The Flaming Lips- "With A Little Help From My Fwendz"

 

There's an old saying that simply states: "Everything old is new again..." and like most things, this is a feeling that is expressed in extremes by The Flaming Lips.

The Flaming Lips have had their collective third eye open for a while now; a case could be made that throughout the band's 14 album career they've actively ridden the spiraled staircase straight to the enlightened rock gods of Mars and returned to share the good word (a sentiment that would probably be adored by enigmatic frontman, Wayne Coyne.) Without a moment's hesitation to expand sonically with each album, the Lips have become a psychedelic mainstay thanks their exuberant, unquenchable zeal for the bizarre and ZERO label interference (which in itself is a miracle, considering it's Warner Bros. Records-- give credit where credit's due). So what's the next logical step for the little band of oddballs and their merry cult of starchildren? Cover The Beatles.

But The Flaming Lips aren't JUST covering The Beatles, that band that's practically universally-appreciated (even the biggest of music critic naysayers tend to avoid arguing the fab four's relevance and THAT speaks volumes)-- no, Coyne and Co went straight for assimilating the entirety of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". A massive undertaking that makes COMPLETE sense on paper, "With A Little Help From My Fwends" boasts some of the strangest choices ever made by the band; which includes the guest appearances of My Morning Jacket, Moby, Electric Wurmz, Grace Potter, Tegan and Sara, and (WHAT?) Miley Cyrus.  Take all these elements, throw them in a blender, hit "frappé" and you have the finished product: An odd smattering of unrelated oddities miraculously mashed amidst each other until they resemble an album that you at one point owned. Recognizable and alien simultaneously, it's fever dream nostalgia at its peaks-- they hope you will enjoy the show, sit back and let the evening go.

Get YOUR copy of The Flaming Lips' "With A Little Help From My Fwendz" RIGHT HERE!

Flying Lotus- "YOU'RE DEAD!"

 

Steven Ellison, known more commonly to the irreverently-inclined as Flying Lotus, took the electronic music scene by storm with his Warp Records debut- Reset EP. Reluctant to be confined to traditional EDM tropes, FlyLo employs a myriad of obscurities into his mixing pot- a recipe that often includes deep jazz cuts, scattered loops and hip-hop fused beat production that are patchworked into otherworldly musings. As a producer, he demonstrates the precision of a surgeon tapering layers of sounds like an audio Jenga that never topples over.  With four full-length albums under his belt, Ellison doesn't show any signs of slowing down on his latest release, You're Dead!

Expanding his already expansive tools of the trade, You're Dead! is a record of maturing introversion and examination hidden between the cracks of acid-warped genre-bending and cartoon whimsy.  The deeper explorations of death (as a metaphoric concept, rather a finite limitation) are guided by an eclectic ensemble of guest stars including the likes of Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg and Herbie Hancock- all of which seamlessly cohabitate this parallel universe. You're Dead! is an otherworldly aural journey that grows within the listener with each spin and leaves you with new discoveries under each layer of sound.

Get YOUR COPY of Flying Lotus' "YOU'RE DEAD!" Right Here!

Prince- "Art Official Age/Plectrumelectrum"

 

Prince. So rarely has an artist maintained such a curious veil of mystery and mystique, while simultaneously producing a body of work that remains singular to the individual; Prince makes Prince music and while often imitated, its rarely the genuine article. Putting aside the proven track record for the bizarre, the memorable oddities of a career highlight reel, and the unending penchant for borderline-dictatorship creative control- Prince is the genuine article in mind, body and (what we'd safely assume is an otherworldly) spirit.

Reuniting with Warner Bros Records after nearly 18 years of disconnect, Prince has returned with not one- BUT TWO full length albums to prove his venerable presence is an essential voice in modern music. Both "Art Official Age" and "Plectrumelectrum" (with his hip-chick protege trio, 3rdEyeGirl) flex Prince's patented flair for the fret-fused, pop-sensible, funk n' roll grooves, while still treading into uncharted territory for his royal badness. "Age" is an eclectic pop tryst with nuanced autotune and dance beats more akin to familiar radio RnB that one would expect from the man that once publicly bashed Top 40 tunesmiths. While his outing with 3rdEyeGirl proves naysayers that Prince can still shred with the best of them- mixed with the bass and bombast of an arena rock record, this is an interesting and arguably welcome detour from his usual frequencies.

Not to be outweighed by his past accomplishments, Prince seems to be in flux at the moment- redefining who is is as an artist TO THIS DAY. 

Grab your own copy of PRINCE's "ART OFFICIAL AGE" HERE!