "Convinced Of The Hex" and “Worm Mountain”.

Don't waste your time with the standard realease of this lp - spend the money and get the Embryonic [LIMITED EDITION]. It includes: 2CD set with over 70+ minutes of music! Bonus audio DVD of the full album (The 96k 24 bit audio has 256 times more resolution than a standard CD which provides greater detail reproducing the music in it's full dynamic range. You can now experience exactly what the artist and producer hear in the studio.); Custom 'hard-cover book' with 24 pages of full color art, lyrics and band photos. This is a limited edition run that was custom designed by the Flaming Lips.

Flaming Lips on Colbert tonite!"Embryonic" News

We get a lot of press releases. Sometimes they are interesting. This one is particularly timely. Attendez-vous!

The Flaming Lips will appear on Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report on September 16^th, which airs that night at 10:30 p.m. Central.

The LIPS’ brand-new double-album, EMBRYONIC will be available online in its entirety for a limited-time only at http://www.colbertnation.com/ immediately after Wednesday night's show through Monday, September 21. This will be the first complete airing of the album in advance of release and the first time The Colbert Report has presented any album by an artist.

THE LIPS are appearing on Colbert to spread the word about EMBRYONIC, which will be released by Warner Bros. Records on October 13^th. This marks their first full studio set in three years following their Grammy Award-winning AT WAR WITH THE MYSTICS. EMBRYONIC, THE LIPS’ 12^th album, was recorded in Fredonia, NY, and Oklahoma City, OK, with studio whiz and general co-conspirator Dave Fridmann and just may be their most sonically adventurous and compositionally vernal form of musical expression ever.

EMBRYONIC will be released in multiple configurations: a standard CD, featuring 18 tracks, and a deluxe package that includes two CD’s (18 tracks plus a bonus audio DVD of the full album) and a custom hardcover book featuring 24 pages of full-color art, lyrics, and band photos. This deluxe package is a limited-edition run and has been custom-designed by THE FLAMING LIPS.

The album will also be released on vinyl with a single gatefold jacket that includes two colored LP’s (one blue and one yellow). A CD version of the album will be included with the vinyl package.

THE LIPS will also release EMBRYONIC in two Direct to Consumer packages available only via the band’s online store at http://www.flaminglips.com/. The deluxe DTC package, which will be sold as a digipack inside of a custom “fur” box, includes two CDs, plus a bonus 96k 24bit-super resolution audio DVD (256 times higher resolution rate than standard CD audio), and an exclusive album artwork lithograph. A very limited number of these prints will be autographed by the band.

A super MEGA Deluxe [emphasis added ;)] vinyl edition will also be made available in very limited quantities this coming winter 2009. A detailed explanation will be forthcoming. Keep an eye on the LIPS website for info.

Congrats to THE FLAMING LIPS!

Last week, The Oklahoma State Legislature voted to name "Do You Realize??" by THE FLAMING LIPS as "The Official Oklahoma State Rock and Roll Song."

This honor is the culmination of a nearly two-year process. Nominations for the rock song were collected from February to July 2008. More than 2,498 nominations were submitted for 458 songs.

Hey, there's more good news! ... THE FLAMING LIPS are beginning work this month on their follow-up to At War With The Mystics, recording once again with long-time sonic collaborator David Fridmann. The new album is expected this summer.

X MAS on Mars - Flaming Lips Movie in Madison, WI

See Xmas On Mars In Theaters!

See the movie in the Theaters in Madison, Wisconsin at The Orpheum, October 21-24

The film tells the story of the experiences of Major Syrtis during the first Christmas on a newly-colonized Mars. Coyne has described the film as "Maybe Eraserhead or Dead Man crossed with some kind of fantasy and space aspects, like The Wizard of Oz and maybe A Space Odyssey, except done without real actors or money, and set at Christmas-time. The story that unfolds is intended to hint at childlike magic within a tragic and realistic situation."[3]

Coyne elaborated to Rolling Stone magazine: "It's sometime in the future, Mars has been sort of conquered and there's a space station on it but the space program has gone into decline and these people are kind of stuck up there. They're in the process of converting the spaceships that took them there into a place to live in and that process doesn't go too smoothly. The whole thing ends up very dilapidated, very un-futuristic, un-'2001'. There's an element of confidence among the scientists, but the overall view is that things seem kind of doomed."

