The Flaming Lips – In The Morning Of The Magicians (2002)

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I’ve been listening to The Flaming Lips classic Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots this week. (Where did those 20 years go?!) I have been reminded what an epic piece of modern experimental rock ‘In The Morning Of The Magicians’ is. Wayne Coyne’s voice was always weak, but it doesn’t matter when you have this inventiveness and are surrounded by musicianship.

The Flaming Lips – The Captain (1999)

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There had been bootlegs of ‘The Captain’ circulating in the late 1990s, but the official release of a companion album to their classic The Soft Bulletin delivered a number of “leftover tracks”, including this over-the-top oddity. The band use frontman Wayne Coyne’s broken croon and a crescendo of organ, piano, guitar and drums to create another Flips catharsis.

The Radio Dept. ‎- Where Damage Isn’t Already Done (2003)

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‘Where Damage Isn’t Done’ features on The Radio Dept’s heavenly, fuzzy debut album Lesser Matters. Reminding me of a magical combo of Broken Social Scene’s ‘Stars and Sons’ and The Flaming Lips’ ‘Race For The Prize’. Beautiful.

The Flaming Lips – Space Oddity (2017)

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A Sunday oddity. To mark the first anniversary of David Bowie’s death, The Flaming Lips released and recorded a cover of his 1969 single ‘Space Oddity’.

The Flaming Lips – You n Me Sellin’ Weed (2020)

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Good morning! This might be the best song that The Flaming Lips have put out in years. As one eloquent YouTuber has put it, one can hear 30 years of Wayne Coyne and team in this song and it’s rad. ‘You n Me Sellin’ Weed’ shows that while he has literally lost his voice, he has not lost his heart.

The Flaming Lips – Flowers Of Neptune 6 (2020)

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A couple of false posts yesterday, sorry for that – I will release the songs as extras this weekend. Back to today… I’ve not really kept track of The Flaming Lips’ oeuvre since their halcyon days of 1995-2005. In truth, I think that’s because the quality has waned rather than my taste changing. Also, I think Coyne lost his voice through exuberance and all that has followed has been through the mask of experiment. But this month, they released a brand new track ‘Flowers of Neptune 6’ on Bella Union and it’s been reliably produced by Dave Fridmann. There’s enough in the psychedelic production and Floyd-like outro to keep me coming back to this one. Have a great weekend – although I’ll be in touch again tomorrow and Sunday.

9 of the best – Christmas songs

Merry Christmas listeners! Samuelsounds continues apace this festive period. For starters, I give you with my favourite sounds of yule… all neatly wrapped in chronological order.

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Nat King Cole – The Christmas Song (1961)

Vince Guaraldi Trio – Christmas Time Is Here (1965)

John Cale – Child’s Christmas in Wales (1973)

Wham! – Last Christmas (1984)

Chris Rea – Driving Home For Christmas (1986)

Run-D.M.C. – Christmas In Hollis (1987)

Mew – She Came Home for Christmas (2002)

The Flaming Lips – A Change at Christmas (Say It Isn’t So) (2003)

Sufjan Stevens – Did I Make You Cry On Christmas Day? (Well, You Deserved It) (2006)

The Flaming Lips – A Spoonful Weighs A Ton (1999)

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I saw The Flaming Lips at the Brixton Academy on Saturday night. It is the 20th anniversary of their opus The Soft Bulletin and frontman Wayne Coyne and pals treated us to the full album. ‘A Spoonful Weighs a Ton’ follows the album’s opener ‘Race For The Prize’. Now that’s a strong start.

9 of the best – sounds of 1995

A compilation to get the ears humming this weekend. My favourite 9 sounds of 1995, the swansong year for Britpop. Needless to say, Oasis and Blur feature.

The Smashing Pumpkins – 1979

The Flaming Lips – Placebo Headwound

Oasis – The Masterplan

Underworld – Born Slippy

Radiohead – Fake Plastic Trees

Sparklehorse – Cow

Teenage Fanclub – Versimilitude

Blur – The Universal

Moby – When It’s Cold I’d Like To Die

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Honourable mentions also go to: Pavement for ‘We Dance‘; Yo La Tengo for ‘Blue Line Swinger‘; Ol’ Dirty Bastard for ‘Shimmy Shimmy Ya‘; Rob Dougan for ‘Clubbed To Death‘; Sparklehorse for ‘Saturday‘; and Radiohead for ‘Planet Telex’ and ‘Street Spirit’.

The Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots Pt.1 (2002)

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Experimental, playful and top-of-their-game, The Flaming Lips were the bee’s knees in 2002. Part 1 of the title track off Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots always warrants a sing-a-long. The band and associated record labels have recently announced a Greatest Hits to be released in June. Not surprised to see this song feature; but what, no ‘Placebo Headwound’?!

9 of the best – sounds of 1999

A compilation for the weekend. My favourite songs of 1999 in no particular order:

Röyksopp – So Easy

Blur – Coffee And TV

Dr. Dre – Still D.R.E.

Wilco – She’s A Jar

Pavement – Spit On A Stranger

Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy – I See A Darkness

dEUS – Instant Street

The Flaming Lips – Race For The Prize

Sigur Rós – Starálfur

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Honourable mentions also go to: Pépé Bradock & The Grand Brûlé’s Choir for ‘Deep Burnt‘; Mos Def for ‘Ms. Fat Booty‘; Shack for ‘Comedy‘; Pete Heller for ‘Big Love‘; The Flaming Lips for ‘A Spoonful Weighs A Ton‘; Moby for ‘Porcelain‘; and Death in Vegas for ‘Dirge‘.

9 of the best – sounds of noughties

I give you my favourite nine sounds of the 2000s in chronological order. It would seem that 2004 was peak noughties to these ears…

The Avalanches – Since I Left You (2000)

The Strokes – Modern Age (2001)

The Flaming Lips – Do You Realize? (2002)

Broken Social Scene – Stars And Sons (2003)

The Walkmen – The Rat (2004)

Sébastien Tellier – La Ritournelle (2004)

Sigur Rós – Hoppípolla (2005)

 Midlake – Bandits (2006)

Beirut – Nantes (2007)

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Honourable mentions also go to: Lambchop for ‘Up With The People’ (2000); Outkast for ‘Ms. Jackson’ (2000); Ian Brown for ‘F. E. A. R.’ (2001); The Shins for ‘New Slang‘ (2001); Kings Of Leon for ‘Red Morning Light‘ (2003); Radiohead for ‘A Wolf At The Door’ (2003); Mew for ‘Comforting Sounds’ (2003); Kasabian for ‘Club Foot’ (2004); Danger Mouse for his remix of ‘Public Service Announcement’ (2004); The Good, the Bad and the Queen for ‘Herculean’ (2006); The Hold Steady for ‘The Chillout Tent‘ (2006); The Strokes for ‘You Only Live Once’ (2006); Adele for ‘Chasing Pavements‘ (2008); and Jay Electronica for ‘Exhibit C’ (2009).

9 of the best – sounds of 2002

Before we get to the nitty gritty of choosing some favourite sounds of the year, a quick canter back to 2002, with songs in no particular order:

Wilco ‎- Jesus, etc.

The Knife – Heartbeats

The Flaming Lips – Do You Realize?

Supergrass – Prophet 15

Max Richter – November

The Notwist – One With The Freaks

Boards Of Canada – Alpha And Omega

Interpol – Obstacle 1

Wilco – Ashes of American Flags

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Honourable mentions also go to: The Flaming Lips for ‘In The Morning Of The Magicians‘; Layo & Bushwacka for ‘Lovestory‘; John Murphy for ‘In The House, In A Heartbeat‘; Múm for ‘Green Grass Of Tunnel‘; The Promise Ring for ‘Become One Anything One Time‘; People Under The Stairs for ‘Acid Raindrops‘; The White Stripes for ‘Fell In Love With A Girl‘; The Libertines for ‘Up The Bracket‘; Sigur Rós for ‘Vaka (Untitled)‘; and Red Hot Chili Peppers for ‘Universally Speaking‘.

The Flaming Lips – Race For The Prize (1999)

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Have I really waited 5 years to post this song? The revolutionary sound of The Soft Bulletin. This was The Flaming Lips in 1999 and the glory of their ‘Race For The Prize’. “They’re just humans/With wives and children!”

Grandaddy – He’s Simple, He’s Dumb, He’s The Pilot (2000)

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Jumping a decade, the new millennium had hit and The Flaming Lips had released their brilliant LP Soft Bulletin to top off the 1990s. And so, it was no coincidence that I was lapping up all things americana and psychedelic. Released in May 2000, The Sophtware Slump is the second studio pressing from Grandaddy. The opening track ‘He’s Simple, He’s Dumb, He’s the Pilot’ is lush, conceptual and multi-layered. Have a great week.