View Full Version : Watching the Lips on Letterman right now...
I can't believe everyone in America is not a fan.
Jimminy Crimson
3/31/2006, 12:38 AM
If people aren't fans of the Lips, then their ears don't work properly.
Simple.
As.
That.
Wayne Coyne RMFO! :cool:
proud gonzo
3/31/2006, 01:18 AM
i have never heard anything by them at all.
Jimminy Crimson
3/31/2006, 01:27 AM
i have never heard anything by them at all.
ded.
to.
jed.
:wayne coyne:
GottaHavePride
3/31/2006, 01:33 AM
Ah. Indie rock. Just not my style. It's not bad, it's just not what I would ever choose to listen to.
SicEmBaylor
3/31/2006, 04:00 AM
The Flaming Lips are pretty damned good; the thing I like about them is they sound good live as well which is a rarity these days.
Okla-homey
3/31/2006, 07:00 AM
i have never heard anything by them at all.
Have the butler pick up the indie film "Okie Noodling" where you buy DVD's dahling. They performed the soundtrack. Its all quite avant garde and sinfully delicious. Ciao.
I forgot to Tivo it and crashed early. :(
caphorns
3/31/2006, 08:41 AM
I've got to admit that while I own CDs and would consider myself of fan, the vocals dance somewhere in between an acquired taste and just plain awful. Understanding the avant-garde roots, we are not talking people-pleasing music. But when you push the songwriting out with good vocals - ala Ben Folds version of "She Don't Use Jelly" - you can see that the songwriting actually has some sustainable quirkiness you couldn't find easily.
In other words, most avant-garde or novel music is not skillfully done. That would not be the case with the Lips. It's worth some time trying to dig in a bit beyond the painfully strained vocal musings if you truly like music. Unlike most published music these days, you might find something actually inventive rooted there.
BeetDigger
3/31/2006, 09:59 AM
I forgot to Tivo it and crashed early. :(
Forgetting to Tivo will do that to you. :D
slickdawg
3/31/2006, 10:00 AM
i have never heard anything by them at all.
I'm with PG
I read Rolling Stone, this is because if they like it, I know I won't 99% of the time.
Hatfield
3/31/2006, 10:59 AM
they just announced they will be headlining wakarusa this summer
www.wakarusa.com
mdklatt
3/31/2006, 11:11 AM
I can't believe everyone in America is not a fan.
I agree, except the exact opposite of this. :D
Their music literally makes me cringe, and I've made several attempts to listen to it. I even watched them on Letterman last night--for about 20 seconds. It's just fingernails on a chalkboard to me.
Letterman (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyoHa4noRhU) (seeing them live without all the visual craziness that comes with their live shows in a bit of a letdown)
The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZO0egREjUQ)
Condescending Sooner
3/31/2006, 12:05 PM
I actually stayed up to watch them last night since they were from Oklahoma. What a waste of time.........Godawful. Other than the vocals being horrendous, stupid song, below average musicianship, they might be acceptable.
BlondeSoonerGirl
3/31/2006, 12:07 PM
Uh-oh...
Letterman (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyoHa4noRhU) (seeing them live without all the visual craziness that comes with their live shows in a bit of a letdown)
The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZO0egREjUQ)
Any video with hot Asian chicks, hamburgers and duct tape rawks in my book. I aspire to make my own video with all of these in it one of these days.
soonerbrat
3/31/2006, 12:18 PM
just watched it...i thought it was anti-climactic. i was hoping they'd do "the wand"
Sooner04
3/31/2006, 12:20 PM
I saw them as I was waiting for Craig Ferguson's show to begin.
I thought they were awful.
proud gonzo
3/31/2006, 12:23 PM
I actually stayed up to watch them last night since they were from Oklahoma. What a waste of time.........Godawful. Other than the vocals being horrendous, stupid song, below average musicianship, they might be acceptable.
sombody lives up to their handle.
sooneron
3/31/2006, 12:27 PM
Some people don't get it. That's OK. There's a place for you somewhere.