The main character, Major Syrtis (played by Steven Drozd, the band's multi-instrumentalist and arranger/composer), is trying to organise a Christmas pageant to celebrate the birth of the first colonist baby. Coyne explains that this birth is also special for other reasons, "The hype they've added to this Mars mission is that this beautiful woman is giving birth to this sort of artificial impregnation from this bubble that she wears on her stomach, which is the way infants are gonna be born in the future. It's all scientifically timed so she gives birth to this baby the second it hits midnight on Christmas. So it's symbolically the beginning of a new civilization. But instead of being born from religious ideas it's born from a science idea."

Wayne further elaborated to MTV.com: "Against a background of descending madness, Major Syrtis is trying to use the pageant to provide hope amongst the colonists, and the film tells the story of his struggle. You see his humiliation and his self-doubt because there are all these haphazard things that keep getting in the way of his determination to celebrate this first Christmas on Mars. A lot of the people are committing suicide, and one of them is this sort of Santa Claus that's supposed to preside over this big celebration. He dies right at the beginning and this presents Steven's character with several problems." Fortunately, Major Syrtis finds an unlikely ally in Coyne's strange and mysterious character, a "Martian that lands, but the Martian isn't really perceived as a Martian. People just sort of think he's another crazy guy who's flipped and turned himself green. They can't find a quick replacement for Santa so they just use this Martian guy. So the Martian guy becomes the Martian and Santa Claus at the same time."

Do you realize that you should vote for the Flaming Lips!

Make the official song for Oklahoma a Lips tune!

The good people in the state of Oklahoma, the hometown of The Flaming Lips, are looking for a new official state song, and they have seen fit to include "Do You Realize?" as a possible contender! But they're up against some stiff competition, so they need your votes to hit the highwater mark! Clickhere to vote, and pass it on!



flaminglips.com

Cold War Kids and The Flaming Lips Wow Willow Island

SoCo Music Experience – Madison 9/08/2007


All the hype was there with Southern Comfort wristbands, banners, booths, DJs, laptops, and VIP areas to brand, promote and drive sales for the alcohol industry giant. This was the only price an attendee had to pay to see some great music by artists Cold War Kids and The Flaming Lips. . . It was a great deal!
The festival started at 3pm with lesser known bands that kept the limited early crowd well entertained. [READ FULL REVIEW]

The Flaming Lips @ SoCo Music Experience, September 8, 2007, Madison WI

Well folks... this was my second Flaming Lips show (the first was a spectacular show at the Barrymore back in '99 when Wayne and Co. were doing the Soft Bulletin tour) and all the pre-show excitement, hype and expectations leading up to yesterday's concert was well founded ... maybe it was hanging out in the 'pit' for the majority of the show, or being enthralled by the spectacular sound and visual effects, or listening to some of my favorite Lips songs being performed live. Some pictures from the party that The Flaming Lips threw in Madison last night...

More picture coming soon... Cheers - Ankur

Flaming Lips to play Madison festival in Sept

You heard it here first folks!
Our inside sources say that the Flaming Lips will be coming to Madison in September as part of a Southern Comfort sponsored festival at Willow Island (located next to the Dane County Coliseum).

Show Details:
SoCo Music Experience - Featuring Flaming Lips, Cold War Kids, Cowboy Mouth, Sick Puppies, & Goat Motor. Admission is Free - Gates open at 2PM - MUST BE 21 OR OLDER TO GET IN.

Willow Island @ Alliant Energy Center