The Flaming Lips - And Heady Fwends (01/08/2012)
There are fewer things more daunting than reviewing one of the most beloved bands of recent times, The Flaming Lips.
Wayne Coyne and co. are back and they have brought some of the biggest names in the music industry with them for The Flaming Lips And Heady Fwends and as usual they don’t just push the envelope, they shred it and shoot it out of a confetti cannon.
The eclectic mix of artists include Yoko Ono, Nick Cave, Jim James and the pop tart with interesting views on oral hygiene, Ke$ha. Putting together collaborations with such an expansive and different artists is at best a risk and at worst a trainwreck. At first listen ...Heady Fwends finds itself somewhere in the middle of the two, but on futher listening the crazy, magical genius of Coyne shines blindingly.
‘2012 (You Must Be Upgraded)’, a collaboration with Ke$ha and Biz Markie looks like a disaster on paper but actually fizzes up into something fun and frothy. While not being the strongest track on the album, it plays its part and is perfect opener.
The same cannot be said for the Bon Iver collaboration. Justin Vernon is great, Wayne Coyne is great but together on ‘Ashes In The Air’ their combined vocals sound monotonous and the end result is flat.
By far, the strongest and most haunting offering on ...Heady Fwends is ‘Helping The Retarded Know God’ with Edwin Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeros. This song alone is worth buying the entire album for, just to read the tragic inspiration behind it. ‘Helping The Retarded Know God’ does more than more, it rips your still beating heart from your chest and holds it in front of your face.
Honerable mentions should be extended to the sparsely beautiful ‘The First Time Ever I saw Your Face’, a ten minute exercise in grace with Erykah Bahdu.
Maddy Thomas
Wayne Coyne and co. are back and they have brought some of the biggest names in the music industry with them for The Flaming Lips And Heady Fwends and as usual they don’t just push the envelope, they shred it and shoot it out of a confetti cannon.
The eclectic mix of artists include Yoko Ono, Nick Cave, Jim James and the pop tart with interesting views on oral hygiene, Ke$ha. Putting together collaborations with such an expansive and different artists is at best a risk and at worst a trainwreck. At first listen ...Heady Fwends finds itself somewhere in the middle of the two, but on futher listening the crazy, magical genius of Coyne shines blindingly.
‘2012 (You Must Be Upgraded)’, a collaboration with Ke$ha and Biz Markie looks like a disaster on paper but actually fizzes up into something fun and frothy. While not being the strongest track on the album, it plays its part and is perfect opener.
The same cannot be said for the Bon Iver collaboration. Justin Vernon is great, Wayne Coyne is great but together on ‘Ashes In The Air’ their combined vocals sound monotonous and the end result is flat.
By far, the strongest and most haunting offering on ...Heady Fwends is ‘Helping The Retarded Know God’ with Edwin Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeros. This song alone is worth buying the entire album for, just to read the tragic inspiration behind it. ‘Helping The Retarded Know God’ does more than more, it rips your still beating heart from your chest and holds it in front of your face.
Honerable mentions should be extended to the sparsely beautiful ‘The First Time Ever I saw Your Face’, a ten minute exercise in grace with Erykah Bahdu.
Maddy Thomas