There's a place for you somewhere.
over by the good music? :texan:
BeetDigger
3/31/2006, 12:30 PM
Any video with hot Asian chicks, hamburgers and duct tape rawks in my book. I aspire to make my own video with all of these in it one of these days.
You can start anytime. I think you all of the above already at home. :mack:
Sooner04
3/31/2006, 12:30 PM
I thought the five minutes the Lips took up could've been better served by having Huey Lewis and the News perform.
sooneron
3/31/2006, 12:31 PM
I thought the five minutes the Lips took up could've been better served by having Huey Lewis and the News perform.
Thanks for making my point there, generic.
You can start anytime. I think you all of the above already at home. :mack:
Can you help me talk her into it? Although to get the chicks part of it, I guess I would have to work on her sisters, too.
Sooner04
3/31/2006, 12:32 PM
Thanks for making my point there, generic.
You, of all people, should know it's hip to be square.
;)
proud gonzo
3/31/2006, 12:33 PM
HEH. :D
proud gonzo
3/31/2006, 12:33 PM
Letterman (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyoHa4noRhU) (seeing them live without all the visual craziness that comes with their live shows in a bit of a letdown)
The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZO0egREjUQ)
just watched the video. video: funny. song: meh.
caphorns
3/31/2006, 12:34 PM
I'm with Condescending on the vocals but not the musicianship. Didn't see the performance last night though.
It's not an uncommon thing to have that high pitched whiney vocal among the indy bands. Maybe it's kind of an in-your-face move, but it also is flat out annoying. Same deal with Mercury Rev (which I listened to again in my car this morning and I consider brilliant). Combine it with the spaced out instrumental effects and people are quick to think this is another indy band solely trying to be novel.
But, I guess that's my ultimate point here. This band, if you reach through the depths of their catalogue and not just one performance (and consider when they started doing this), has produced some very inspiring and novel molodic material. Much of it has been reused by others, very effectively. It's kind of a similar effect that Pavement has on people. Musicians/artists often love it, but "listeners" generally don't.
sooneron
3/31/2006, 12:35 PM
You, of all people, should know it's hip to be square.
;)
No it's not and never was. You were like 5 when that song came out.
BlondeSoonerGirl
3/31/2006, 12:37 PM
But, I guess that's my ultimate point here. This band, if you reach through the depths of their catalogue and not just one performance (and consider when they started doing this), has produced some very inspiring and novel molodic material. Much of it has been reused by others, very effectively. It's kind of a similar effect that Pavement has on people. Musicians/artists often love it, but "listeners" generally don't.
Word.
Viking Kitten
3/31/2006, 12:38 PM
Can I get one of those plastic tarps people in the front row at the Gallegher show wear?
Sooner04
3/31/2006, 12:38 PM
No it's not and never was. You were like 5 when that song came out.
I was four, when Fore! came out.
BlondeSoonerGirl
3/31/2006, 12:39 PM
I was four, when Fore! came out.
Oh, sweet grandmother's Crock Pot...
I'm old...
Here's two of the many reasons you should love the Flaming Lips.
Confetti Bomb (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aEvg7l9Ey4)
The Bubble (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2b1VaVHektk)
The one and only time I've seen the Lips live trumphs any other live show I've ever seen, tenfold.
GottaHavePride
3/31/2006, 12:47 PM
I listened to a bit of their stuff out of curiosity. I can tell the people playing are good, and it's inventive and all (although I'll agree the singer is not what you'd call a "naturally gifted" singer). I'm just not into that sound. Add some Victor Wooten and we'd have something...
BlondeSoonerGirl
3/31/2006, 12:50 PM
It's about what they're doing and why they're doing it - not how good they sound while they do it. That's what makes them so cool. I think, anyway...
But if you listen to them with your musical ear you'll prolly not like them. If you listen to them with your eyes you'll love them.
Jimminy Crimson
3/31/2006, 12:54 PM
All of you haters need to watch Fearless Freaks and get back with us.
TIA!
BlondeSoonerGirl
3/31/2006, 12:55 PM
All of you haters need to watch Fearless Freaks and get back with us.
