Complicating, Circulating, Operating, Generating.

Every now and then a band that I love but have been neglecting for a while comes back round into focus and takes me by surprise. Sometimes it's like discovering them all over again, and on other occasions, like this, it's a bit more subtle and my appreciation of their back catalogue slowly shifts.

Yesterday I picked up the new Flaming Lips DVD, UFOs at the Zoo, which comes with all sorts of multimedia goodness which I have yet to fully explore (the MP3 audio files were a nice touch though), and immediately fell back in love with the Lips. Anyone who's seen them live will probably agree that it's impossible NOT to love their live show and whilst watching it on a TV in my bedroom isn't quite the same, I still found myself witha big grin on my face.

Now, it is my opinion that the two finest lips albums are Transmissions From the Satellite Heart, and Clouds Taste Metallic and that the band started to go downhill once they ditched the guitars for a more keyboard led sound on subsequent albums. Sadly, the only track represented from these albums on the DVD is She Don't use Jelly (the most famous but by no means the best). However overall in a live setting, the guitars on the later stuff really shine through and some of the urgency they seem to lack on record post-Clouds is restored, and some of the polish falls off, making an all the more enjoyable and rough & ready experience.

The Flaming Lips- Free Radicals (Live at Oklahoma Zoo Ampitheatre)

I'm probably off to Brighton tomorrow so don't expect any posts over the weekend. Hopefully a large batch of records should arrive at work tomorrow providing amazon delivery estimates are to be believed so there should be more for you to listen to next week.