pop-culture for the people

So I’ve been having computer problems lately.  A new hard disk I bought about a year ago crapped out and is of course my main drive.  So I’m out of a computer for a little while until I can get that puppy replaced (and hopefully I won’t have lost any or at the most much data).  This of course puts a slight damper on my MvsR posting schedule for right now…

I’ve also heard some feedback about redoing the frontpage and I agree, it would be nice to have a better way to display all of the new stuff without making slightly old (aka fairly recently posted) stuff disappear from the frontpage.  Designing an interface is a pain, as the version we have now is the result of lots of trial and error.  If you have any suggestions, let me know.  I’d also like to have a way to allow readers to click on a writer’s name on the frontpage and be able to see their list of postings.  I’ve gotta look into how to do that.  Anyway, it’s on the list, but will have to wait until I get back online…

Here’s a few amusing links for you.  Fun Google Hacks.  X-Com Remake Demo.  Electromagnetic Art.  LivePelt.  The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra.  I CAN’T WAIT!!!!!!

I decided to take over the news.  We’ll see if this lasts. 

Remember the movie Piranha? Well its happening in England.

Do we really want the Postal Service to be responsible for saving the USA in case of a bio-terrorism attack?  I mean really, it takes them three days to mail stuff within the same town.

You know, I think screaming children are bad enough, but do you really want a crotch-sniffing, begging, drooler at restaurants too?

And finally: I have been hearing this type of thing for THREE YEARS.  When are we going to impeach this guy?

Every rock band of any calibre of greatness undergoes a metamorphosis in which the garage stylings are rounded off, and with a newly forged style, an uncertain musicial experimentation begins. Submerged after brief recognition somewhere under the radar of alternative rock, The Flaming Lips have re-emerged at the forefront of experimental rock with the spacey, electro-pop odyssey Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots.

Preserving their habitual devotion to fun, kind-spirited sounds and lyrics, The Flaming Lips create a pleasant album, which is as happy as it is bombastic. Karate girls fight robots. Computers zap and gnash with all the quirks of a 70’s TV robot. Cymbal crashes. Fans cheer. Hands clap. UFOs land. The goofy and serene wonders coupled with Wayne Coyne’s lazy-soft voice give the album a unique and accessible flavor.

Songs like Flight Test, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots pt. I, and Do You Realize? are mature and intelligently composed pieces with a purity found in the music of James Taylor or Cat Stevens. Well-cultured computer effects startle and relax into these genuine tracks creating the feel of a concept album.

Orchestrated, complicated, and somehow wistful and sweet, Yoshimi is arguably the masterpiece of The Flaming Lips. It’s hard to feel any aggression to this progressive bunch for being “strange for the sake of it” marred in abstract apocolypitic aggression. In fact, they’re proof that a modern day experimental band need not be filled with pretention or angst. Evoking memories of silly sci-fi and fantasy, Yoshimi plays like the happy soundtrack to a space rocket tour of Oz; well beyond brilliant, just shy of ridiculous.

Classic rock fans can liken this album to Alan Parsons Project’s I, Robot or the bizzarre 70s keyboard stylings of Rick Wakeman. There’s a definite space-funk vibe with a folk-rock soul which makes this album a true original, even amidst the oddball catalogue of The Flaming Lips. Better and more blissfully schitzofrenic with each endeavor, the Flaming Lips triumph with Yoshimi and it’s hard to imagine what they, or any other experimental artist, could do to top it.

-Hazzard

Buy This Album at Amazon.com