TIA!
Word.
Again.
:eddie:
BlondeSoonerGirl
3/31/2006, 12:57 PM
Here it comes...
sooneron
3/31/2006, 12:59 PM
I wish they had performed The WAND. This talk would not be happening right now.
slickdawg
3/31/2006, 01:01 PM
Flaming lips - isn't that kinda like what got Pat baned?
LilSooner
3/31/2006, 01:09 PM
Fearless Freaks is what made me a fan. People who do not appreciate the lips (04 I'm looking in your direction) are no friends of mine.
Jimminy Crimson
3/31/2006, 01:15 PM
Fearless Freaks is what made me a fan. People who do not appreciate the lips (04 I'm looking in your direction) are no friends of mine.
He's waiting for a collaboration between Wayne & Huey, I bet.
sooneron
3/31/2006, 01:26 PM
He's waiting for a collaboration between Wayne & Huey, I bet.
Na, the supergroup combo of the Lips with the Outfield!:texan:
mdklatt
3/31/2006, 01:31 PM
But if you listen to them with your musical ear you'll prolly not like them. If you listen to them with your eyes you'll love them.
So you're saying I should have hit the MUTE button last night and all would have been well?
Sooner04
3/31/2006, 02:17 PM
He's waiting for a collaboration between Wayne & Huey, I bet.
Huey wouldn't stoop to such levels.
I bet Geddy Lee is available.
I like Huey Lewis and the News and The Lips. I'm a follower.
caphorns
3/31/2006, 02:32 PM
Rough and loosely structured music never goes over well at first listen. I'd say it's not so much turning down the music as taking in the art like you are in an artspace (not picking a tune that's skippy, sad or fits with your emotional outlook). I know this doesn't make sense to 90% of the planet, but that's how the trained ears tend to think of these things. There is some merit to the position that modern art grows by consensus. The Lips gathered quite a bit of critical consensus from Rolling Stone/Melody Maker/etc. So, in a large sense, it's right to say that they are cool for people to like because the cool people like them. Forgetting all that, I find the music (particularly Soft Bulletin) pretty rich and easy to understand - but only if you are the type to listen to music with headphones on. It's not the music you want blaring from your Z.
I'd bet they have more fans in England than in Oklahoma. The English prefer a broader pallet musically than Americans.
Condescending Sooner
3/31/2006, 02:42 PM
They remind me of Caviar. Nobody really likes it (if they are being truthful to themselves), but since it considered cool or good for your image, people pretend to like it. Then they start to manufacture reasons why they enjoy said salty fish eggs/band. If I wanted to listen to someone with a screechy off key voice singing voice, I would request more songs from the Mother in Law.
BigRedJed
3/31/2006, 02:47 PM
OK, here's the deal: I cringe when people think of the Lips as "that She Don't Use Jelly band," and I'm cringing now that The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song is their new single. She Don't Use Jelly was sort of a novelty song, The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song has that weird "yeah yeah yeah" thing repeating incessantly, and both songs highlight Wayne's warbly voice, which yes, at times can be an acquired taste.
If I weren't a Lips fan that perfomance last night might have been a bit interesting and off-putting at the same time, I think. If you want an introduction to more accessible Lips music, try Waitin' For A Superman or Race For The Prize, off The Soft Bulletin, or Fight Test or Do You Realize?? off of Yohsimi Battles The Pink Robots. There are some highly listenable tunes on the new disc too. All of these songs you can stream off of www.flaminglips.com (http://www.flaminglips.com/) in full-on, broadband glory without spending one thin dime.
Wayne actually CAN carry a tune, and on a lot of the music his voice has this spacey ethereal quality that sometimes sounds a bit like John Lennon, believe it or not.
The reason(s) so many musicians are enamored with the Lips is that they have never compromised, they've never let a record company dictate their sound, and on every disc they've produced, they have moved their sound forward in some way. They are highly experimental in the studio, and NEVER have thought "oh, we've found our sound, now let's just crank out discs based on what works."
