The fifth list is of 11 tracks for which details of all the special surround effects are printed in the note booklet, so perhaps there are 11 DVD-Audio tracks – not 6 after all. I tried to open them with QuickTime, RealPlayer and WMA without success, so they must not be cross platform, thanksalot. Then there are two short animated episodes provided as DVD-ROM files. The album has five different lists of contents: One with 11 tracks for the separate CD, one with 6 tracks for the 5.1 DVD-Audio options, and a third for the DVD Videos – amounting to ten tracks due to all the Making Of…videos. They are often surprisingly life-affirming while dealing with robots, fist fights and the trials of turning 40. The songs are certainly on a different tack than the nihilistic violence of most rock today. In one there are frequent cuts to him playing and singing in front of a group of tuba players, but none of the players have their mouths anywhere near the mouthpieces – they’re just moving around sort of in time to the music. Coyne is definitely not striving for a tightly-presented visual/auditory style here his facial expressions and arm motions convey an “ehhh…who cares?” sort of attitude. The very loose, anything goes demeanor of the band is not only heard on all the tracks but also seen in the videos. The band’s arranger and multi-instrumentalist Steven Drozd is responsible for the overall sound of the tracks, which in spite of the frequent sci-fi references is not at all hard or inhuman-sounding. Guitars, saxes and brass instruments are mixed with electronics in a bubbling sort of soundscape. No idea what their other albums are like, but this one is musically generally warm and fuzzy melodically and not exactly intellectual in the lyrics department. Musically, the band focuses on lead vocalist Wayne Coyne and his guitar I couldn’t even find a listing of all the band members on the group’s own web site. I’d never heard The Flaming Lips before but was very curious about this “Dual” disc when it came out originally in 2003 due to the publicity about its emphasis on programming it especially for surround sound – to the extent of even making “5.1” part of the album title! Why it only came in for review now is not clear, but anyway it’s a must for this site which emphasizes music in surround, and we’re glad we got our hands on it finally.
THE FLAMING LIPS – Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots 5.1 – Warner Bros.
0 kommentar(er)
