What people search:
 | Title : Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
Author : The Flaming Lips
Release Date : 20020716
Binding : Audio CD
Regular Price : $13.98
Amazon.com Price : $10.33
(26
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Editorial Reviews :
As these dimpled moptops from Oklahoma grow pepper-bearded and transform into wizened elder statesmen of sonic adventuring, the heartfelt candy of their loving bubblegum stretches ever longer into echoing soundscapes. If Radiohead are halfway to becoming U2, the Flaming Lips are nine-tenths of the way to pop nirvana. Hardly a song on Yoshimi isn't resonated, echoed, and reverberated--floating the listener higher until they have the ultimate bird's eye view of what makes a great band tick. As with any album by the band, it's hard not to imagine parades and a sky filled with helium balloons while you listen to any of it--in this case, the party is enhanced brilliantly by digital filters and silver shimmering asides. The most immediate songs, like 'One More Robot (3000-21),' are digital (almost trip-hop) dance numbers that lift the band out of the cornfields and into the loopy land of Björk. Little surprise, then, that the band are already following up this majestic splash of gummy bear brilliance by recording a CD with TV kids-show host Steve from Blue's Clues. It's like Woodstock meets Snoopy!
Buyer Reviews :
This record represents yet another side of the greatest experimental band in the U.S. Fusing electronica, the screaming of a 'crazy Japanese woman,' and that unmistakable barely-in-key singing, Yoshimi is not the Soft Bulletin all over again, nor is it a throwback to the noise-scapes of Zaireeka. Though none of those things would be unwelcome, the Lips are inventors and not content to stick with the same orchestrations.
The trademark deceptive simplicity (and beauty) of Lips' melodies remains, especially in the stirring single 'Do You Realise??' and 'In the Morning of the Magicians.' During my first listen, I was slightly disappointed in the electronic bent of the album, but it has already grown on me. I find all the best albums in my collection were ones I first had issues with and later discovered to be full of welcome surprises. Don't be put off by the less-acoustic nature of this effort.
The Lips realise that the instrumentation and feel of a song must be congruent with its meaning or story. Here the electronic adventuring seems well suited to a story about robots bent on human destruction. And as I'm sure we all guessed, our savior from these machines will undoubtedly be a crazy Japanese lady.
Don't get bogged down in comparisons between this and the Lips' last effort. For those of us who are more acoustically inclined and tend to distrust electronic artists (due to the fact that pressing buttons does seem to require a bit less talent than manipulating actual instruments), Yoshimi will be a departure. But like Radiohead, the Lips know how to make something interesting out of whatever they touch. Wayne Coyne could create a symphony out with some tweezers and a Glad trash bag if they wanted to. And I would still lay down fifteen bucks to buy it.
So don't fear -- it's the same band. A band that changes (thankfully) and grows with each release. The true mark of maturity. Dive into Yoshimi just as you've dove into every other Flaming Lips album. And if you're one who's gone to the trouble of buying three more stereos just so you can get the full effect of Zaireeka, some dabbling in the land of electronica shouldn't be too painful. Give it a few days and it'll make its way into your brain.
(by JDJ)
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