Also, Wayne's voice, is not "part of" a genre of indie singers, he more or less created a sound that has been imitated by others. Of course, you could say that Neil Young, among others, inspired Wayne's singing. But as Jack White of the White Stripes will tell you, there is an entire movement of rock singers who are inspired by and try to emulate Wayne.
The aforementioned Mercury Rev is an example of a band highly influenced by the Lips. Their voice, Jonathan Donahue, was a Lips fan, roadie, and ultimately a Lips band member while Mercury Rev was dormant in the late eighties and early nineties, and MR's former bassist, Dave Fridmann, is the Lips' longtime producer, one of the most innovative and sought after in the business.
As for their live shows, I have to agree with Rhino; they're the most incredible live shows you will ever see. Even drug free you'll leave feeling high, literally. That performance on Letterman was a poor indication of what an actual live show is like; without video screens, balloons, confetti, fake blood, furries with spotlights, crowd surfing in a space bubble, happy birthday sing-alongs, a pro-Lips crowd and all of the other accoutrements, watching them play The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song is basically watching four talented musicians, one a warbly singer, run through a cool, but quirky song. I can see how a non-Lips fan would have been underwhelmed.
Frankly, if you don't get it, you don't get it, and my world won't come to an end based on your musical tastes.
Rush has never in over 30 years let anyone dictate to them what to play or record, so I respect that.
mdklatt
3/31/2006, 02:50 PM
there is an entire movement of rock singers who are inspired by and try to emulate Wayne
:eek: :eek: :eek:
BigRedJed
3/31/2006, 02:52 PM
All of you haters need to watch Fearless Freaks and get back with us.
TIA!
I should have just posted this. It would have saved lots of typing.
OK, here's the deal: I cringe when people think of the Lips as "that She Don't Use Jelly band," and I'm cringing now that The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song is their new single. She Don't Use Jelly was sort of a novelty song, The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song has that weird "yeah yeah yeah" thing repeating incessantly, and both songs highlight Wayne's warbly voice, which yes, at times can be an acquired taste.
If I weren't a Lips fan that perfomance last night might have been a bit interesting and off-putting at the same time, I think. If you want an introduction to more accessible Lips music, try Waitin' For A Superman or Race For The Prize, off The Soft Bulletin, or Fight Test or Do You Realize?? off of Yohsimi Battles The Pink Robots. There are some highly listenable tunes on the new disc too. All of these songs you can stream off of www.flaminglips.com (http://www.flaminglips.com/) in full-on, broadband glory without spending one thin dime.
Wayne actually CAN carry a tune, and on a lot of the music his voice has this spacey ethereal quality that sometimes sounds a bit like John Lennon, believe it or not.
The reason(s) so many musicians are enamored with the Lips is that they have never compromised, they've never let a record company dictate their sound, and on every disc they've produced, they have moved their sound forward in some way. They are highly experimental in the studio, and NEVER have thought "oh, we've found our sound, now let's just crank out discs based on what works."
Also, Wayne's voice, is not "part of" a genre of indie singers, he more or less created a sound that has been imitated by others. Of course, you could say that Neil Young, among others, inspired Wayne's singing. But as Jack White of the White Stripes will tell you, there is an entire movement of rock singers who are inspired by and try to emulate Wayne.
The aforementioned Mercury Rev is an example of a band highly influenced by the Lips. Their voice, Jonathan Donahue, was a Lips fan, roadie, and ultimately a Lips band member while Mercury Rev was dormant in the late eighties and early nineties, and MR's former bassist, Dave Fridmann, is the Lips' longtime producer, one of the most innovative and sought after in the business.
As for their live shows, I have to agree with Rhino; they're the most incredible live shows you will ever see. Even drug free you'll leave feeling high, literally. That performance on Letterman was a poor indication of what an actual live show is like; without video screens, balloons, confetti, fake blood, furries with spotlights, crowd surfing in a space bubble, happy birthday sing-alongs, a pro-Lips crowd and all of the other accoutrements, watching them play The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song is basically watching four talented musicians, one a warbly singer, run through a cool, but quirky song. I can see how a non-Lips fan would have been underwhelmed.
