![]() ![]() ![]() The crate-digging hipster earthquake of Odelay was still ringing in my ears. But the first time I heard Mutations, I had no idea. These days it’s common knowledge that Beck Hansen is a singer/songwriter capable of incredible pathos. Because at any moment, it could’ve fallen. Hearing Coyne’s voice, trembling with relief as it floats high above these flourishing soundscapes, it’s impossible to not be moved. But I’ll always feel a little bit shaken by the memory. My wife’s bite turned out to be from a non-poisonous scorpion, further proof that she’s a total bad-ass. “If it destroyed you / It would destroy me,” admits Wayne Coyne on the chorus, balancing the scales without dispelling the magic. Yet it’s a delivery system for a raw-as-hell truth – love and devastation are a switch, and it can be flipped by the tiniest twist of fate. Producer Dave Fridmann goes borderline Disney with the arrangement, slathering it with trilling harps and tinkling pianos. And oh yeah, there’s literally a song called “The Spiderbite Song,” which does not require a personal encounter with potentially deadly insects to appreciate. ![]() Yet they’re surrounded by optimistic, awe-inspiring orchestral arrangements that do justice to the laziest Pet Sounds reference. Because their masterpiece, The Soft Bulletin, is full of songs that are acutely aware of life’s impermanence. The Flaming Lips must’ve known this feeling. I was scared shitless that I was going to lose my person, while surrounded by the most vibrantly alive environment I’d ever seen. The bite kept getting worse, so we called poison control. On a trip to Hawaii a few years back, my wife got bit by what we thought was a spider. The Flaming Lips – The Soft Bulletin (1999) ![]() (You can check out the whole list here.)ġ5. OMG, we’re uncomfortably close to the end of this crazy countdown! Here are five albums that I adored in my underachieving, ironic-tee-shirt-wearing youth, and are only getting better with age. ![]()
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