The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends

1. "2012" (feat. Ke$ha and Biz Markie)
2. "Ashes In The Air" (feat. Bon Iver)
3. "Helping The Retarded To Know God" (feat. Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros)
4. "Supermoon Made Me Want To Pee" (feat. Prefuse 73)
5. "Children Of The Moon" (feat. Tame Impala)
6. "That Ain't My Trip" (feat. Jim James of My Morning Jacket)
7. "You, Man? Human???" (feat. Nick Cave)
8. "I'm Working At NASA On Acid" (feat. Lightning Bolt)
9. "Do It!" (feat. Yoko Ono)
10. "Is David Bowie Dying?" (feat. Neon Indian)
11. "The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face" (feat. Erykah Badu)
12. "Girl, You're So Weird" (feat. New Fumes)
13. "I Don't Want You To Die" (feat. Chris Martin of Coldplay) 

Quote credit: brainbandits.com

When awesome weirdos The Flaming Lips team up with Ke$ha, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Tame Impala, Nick Cave, Neon Indian, Erykah Badu, Yoko Ono, Bon Iver and Chris Martin, you can expect something strange to go down. But nothing could match the freak show that is The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends, an album of collaborations released for Record Store Day.

By most accounts, the album is all right, but it's the buzz surrounding the release that'll stick with you. Wayne Coyne also released a set of 10 special double albums with the blood of his collaborators embedded in the vinyl. This is freaky even for the Flaming Lips, whose recent output includes two EPs on flash drives embedded in edible gelatin skulls and fetuses. I won't even get started on their videos - although if you watch "Girl, You're So Weird", be prepared for nudity, animal masks, clouds of colored smoke and peeing on the floor - or their concert performances, with giant foam hands, confetti cannons, et al. You can read a review of the album on Pitchfork here, or check out this awesome Flaming Lips-themed blog and this great post about their New Year's Eve antics.

Coyne describes the followup to 2009's Embryonic as "beat-less, synthesizer-like church hymns. Really triumphant, but very depressing at the same time. Lovely suicidal music." Some fans might yearn for the comparative pop-oriented simplicity of The Soft Bulletin or Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, but the beauty of the Flaming Lips is their constant evolution, the way they oscillate from chaotic trance-rock to glittery, shimmering electronica, yet always manage to produce something new. Despite their age - founded in 1983, they're the same age as most indie buzz bands' fathers - they remain one of the best and most relevant groups around. Sounds promising.



"I’ve got blood from Ke$ha – she did it 20 minutes after I texted her. I said, 'Hey I need your blood,' and she said, 'Fuck, I’m there.' She sent me a little video and everything. It was awesome."

- Wayne Coyne, The Flaming Lips