Frankly, if you don't get it, you don't get it, and my world won't come to an end based on your musical tastes.
The fact that the only name I recognize in this post is Rhino, is proof that I am completely out of the hip music loop. :(
BigRedJed
3/31/2006, 02:53 PM
:eek: :eek: :eek:
Secret Machines. Sparklehorse. Grandaddy. Mercury Rev.
I could keep going. Try listening to some of these bands and get back to me. Some of the best music you'll ever listen to.
BigRedJed
3/31/2006, 02:54 PM
Except for Secret Machines. They're pretty much a straight-up Lips ripoff.
The fact that the only name I recognize in this post is Rhino, is proof that I am completely out of the hip music loop. :(
Sometimes the "hip music loop" means the people who only like a band as long as they are the only ones who have ever heard of them.:D
The fact that the only name I recognize in this post is Rhino, is proof that I am completely out of the hip music loop. :(
I'll fill you in. Helloween will ALWAYS be hip.
BigRedJed
3/31/2006, 02:59 PM
Sometimes the "hip music loop" means the people who only like a band as long as they are the only ones who have ever heard of them.:D
That's an open-minded way of looking at music. :rolleyes:
I'll guarantee you that Rush was a little "out there" for some Rolling Stones fans back in the day.
Did Fugue just call me hip or unhip?
Except for Secret Machines. They're pretty much a straight-up Lips ripoff. I ****ing hate that band. They suck nuts.
BigRedJed
3/31/2006, 03:02 PM
BTW, I was listening to bands like R.E.M. and U2 before they hit the mainstream, and didn't like them any less after they did. It's cool to have bands that are your little secret sometimes, but it's also cool to have other people discover something that you like, and appreciate it for its greatness.
BigRedJed
3/31/2006, 03:04 PM
BTW, I'm not dogging Rush, one of my favorite bands of all time.
I'll fill you in. Helloween will ALWAYS be hip.
WORD!
Helloween - March of Time
I bet less than 5 people on the SO have ever heard a Helloween song.
Did Fugue just call me hip or unhip?
I ****ing hate that band. They suck nuts.
Heh, that didn't come out right did it. :D
BTW, I'm not dogging Rush, one of my favorite bands of all time.
I know, I meant that apparently the bands in question have the admirable commonality of refusal to compromise or water down their music for the masses.
WORD!
Helloween - March of Time
I bet less than 5 people on the SO have ever heard a Helloween song.
I bet I'm one of the five.:)
mdklatt
3/31/2006, 03:15 PM
Secret Machines. Sparklehorse. Grandaddy. Mercury Rev.
I could keep going. Try listening to some of these bands and get back to me. Some of the best music you'll ever listen to.
Sparklehorse: http://www.myspace.com/vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot
Meh. But at least it doesn't make me want to puncture my eardrums with an icepick.
Grandaddy (not sure if this is the right one): http://www.myspace.com/grandaddy
Better than Sparklehorse.
Mercury Rev: http://www.myspace.com/mercuryrevband
Music = good, singing = terrible. WARBLE IS NOT MY FRIEND.
Here is an indie band that doesn't blow, IMO: http://www.myspace.com/studentfilm
"Crows In Action" is a'ight, and I actually like "Oxycontinental Breakfast".
BlondeSoonerGirl
3/31/2006, 03:18 PM
Amazing.
I bet I'm one of the five.:)
You, me and JB. 3
caphorns
3/31/2006, 03:25 PM
BRJ - Nice summary.
Just my opinion, but I think you make the FL out to be a bigger band influentially than they actually are and the vocals to be bigger deal than they are. I agree that musicians dig them and that they didn't sell out to another style. But they really are one of many. The vocals clearly harken Neil Young, but more or less are not unlike bad vocals from any era, twinged with those Southern roots. I hate to say it, but one of the weakest aspects of this band has always been the vocal performances. The music is very Lennon-esque but the vocals fail the mood - often. It's why their music is not listenable to the average listener but keenly interesting to someone with an open mind. I agree that there are a host of imitators, but probably a host of bands that get labelled imitators for having similarities (that would be unfair). Let me put it this way, if I were stuck on a deserted island, this might be the last music I'd want to be stuck with.
