For me, Christmas and The Flaming Lips go together like Christmas cookies and sugary frosting. Whether it's the numerous Christmas songs that dot their oeuvre or their cult classic film Christmas On Mars, it's clear that the joy, wonder, and air of melancholy of this holiday season is very near to Wayne and company's hearts, especially Lips musical mastermind Steven Drozd, whose achingly beautiful arrangements synch up perfectly with this time of year.
Case in point: their imminently mysterious, enigmatic and rare 2007 Christmas album Atlas Eets Christmas, a collection of tastefully off kilter piano jazz released under the fanciful name Imagene Piese. Billed as "recently discovered" recordings by a forgotten Iraqi jazz musician who'd allegedly committed suicide in 1978 and coincidentally released during the Lips' anti George Bush period, these Steve Drozd compositions and re-workings of holiday traditionals are sonically psychedelic and and pleasingly weird, yet remarkably direct and piercingly heartfelt.
Consider them a gift from me to you. Merry Christmas.*
* Or Festivus. Or whatever you observe this time of year.
0 comments
Post a Comment