The Flaming Lips w/ Starlight & White Dwarfs - Play "Dark Side of the Moon"

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To be completely honest, I was never going to listen to this release. From what I heard of “Embryonic” (the album the Lips put out last year), I wasn’t preparing to be blown away. Furthermore, I really don’t care for Pink Floyd. Maybe it has something to do with my junior high years, but even today, I can not make it through a full Pink Floyd album without falling asleep or becoming bored. But since there were the holidays and I can’t find anything by new by a group that I enjoy that is somewhat recent, we’re left here with this. And since I’ve never heard all of “Dark Side of the Moon”, this review won’t be me comparing it a whole lot to the actual version, but whether or not it is pleasant.



Some important things to note: I guess that on “Dark Side of the Moon”, there was some sort of talking happening there. Well, all of that talking has been replaced by a Mr. Henry Lawrence Garfield, or Henry Rollins as you might know him (from Rollins Band and “The Henry Rollins Show” fame). In between tracks like “On the Run” and “Time”, you get to hear the man who was shouting out Black Flag hits like “TV Party” and “Damaged I” coughing…Coughing? You mean to tell me that Wayne Coyne dragged in Henry Rollins to cough over the same sound loop found on the 30 minute hidden track off of “Hit to Death in the Future Head”? Way to go! Ohh! And how about Peaches?! That’s right, Peaches is on here. What does she do? Well, when not remixing songs of the most recent B-52s album, she finds time to screams all over “The Great Gig in the Sky” (which I’ve read is actually on the Floyd version).



And then there are songs like “Money”. This one I’ve actually heard. Usually I’ll turn it off, but I know it well enough. This version sounds completely dead and lifeless. Then after the groove is looped for a bit, Wayne comes in sounding like he’s singing through a vocoder or something to that effect and then it ends with the groove and Henry Rollins talking in a cave or something. Also, it turns out that I know some other songs on here. I never knew what Pink Floyd song “Brain Damage” was until I heard this version. The Lips do a nice job with it, but once again, Henry Rollins laughing? What?! “Eclipse” sounds good, but really, it just makes me think “Man, the Flaming Lips need to stop listening to Pink Floyd, get Wayne’s brother Mark back in the band, and record some Spacemen 3 covers!”



Furthermore, let’s chat about who Starlight & White Dwarfs really are…Turns out, Wayne has a nephew who enjoys playing music and helping build stuff for the Lips’ live concerts. So, he started a band and Wayne, who was presumably preoccupied at the time designing the “Silver Trembling Fetus” Christmas ornament called on them to help out. Well, call me crazy, but I can’t tell who’s doing what. It’s obvious when Wayne is singing, but as for the instrumental parts, how can I tell who’s doing what? What if I really want to appreciate Steven Drozd? Is Kliph drumming on any of it? Also, from what I’ve read, “Dark Side of the Moon” is pretty heavy in terms of the bass. How come I can not hear any? What’s Michael Ivins doing over there? Other than wearing CCCP t-shirts, presumably NOTHING.



So did you hear? There’s a new Guided by Voices release – “Suitcase 3”, featuring 100 demo recordings, including a version of “Alright” with lyrics! Let’s see how Steven Soderbergh’s match up.



OVERALL RATING – Kind of like going to Zuma - play it once, laugh at Rollins, and never listen to it again. Unless you liked “Embryonic” (in the Zuma case, its tex-mex), then you’ll be in heaven here.

KEY TRACKS – “Brain Damage”, “Us and Them”, “The Great Gig in the Sky”.