I probably overrate Mercury Rev, but I still think Mercury Rev's one little album put many things together that FL haven't done IN THE STUDIO. I've always found FL to be one of the more frustrating groups out there because of the inability to put a studio crown on their music. Pavement is my closest analogy. Brilliant band, a few flaws, but it takes a crapload to get anything out of them that seems finished or thought out. Some might call finishing music selling out. I don't. Finished music is not necessarily commercially-packaged music for the masses.
That's honestly what I like about "She Don't Use Jelly." It's not nearly as obsessive in its need to be original or inventive. And it's somewhat finished in its writing.
BigRedJed
3/31/2006, 03:40 PM
...I think you make the FL out to be a bigger band influentially than they actually are and the vocals to be bigger deal than they are...
I'm just repeating what many, many artists (including Jack White and Chris Martin of Coldplay), plus rock journalists all over the world, say about the Lips regularly. Chris Martin has been quoted calling them "the greatest band in the world," and at the OKC show recently, said there were four great voices in the history of rock: Elvis, Dylan, Johnny Cash, and Wayne Coyne. Even I'm not buying that one, but he said it. Austin City Limits called them "the world's most inventive band."
BTW, if you people don't think that Go, a collaborative cover effort by Sparklehorse and the Lips is not one of the greatest songs ever, I will fight you, and that's no lie.
BigRedJed
3/31/2006, 03:53 PM
And BTW, I'm not denying that Wayne's voice is the main reason they will probably never appeal to a mass audience, although Michael Stipe, Neil Young and a few others with kindof off-putting, unusual voices have done well despite not sounding like Bono or Paul McCartney.
I think Wayne's voice is their biggest commercial weakness, and maybe at the same time their biggest strength as a band.
caphorns
3/31/2006, 03:57 PM
I'm just repeating what many, many artists (including Jack White and Chris Martin of Coldplay), plus rock journalists all over the world, say about the Lips regularly. Chris Martin has been quoted calling them "the greatest band in the world," and at the OKC show recently, said there were four great voices in the history of rock: Elvis, Dylan, Johnny Cash, and Wayne Coyne. Even I'm not buying that one, but he said it. Austin City Limits called them "the world's most inventive band."
BTW, if you people don't think that Go, a collaborative cover effort by Sparklehorse and the Lips is not one of the greatest songs ever, I will fight you, and that's no lie.
I'm not a huge Chris Martin fan (or Jack White for that matter). Coldplay is a good live act, but I think Martin goes overboard in his love for just about everything. Oddly, I've heard Damon Albarn (Blur) identify Pavement as on of the world's greatest rock bands. It's all a matter of opinion in the end, but to the non-rock star hippie who calls his kid Apple, there is weakness in those vocals that's hard to overcome. ACL is a fluff show. They proclaimed Hootie and the Blowfish one of the greatest bands of all time when I went there for a taping.
I haven't heard the collaborative Sparklehorse/Lips song so I'll take a listen at some point.
Jimminy Crimson
3/31/2006, 04:01 PM
The Flaming Lips will be the first band to play a live show on the moon.
You heard it here first!
Here is an indie band that doesn't blow, IMO: http://www.myspace.com/studentfilm
"Crows In Action" is a'ight, and I actually like "Oxycontinental Breakfast". Student Film is one of the best bands in Oklahoma right now.
I like the Lips because I'm a big fan of live music. Having played in a band back in the day, and just basically being a music geek, they appeal to me. It isn't that I think they are the most musically talented bunch around; they most definately are not. But seeing them perform is so entertaining, hearing them later brings back the fun.
I once saw a group called "Dread Zepplin" at The Bricktown Brewery. A hugely entertaining show, though you'd seldom find occasion to throw in a CD for ambiance.
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