078: The Flaming Lips - Embryonic (2009)

Buy on Amazon

"I think we always stay in a sort of perpetual panic of like we never have more songs than we need and we always wonder if any of them are any good to begin with. I do think we probably work best in a panic, so maybe it's best that I planned it this way."

—Wayne Coyne

In 2009, 25 years into their career, the Oklahoma-based eccentric alt-rock band The Flaming Lips released a dark, terrifying double-album that nobody could have expected when "She Don't Use Jelly" landed them a cameo on Beverly Hills 90210. Embryonic is an album that prompts strong love-it-or-hate-it reactions in listeners, and John (host), Rich, and Mike land among the album's lovers. Join us for a detailed look at an absolutely wild musical and emotional journey, where sheer beauty mingles with overpowering low-end, and where devastating looks at depression mingle with whimsical (yet melancholy) tunes about a woman who imitates a frog. 

Miscellany

• John realized after the fact that Silver Apples wouldn’t have made a good candidate for the Nuggets 2 set after all, given that (a) they’re American and (b) they didn’t really make rock music per se, but he decided to leave that bit in the episode because the point that the Flaming Lips are very interested in just-off-radar music from the 60s and 70s is a valid one regardless.

• John wasn’t kidding when he referenced a 24-hour-long album released on a hard drive inside a human skull: this refers to the release of the full-length 7 Skies H3 in 2011 (as Mike mentioned later, a rather satisfying 50-minute edit was released a few years later). This is not to be confused with the EP that they released inside of a gummy skull, also in 2011, which in turn should not be confused with the EP that they released inside of a gummy fetus in the same year.

• John didn’t mention this in the personal history section, but he has also seen the Flaming Lips in concert. He saw them in 2011, in a show where they played The Soft Bulletin in full, with an encore of “Brain Damage”/”Eclipse” from Dark Side of the Moon and “Do You Realize??” to close. It was tons of fun, as full of confetti as expected, and yes, Wayne emerged in a hamster ball. 

Other links 

• The Flaming Lips' official website (flaminglips.com)

• John's reviews of The Flaming Lips

• Discord & Rhyme’s Embryonic playlist (Spotify)

• Discord & Rhyme’s Patreon

• Wayne Coyne's full song-by-song commentary + review notes (the-fly.co.uk)

• Polynomial Rings explained (wikipedia.org)

• Pitchfork review of Embryonic (Pitchfork)

• Stealing Wayne Coyne's hamster ball (XKCD)

• Only WHO can prevent forest fires? (Youtube)

Discord & Rhyme Roll Call 

• John McFerrin (host)

• Mike DeFabio (moderator)

• Rich Bunnell 

Embryonic tracklist

1. Convinced of the Hex

2. The Sparrow Looks Up at the Machine

3. Evil

4. Aquarius Sabotage

5. See the Leaves

6. If

7. Gemini Syringes

8. Your Bats

9. Powerless

10. The Ego’s Last Stand

11. I Can Be a Frog

12. Sagittarius Silver Announcement

13. Worm Mountain

14. Scorpio Sword

15. The Impulse

16. Silver Trembling Hands

17. Virgo Self-Esteem Broadcast

18. Watching the Planets 

Other clips used 

The Flaming Lips:

• Do You Realize??

• Can’t Get You Out of My Head

• The Spark That Bled

• Pompeii am Götterdämmerung

• Shine on Sweet Jesus

• Slow Nerve Action

• Riding to Work in the Year 2025

• Yeah Yeah Yeah Song

• Take Meta Mars

• Moth in the Incubator

• Kim's Watermelon Gun

• Slow Motion

• Halloween on the Barbary Coast

• The Big Ol’ Bug is the New Baby Now 

Others:

• Can - Mushroom

• Silver Apples - Oscillations

• Miles Davis - One and One

• The Psychic Paramount - Para5

• Led Zeppelin - Immigrant Song

• Pink Floyd - Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun (live)

• Neil Young - Cowgirl in the Sand

• Pink Floyd - Interstellar Overdrive

• The Velvet Underground - All Tomorrow's Parties

• Bjork - 5 Years

• Ween - Captain

• Hawkwind - Sonic Attack

• MGMT - Time to Pretend

• Om - Thebes

• The New Pornographers - Colossus of Rhodes

• Black Moth Super Rainbow - Fields Are Breathing

• Suicide - Ghost Rider

• Neu! - Hallogallo

• Pink Floyd - Echoes

• Robert Fripp - Exposure

Band/album personnel 

• Wayne Coyne – lead vocals, guitar, theremin, keyboards, vocoder, mixing, production

• Steven Drozd – guitars, keyboards, drums, bass, backing vocals, lead vocals (track 6), mixing, production

• Michael Ivins – bass, keyboards, backing vocals, mixing, production, additional engineering

• Kliph Scurlock – drums, percussion

• Scott Booker – production

• Dave Fridmann – production, mixing, programming, engineering, mastering

• MGMT – additional singing and playing (track 13)

• Karen O – additional singing, screaming, animal sounds and noises (tracks 7, 11, 18)

• Thorsten Wörmann – spoken announcements (tracks 7, 17) 

Credits 

“Discord & Rhyme (theme),” composed by the Other Leading Brand, contains elements of: 

• Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf

• Amon Düül II - Dehypnotized Toothpaste

• The Dukes of Stratosphear - What in the World?? ...

• Faith No More - Midlife Crisis

• Herbie Hancock - Hornets

• Kraftwerk - Autobahn

• Talking Heads - Seen and Not Seen

• The Flaming Lips - Convinced of the Hex (this episode only) 

You can buy Embryonic and other albums by the Flaming Lips at your local record store, and you can also buy or stream it at the usual suspects such as Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and Amazon. Follow Discord & Rhyme on Twitter @DiscordPod for news, updates, and other random stuff. Editing is by Rich, and special thanks to our own Mike DeFabio, the Other Leading Brand, for production and original music. See you next album, and keep as cool as you can.