Solid State

"I'll take 'Potent Potables' for 200."

The new-ish Espers album, II. They were supposed to play Burlington on the Crystal Totem Tuur, but dropped off just before the gig. I attended anyway, and saw another fine group, Brightblack Morning Light, play to a completely empty room.

Check out this Espers tune: "Mansfield and Cyclops". And this one: "Dead King"

You'll swear off all that other hippie stuff.

Well, not really. But I did get an e-mail from Ben of the band Farm, regarding my initial post. It reads:

Hello Casey,

I was listening to At War With the Mystics when I read that Pitchfork thing.

"Hippies n' sequencers": Two of the biggest features of hippy stuff, in my mind, are its lack of clarity and a sort of quasi-mystical/we believe in anything-positive worldview. The Flaming Lips are pretty much atheist/physicalist and fairly direct with their music. What's the Casey Rea/Flaming Lips/Hippy Connection?

We're still recording. We've got about 10 tracks with meat on their bones. Some kid just gave me a pirate copy of Sonar 4 producer's edition. I'm trying to learn its ways.

Please, excuse my grammar and "clarity" — I've got about a half a gallon of Dayquil in me right now.

Hope everything is good with you,
Ben

My response:

I give the Lips shit mostly because they were the first of the so-called "alternative" bands to embrace giant hippie festivals. Now everyone's doing it. Also, I'm a bit tired of high pitched bleating about robots and the like.

I'll admit I did listen to them back in the day. They always sounded good on pilfered pharmaceuticals. But somehow the relationship soured. I believe it was back when I was working at Pure Pop and the consonant-averse, mouth breathing burnouts were rocking "Yoshimi" like it was a live Phish album.

Sonar, eh? No idea how that sucker works. Good luck!

Yours in Dayquil abuse,

-Casey

Further commentary is, of course, welcome.

PS: Remember the other day, when I said that I'd be "all set" if Stevie Nicks joined Sunn O)))? Well, the next best thing has occurred. One of my favorite spooky-Americana performers, Jesse Sykes, is featured on Sunn O)))'s upcoming collaboration with Japanese noise terrors Boris.

While I can't quite imagine what that'll sound like, I look forward to hearing her syrup 'n' sandpaper coo on some evil fucking drone.

Every day brings a new adventure in time-wasting fun.

First up is this OK Go video, courtesy 7D design maven and Dirty Blonde, Reverend Di. Make sure to watch it all the way through, even if you don't like the song. It's quite amazing.

Have you ever messed around with the Korg Kaos Pad? It's one of Jonny Greenwood's favorite effects. Greg Davis sent me this link. It's a dude making prank calls with the damn thing. Hilarity inevitably ensues.

Anyone remember when the Flaming Lips played on Beverly Hills 90210? I discovered this clip via The Onion's pop culture blog. It pretty much speaks for itself:

I, for one, am very excited.

Courtesy our pal Molly:

Poor, pitiful Dustin.

It's rare that I care to read a PitchforkMedia article, and even rarer that I don't want to scrub myself raw with a steel wool loofah afterwards.

But today's review of Lollapalooza 2006 is priceless. It makes a great many points I feel need to be made. Here's one of my favorite bits about Flaming Lips, or Hippies N' Sequencers, as I like to call 'em:

The biggest flop of all was reserved for the Flaming Lips, whose music has become simply an excuse for Wayne Coyne to play with his props and sermonize in front of crowds. His injections of whimsy and beauty into dour, late-90s rock were crucial and welcome, but he's since become indie rock's Carrot Top, waving gigantic hands in the air like a Michel Gondry video come to life and relying on the same tired confetti and nun-puppet schtick.

No fooling. Read the rest of it (if you haven't already, haters) here.

So we went to see DragonForce last night. Utterly ridiculous. Metal should never be in a major key!

Since y'all are undoubtedly interested, here's some of the highlights:

#1 The place was packed. The audience — mostly kids born after 1985 —  knew the words to every song, singing lines like, "So now we fly ever free / We're free before the thunderstorm / On towards the wilderness our quest carries on / Far beyond the sundown, far beyond the moonlight / Deep inside our hearts and all our souls." Can you believe it? I couldn't.

#2. The band cracked weird sexual jokes about one another. It seemed a little too cozy, if you get my meaning.

#3. The singer can hit all the notes.

#4. Guitarist Herman "Shred" Li is out of control. Two-hand tapping is just the tip of the iceberg with this fella. His Digitech whammy pedal makes the solos sound like sped-up video game music.

#5. They had a wind machine, a fog machine and a giant banner. It was as if they were performing in a stadium. Band members took turns running to either side of the stage, stepping out front and flipping their hair around. Rinse and repeat.

#6. The keyboardist took a solo during which he played the keytar with his teeth. Ever go through the patches on a synth and wonder who the hell would use those cheesy factory presets? I found the answer in this guy.

#7. They have an honest-to-goodness power ballad. The shirtless frontman actually asked if there were "any single girls in the audience" before donning a glam-tastic black cowboy hat and crooning like it were 1987.

#8. The ladies actually ate it up.

#9. The drummer must have Popeye-size forearms from all that jackhammer snare action.

#10. All of the songs employ the same formula and construction. That didn't stop the audience from singing along, raising their fists and hopping up and down as instructed.

It was truly a bizarre spectacle. The world has apparently gone mad. I'm just waiting for the inevitable a capella craze.

Speaking of silly metal stuff.... Thanks again, Mark!