The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends (2012)

Just a few days before 2012's RSD (21/4/2012), it looks as though The Flaming Lips' next magnum opus might not even make the shops in time.

Online chat hit fever pitch as most RSD releases are limited - Eager fans and ebay scalpers were all scurrying to secure a copy or more.



Not to be outdone by Jack White's blue liquid-filled single, Wayne has actually drawn blood from his collaborators and the band to make just 10 super rare blood-filled copies of the album.  Proceeds from sales (A measely $2,500 each) go to local charities The Oklahoma Humane Society and The Academy of Contemporary Music at the University of Central Oklahoma.

The cover art is parody on John Lennon and Yoko Ono's Unfinished Music, Vol. 1: Two Virgins (1968) album.

Complete tracklist:

1. "2012 (You Must Be Upgraded)" (featuring Ke$ha, Biz Markie and Hour of the Time Majesty 12) – 4:09
2. "Ashes in the Air" (featuring Bon Iver) – 6:13
3. "Helping the Retarded to Find God" (featuring Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros) – 7:03
5. "Supermoon Made Me Want to Pee" (featuring Prefuse 73) – 3:17
6. "Children of the Moon" (featuring Tame Impala) – 5:32
7. "That Ain't My Trip" (featuring Jim James) – 3:47
8. "You, Man? Human???" (featuring Nick Cave) – 3:34
10. "I'm Working at NASA on Acid" (featuring Lightning Bolt) – 7:59
11. "Do It!" (featuring Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band) – 3:28
12. "Is David Bowie Dying?" (featuring Neon Indian) – 6:36
14. "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" (featuring Erykah Badu) (written by Ewan MacColl) – 10:04
15. "Girl, You're So Weird" (featuring New Fumes) – 3:21
16. "I Don't Want You to Die" (featuring Chris Martin) – 4:13*

*"Tasered and Maced" (featuring Aaron Behrens of Ghostland Observatory) – 2:43 replaces the vinyl track 16 for the CD/digital release owing to Chris Martins' contractural obligations to EMI.

Ashes in the Air Lyrics

The Videos

(NSFW x 3 - Nudity Alert)

The below NSFW video Featuring Erykah Badu caused an internet frenzy and had fans divided between the 2 camps:

...and had the band redo the video with an altogether willing Amanda Palmer:

Video Catchup

More Vids

Fast Forward Aug to Dec: 2012 Roundup

Not much to report for this 2nd half of the year - There's only a handful of notable albums to change the face of my mid year report... Frank Ocean, Menomena, Grizzly Bear and Thee Oh Sees.

So, if the world ends tomorrow, it'd end on a sadly unspectacular note.
Not that there weren't any highpoints; just not many that would go down as "classics".

Have been a glut concert-wise, and I'm glad to say most were around the 8/10 mark:
26/03 - elbow (Bombay Bicycle Club supporting)
03/04 - My Morning Jacket (Dawes Supporting)
26/07 - Jack White
27/07 - Father John Misty
15/09 - Jonathan Wilson
10/11 - Fat Freddy's Drop previewing their new album Blackbird  http://play.sydneyoperahouse.com/index.php/media/1705-Fat-Freddys-Drop-Blackbird.html
14/11 - Beck
16/11 - Grizzly Bear
02/12 - Spiritualized
14/12 - Tame Impala
(With a further 5 lined up if said Armageddon gets put on hold).

The below pics were taken by my new, yet unmastered Canon G12

(Purchased expressly for concerts)

Beck

Grizzly Bear

Spiritualized # 1

Spiritualized # 2

Tame Impala

Best 75 of 2012
001 Father John Misty – Fear Fun
002 The Flaming Lips – The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends (RSD Version)
003 Frank Ocean – channel ORANGE
004 Damien Jurado – Maraqopa
005 Perfume Genius – Put Your Back N 2 It
006 Alt-J – An Awesome Wave
007 Chromatics – Kill for Love
008 Menomena – Moms
009 Beach House – Bloom
010 Dirty Projectors – Swing Lo Magellan
011 Grizzly Bear – Shields
012 Caetano Veloso and David Byrne – Live at Carnegie Hall
013 Thee Oh Sees – Putrifiers II
014 Spiritualized – Sweet Heart Sweet Light
015 Django Django – Django Django
016 The Walkmen – Heaven
017 John Talabot – fIN
018 Tame Impala – Lonerism
019 Lambchop – Mr. M
020 Sweet Sweet Lies – The Hare, The Hound & The Tortoise
021 Trembling Bells & Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy – The Marble Downs
022 Donald Fagen – Sunken Condos
023 Islands – A Sleep and A Forgetting
024 Dr. John – Locked Down
025 Fiona Apple – Idler Wheel
026 Jack White – Blunderbuss
027 Dr. Dog – Be the Void
028 Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti – Mature Themes
029 Bob Dylan – Tempest
030 Godspeed You! Black Emperor – ‘Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend!
031 Fanfarlo – Rooms Filled with Light
032 Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros – Here
033 Andrew Bird – Break It Yourself
034 Jay Farrar, Yim Yames, Will Johnson and Anders Parker – New Multitudes
035 Tindersticks – The Something Rain
036 Giant Giant Sand – Tucson
037 Beachwood Sparks – The Tarnished Gold
038 The 2 Bears – Be Strong
039 Quantic & Alice Russell – Look Around the Corner
040 Twin Shadow – Confess
041 Tanlines – Mixed Emotions
042 David Byrne & St. Vincent – Love This Giant
043 Brendan Benson – What Kind of World
044 Dexys – One Day I’m Going to Soar
045 Wild Nothing – Nocturne
046 Monolake – Ghosts
047 Orbital – Wonky
048 Matthew Dear – Beams
049 Black Moth Super Rainbow – Cobra Juicy
050 The Temper Trap – The Temper Trap
051 Passion Pit – Gossamer
052 Hot Chip – In Our Heads
053 Delta Spirit – Delta Spirit
054 The Shins – Port of Morrow (Severely marked down for appalling song order)
055 VCMG – Ssss
056 Sinead O’Connor – How About I Be Me (And You Be You)
057 Animal Collective – Centipede Hz
058 Richard Hawley – Standing at the Sky’s Edge
059 Woods – Bend Beyond
060 Calexico – Algiers
061 Band of Horses – Mirage Rock
062 Scissor Sisters – Magic Hour
063 M. Ward – A Wasteland Companion
064 Madonna – MDNA
065 Lana Del Rey – Born to Die (Remember her?)
066 Miike Snow – Happy to You
067 The Presets – Pacifica
068 Cat Power – Sun
069 Bat for Lashes – The Haunted Man
070 The Vaccines – The Vaccines Come of Age
071 The Dandy Warhols – This Machine
072 Simian Mobile Disco – Unpatterns
073 Divine Fits – A Thing Called Divine Fits
074 The xx – Coexist
075 Yeasayer – Fragrant World


Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!

Here's to 2013!