Everybody (well, maybe except for Win Butler) loves Wayne Coyne. As the whimsical ringleader behind indie rock mainstay the Flaming Lips, it seems like this guy’s been putting out albums since before a lot of us were even born. And, luckily, there’s no end in sight. But if by now, you’re only expecting more of the same, think again. The Lips’ newest LP, The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends, is a well-done and complex collaborative effort, a revolutionary premise for a band who have run the gamut of the indie game. 

After the release of Embryonic in 2009, the Flaming Lips began collaborating on EPs with several different artists from Neon Indian to Yoko Ono. Well, the train just kept on rolling until Coyne and Co. had collected enough musicians to create a full length album; thirteen songs, four sides, and fourteen different guest musicians that range from friendly contemporaries to mind-boggling surprises.

The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends features artists from the worlds of indie (Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Neon Indian) to experimental (Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band, Prefuse 73) to mainstream (Chris Martin, and– wait for it– Ke$ha.) But what’s most impressive about the album isn’t who’s on it, but how well they all mesh together. Despite the sometimes utterly bizarre pairings (did I forget Biz Markie? Yup, he’s on there, too), The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends is quite listenable, and overall, a really nice, interesting LP.

Read the rest of this entry »

An eclectic mix that both invokes and soothes post-present anxieties.

Five Years – David Bowie

Do You Realize?? – The Flaming Lips

It’s the End of the World as We Know it (And I Feel Fine) – R.E.M.

The Death Song – Marilyn Manson

Obstacle 2 – Interpol

Down In The Park – tubeway army

The Robots – Kraftwerk

Future Proof – Massive Attack

The Future That Never Way – Powerman 5000

Listen to the playlist here: http://listen.grooveshark.com/#/playlist/Futureshocked/37980258