1 2 1 2, 2004
I’m on the set
Freaks on the floor


And y’all know this is Matt’s annual W/O?


Well, hello then.


Some introductory remarks first. If you’ve been around for a while, you probably already know this guy… Shillermaf… no, Shilmafone. Or just Mike.


In case you don’t, what you basically should know is:


Mike is cool.


He’s so cool I’m not sure he actually exists. But, somebody must be writing those reviews, so I assume he does. Anyway, this guy, we’ll call him Mike, you should know something else about him, and that would be – he knows a thing about music that you and I don’t. You may have heard about this W/O: two reviewers, each writer picks a CD for the other to review. Well, I’m one of those writers and I’m here today to tell you how Mike Shilmafone rocked my world.


Yoshimi battles the pink robots is the latest effort from a bunch of pop geniuses, known as The Flaming Lips. Released in 2002 as a follow-up to their (a widely spread opinion) groundbreaking and career defining masterpiece The Soft Bulletin, the album received very good rave from critics yet again. When Mike wrote to me some six weeks ago ago, like Shelly who I got paired up with last year, he gave me two albums I had to choose from. The first one was Coil’s “Musick to play in the dark”, which I did not find. The other one was this, and Mike’s letter read: “I’d like to see you review that”.


Here we go, then.


Reviewing music so gorgeous is really an ungrateful task. You can say a lot, but music is something you cannot always describe adequately in words. Now, Flaming Lips’ melodies may appear a bit weird, however, theirs is the kind of weirdness that’s creative, in other words, is there for a reason other than just being a display of someone’s ability to create something that no one will understand. At least, that’s the case with Yoshimi battles the pink robots. I got the message by the time I got to the closer. I don’t know, maybe with some listeners it might take two or three repeated listens. However, and rather sooner than later, every piece of this… at first completely overblown and over the top mess does take its place, creating a puzzle of beauty not frequently matched in today’s pop music.


I mean, yes. It’d make a perfect pick for my open-minded series. Now, here are some highlights for your listening pleasure.


One more robot / Sympathy 3000-21 must be one of the best pop songs I have heard. It is extremely short, but that chorus is just breathtaking. Both times you hear it… it’s magic, and the lyrics compliment the music very nicely. I think this is a concept album, however, don’t expect a story running through all of the songs, for there’s none. Instead there are some songs at the beginning of the album about feeling down, facing some troubles and the like, and then there are five or six songs about finding beauty in each day. Now this song, track 2 on the album, is about a robot learning to feel love. And trust me, if there has ever been a song to have described that, this must be the one. The closing minute in particular defies any description.


Then we have here Are you a hypnotist??, which at one moment sounds plain gorgeous and at another utterly weird… up until the chorus, when they suddenly throw in a choir and create something epic. Just, really, huge.


The album appears to be split in two by Yoshimi battles the pink robots Parts 1 and 2, the latter being nothing but a jam depicting a fight between Yoshimi, who is a black belt in karate, and, erm, mean pink robots.


Now I realize that this may all sound somewhat silly, but in fact it only winds up being unbelievably touching and really making sense. Then at the end of the album there’s a small miracle called Realize, and, lastly, a spectacular instrumental closer Approaching Pavonis Mons by balloon, which just is uplifting…


…as actually the whole listening experience. You should try it out folks, and that's my two bloody cents.





Some final thoughts


Here’s to Mike. You rule, man. Really, thanks, and care to suggest to me a Flaming Lips album to try next?


Here’s to Matt. Sorry it took me so long. However, yet again it was FUN to be a part of this. Already looking forward to the next year, man.


Here’s to everyone else. Try Yoshimi battles the pink robots by The Flaming Lips. It’s sweet, it’s intelligent, and it’s uplifting. What more need pop music be?


And thanks for reading.





Over to you Mike.

Recommended: Yes