#4 Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots – The Flaming Lips - 2002
"Fight Test"
"One More Robot/Sympathy 3000-21"
"Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt. 1"
"Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt. 2"
"In the Morning of the Magicians"
"Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell"
"Are You a Hypnotist??"
"It's Summertime"
"Do You Realize??"
"In the Morning of the Magicians"
"Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell"
"Are You a Hypnotist??"
"It's Summertime"
"Do You Realize??"
"All We Have Is Now"
"Approaching Pavonis Mons by Balloon (Utopia Planitia)"
"Approaching Pavonis Mons by Balloon (Utopia Planitia)"
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“When you look inside - all you'll see is a self reflected inner sadness”
Allright we’ve got to it here on this little count down. We will call this 1- D as the top 4 were the big boppers for me in the 2,000’s. Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots is a weird title, The Flaming Lips are a weird band, and this stuff right here is perfectly weird.
Yoshimi, a black belt in Karate that works for the City has to fight evil pink robot machines????? A sort of concept but not really album with song titles like Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell and Approaching Pavonis Mons by Balloon (Utopia Planitia). A monochromatic male voice starts the record:
“The test begins nownownownownownownownownownownowwwwwwwwwww.”
The best single of the decade that was everywhere for a couple of years (Do You Realize??).
This album much like the band that made it exists in its own atmosphere. Yoshimi is awesome because it is a grand open door into that weirdness. The sound on this is just hypnotic. The drum rhythms are so distinct and identifiable to this record. Wayne Coyne's voice lilts above everything in a real beautiful way. The lyrics are existential meanderings about love and all that kind of stuff that range from surface fluff to way deep inner reflections. A couple of the songs are just fun, a couple are down and out, a couple are meditative, and they are all great.
The most enjoyable listen of the decade, I just get all giddy when I play this one.
This is going to be my shortest write up for this all decade list. You just have to hear this one. I just wanna go listen. Nownownownownownow…………………………
