Saturday, December 19, 2009

Flaming Lips to Ring in the New Year with Pink Floyd‏

by Brent Warnken

It isn't what you might think. The Flaming Lips aren't performing with Pink Floyd, but rather performing the band's iconic album Dark Side of the Moon in its entirety.

Pitchfork online reports that the band will cover the album at its New Year's Eve Freakout at the Cox Center in the band's hometown of Oklahoma City. A flier on the band's official website promises: "Starting at midnight: A special performance of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon ... all humans are urged to attend."

Pitchfork's website previously reported that the band would be paying tribute to Pink Floyd - as the Lips' sound clearly follows in the footsteps of the forefathers of psychedelic rock - by covering Dark Side of the Moon for an iTunes-only release.

The Lips' version of the album features the band collaborating with the group Stardeath and White Dwarfs (Lips frontman Wayne Coyne's nephew Dennis Coyne is on the roster) and sees cameos by Peaches and Henry Rollins as well. Although Dark Side of the Moon certainly doesn't need to be improved upon, no one is more up to the task than the Flaming Lips.

While the release date of the Lips' rendition of the dorm room staple remains up in the air, fans can see the band live by securing the Flaming Lips tickets online. The Flaming Lips have played a handful of dates in support of their latest album Embryonic this year, such as a gig at the Voodoo Music Experience in New Orleans over Halloween weekend. The Lips announced plans to embark on a full-blown tour in the new year, so stay tuned.

The Lips first formed in Oklahoma City in 1983, playing their first gig at a local transvestite club and soon releasing their self-titled debut album. Three albums and various lineup changes later, Warner Bros. signed the psych-rock leaning band in 1991. The band's major label debut, Hit to Death in the Future Head, arrived in 1992 and was followed by Sublime Transmissions from the Satellite Heart in 1993. The album spawned the sleeper hit single "She Don't Use Jelly," which climbed the charts, eventually landing in the Top 40.

More hits followed with the release of Clouds Taste Metallic in 1995, by which point the band had achieved cult status. In 2002, the band released Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots to both critical acclaim and commercial success, largely due to the single "Do You Realize?" Wayne Coyne & Co. toured with Beck in support of the album and released the documentary The Fearless Freaks before issuing the follow-up to Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, 2006's At War with the Mystics. The album earned a nod for Best Alternative Album at the Grammys in 2007 while the Lips took home the award for Best Engineered Alternative Album, Non-Classical.

After a few years out of the studio, the Flaming Lips released Embryonic earlier this year to rave reviews. The album was hailed a return to the experimental sound that made the band a cult favorite in the first place. Rather than record the album track-by-track, the Lips recorded a series of jam sessions and eventually pieced them together to create the album.

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