Artist bio

Beloved in the underground rock world for its wacky psychedelic rock, Oklahoma City's Flaming Lips finagled a major-label deal with Warner Bros. in the early '90s, only to flirt with one-hit wonder status after "She Don't Use Jelly" blew up in 1994. But the Wayne Coyne-led outfit was unhindered by all the new attention. Instead, its records became progressively more high-concept and original, beginning with 1997's Zaireeka, a complete album with its constituent tracks spread across four distinct CDs. 1999's The Soft Bulletin featured some of the most beautiful music the Lips had ever fashioned, offering a compassionate counterpoint to ruminations on love, death, and the nature of life itself. The record drew the group previously unfathomable levels of critical acclaim which carried over into 2002's impressive Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots. At first, you may have wanted to just turn them off, but now, you can't wait to hear what the Flaming Lips will unveil next.

Albums by this artist

Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots (2002)

The Soft Bulletin (Recommended) (1999)

Zaireeka (1997)

Transmissions From The Satellite Heart (1993)

Telepathic Surgery (1989)

Interviews

Wayne's World
January 12, 2003

To Be A Flea On A Whale
October 18, 1999

Flaming Lips

Zaireeka

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» TROY CARPENTER | CO-DIRECTOR

Flaming Lips Zaireeka Warner Bros., 1997 RiYL: Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd, Modest Mouse, Built To Spill, Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music

The Flaming Lips' Zaireeka is a great step in evolution for the band, and the recording age of music. The Lips completely throw out convention in creating the first multiple sound source record. The concept, created by singer Wayne Coyne, is four recordings of the same album -- eight tracks in the same order with the same length. The catch is that they're not the same sounds.

Each CD contains different parts to each of the tracks -- on "Okay I'll Admit That I Really Don't Understand," for instance, the drum and bass are on CD1, the piano and voice on CD2 and rising and descending vocal melodies on CDs 3 and 4. But there is no rhyme or reason for the distribution of sounds from track to track. The extensive liner notes advise that the CDs can be simultaneously listened to in any combination, with the full effect only realized by using all four.

Zaireeka grew out of Coyne's experiments with multiple sound sources, beginning with a parking lot full of cars with tape decks. Somewhere along the way, Coyne learned the key to the album concept: CD players will not play in synch with each other. Thus, each listen to an album like Zaireeka should result in different sonic possibilities.

Ambitious yet impractical, this album takes a lot of work to listen to. Even if you can get four CD players together, you also need enough interested friends to help push the play buttons at the same time.

And don't go looking for the sequel to "She Don't Use Jelly" (the Lips' 1994 alternative pop hit) here. Augmenting the guitar/bass/drums format the band used to work with are pianos, horns, distorted screams, computer-game blips, and many other unidentifiable noises. "How Will We Know (Futuristic Crashendos)" is laden with extremely high and low frequencies and accompanied with a warning that the sounds "can cause a person to become disoriented, confused or nauseated." I kept my hands on my ears during the whole song but at the same time wanted to congratulate the band for having the gall to put that kind of thing on disc.

The album closer, "The Big Ol' Bug Is The New Baby Now," evolves into a vocals-up chorus with orchestral beauty when listened to on all four discs. "The March Of The Rotten Vegetables" is a monstrosity of a drum solo, with clashing, angular bits of distorted percussion coming from alternating sides of your room.

Sounds like a lot to handle, doesn't it?

Well, it is, but that's OK. At a list price only a couple bucks more than any other CD, you really do get more creativity than you pay for. The biggest thing is, alongside any electronic needs, Zaireeka requires patience. But think of it as the first foray into a new type of media. The Flaming Lips haven't necessarily produced the best multiple sound source album, just the first. As musical pioneers, they should be commended for Zaireeka and hopefully somebody will one day top it.

TROY CARPENTER | Troy Carpenter founded NATN from a Chicago apartment during the ambitious winter of 1998 with co-conspirators Ben French and Jonathan Cohen. After a five-year stint in New York, he and wife Lourdes have recently relocated to Indianapolis, where he spends days listening to music and nights in the kitchen at Elements restaurant. Musical heroes: Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, Super Furry Animals. What else makes life worth living: Sushi, Phucty, runs in the park, and the Atlanta Braves.