I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: THE FLAMING LIPS-Clouds Taste Metallic (1995).

Clouds Taste Metallic is a clear precursor to later Lips albums.  The opener “The Abandoned Hospital Ship” even sounds like it could come from Soft Bulletin (in fact it sounds more than a bit like “The Sparks That Bled”). Wayne’s high voice is finally finding its range nicely.  The chord progression is also great. The only thing that makes it sounding off the wall is the fuzzed out guitar solo (and the tubular bells, of course).    “Psychiatric Explorations of the Fetus with Needles” returns to the fuzzy rock of old.  On “Placebo Headwound” the acoustic guitar is back but it is buttressed by the wonderfully full bass sound that the Lips have started using (and will continue to use on the next few discs).  “This Here Giraffe” is one of my favorite early songs: a loping bassline over a cute and catchy chorus (“This here giraffe…laughs”).

“Brainville” is probably their nicest ballad to date.  It has a sweet feeling and a goofy chorus.  “Guy Who Got a Headache and Accidentally Saves the World” is yet another great alternapop song.  “When You Smile” could also come right from Bulletin.

“Kim’s Watermelon Gun” is a fast and fun rocker.  The next two tracks “They Punctured My Yolk” (later sampled by the Beastie Boys on To the 5 Boroughs, and “Lightning Strikes the Postman” are instantly classic fast alternapop songs.

“Christmas at the Zoo” is another pop gem like “Giraffe”; what is it about their poppy animal songs?   Despite its message “Evil Will Prevail” is another seemingly happy poppy song.  And the last song “Bad Days” is listed as (Aurally Excited Version) although it doesn’t sound any different from the rest of the disc but it sure sounds good.

The major labels have been very good to the Lips, sonically.  And the Lips are about to repay them by releasing the most ridiculous album ever….

[READ: January 26, 2009] The Lump of Coal

In what seems to be a new tradition, Lemony Snicket has written another holiday book.  Unlike The Latke Who Couldn’t Stop Screaming, this book is not published by McSweeney’s and it features art by Brett Helquist (the artist from A Series of Unfortunate Events).

Also unlike pretty much everything else he’s done, this book is actually sweet and heartwarming. There’s nothing sinister about the book at all.

The very simple premise is that a anthropomorphic lump of coal is seeking his fortunes at Christmas time.  He would love to be an artist (or, more specifically, the coal used by an artist to make a great picture).  Alternately, he wouldn’t mind being a barbeque briquet, drawing lines on barbequed meats.

There is some mirth making at the expense of a Korean restaurant named Mr. Wong’s Korean Barbeque Palace and Secretarial School (Wong is not, the lump of coal points out, a Korean name.  The restaurant is later renamed Yi Sang’s Korean Barbeque Palace and Secretarial School).  There’s also some mirth making at street Santas.

In the end, the book’s observation is that really, miracles are very common…in fact, “once you start looking for them you find more than you ever dreamed you’d see.”

And lo, a happy holiday book comes to fruition.  The book is cute and funny, and contains some of Snicket’s word defining sentences (a phrase which here means he uses a multisyllabic word and then defines it in context).  It’s also very short (a good bed time book).

I hope this is a tradition that Lemony Snicket continues.

NOTE: While investigating this book, I kept encountering a book called Baby in the Manger.  I can find no record of it though even though there is an ISBN number available: 9781932416633.  I suspect it was cancelled before production, as there’s not even a cover photo available anywhere.