A quick YouTube search brought us to Weird Al performing not only Yoda, but the even more impressive Queen parody Another One Rides the Bus on The Tomorrow Show with Tom Snyder.  Priest said, “This is the most psychedelic thing I have ever seen.”  Agreed.

The Flaming Lips released their cover album of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon via itunes.   I have to admit, when the cover album was first announced, it didn’t bring too much excitement for me as I did not know what to expect.  The Flaming Lips last two records, Embryonic and Christmas on Mars, are outstanding.  It was the albums in between those two and Soft Bulletin that gave me pause.  Luckily, the Lips delivered a tremendous album that I can’t stop listening to.  Much like Tom Jones, the Flaming Lips reinvented these classic songs and made them, dare I say, better.

The idea of a cover album is a curious one.  Phish covered albums live every Halloween, at least this is what I have been told.  Beck has his Record Club that records cover albums, most notably the Velvet Underground & Nico.  Outside of those examples, I don’t think the cover album has been attempted very often by popular artists.   And certainly with not much success.  This is why I am even more impressed with the final product of Dark Side of the Moon.

I have read several reviews of this album from popular media outlets and have found that rock critics do not care for this at all.  I don’t understand why.  It may just be loyalty to the original album, which, of course, is a timeless classic of epic importance.  Or maybe most critics are dinosaurs that will pay homage to the new Ringo Starr album before even listening to anything remotely adventurous. Or different.

My take is this: The Flaming Lips reinvent the Pink Floyd classic with a more sprawling, raw, psychedelic, and funk driven landscape.  I like all those things.  The original album simply became a road map.  It’s a great reinvention.  And different than the original.

The Flaming Lips received help from Stardeath and White Dwarfs, Henry Rollins, and Peaches.  Henry Rollins plays the part of the Roger Waters over-dubbed voice that permeates through Dark Side of the Moon.  Peaches plays the part of Doris Troy, emulating her soaring wails during “The Great Gig in the Sky”.

The Flaming Lips played the Dark Side of the Moon in it’s entirety on New Year’s eve in Oklahoma City.  I am hoping they take that show on the road.  An evening with the Flaming Lips at Red Rocks performing Dark Side of the Moon would be an epic event.  They could even play the Wizard of Oz on the rocks during the show.  I think the Flips need to silent their critics by making this happen. Until then, download the album and enjoy. Don’t listen to the dinosaurs.

I absolutely love the last two Of Montreal albums, Hissing Fauna Are You the Destroyer? and Skeletal Lamping.   Prior to the last two albums I enjoyed their music, but did not have an unhealthy obsession with the band like I do now.  Their live shows have turned into a Ziggy-Stardust-meets-Prince-wrapped-in-a-Kubrick-movie spectacle unlike anything I have seen.  Of course, this would all mean nothing if their songs were not reworked and fleshed out to enhance the experience.  Musically, they are an excellent live band.  It’s quite a show.

Here we have a recording from the BBC Hub Session broadcast October 13, 2008, that I found at The Dime.  Now, the original recording is not lossless.  It is a mp2 file (not mp3) recorded digitally.   The quality is good, but I decided to give it a little extra love with an official “aux remaster” before sharing.

Please be aware that I am not an audio engineer and am essentially just tweaking buttons — or in this case, tweaking icons.  But I am pleased with the results.   I have included the original mp2 file to download for those who want to try their hand at remastering it, as well.  If you give it a go, please share.  I’d love to hear it.

This a performance within a radio interview, so there are only two songs (Triphallus, to Punctuate! and Beware Our Nubile Miscreants) from Skeletal Lamping, plus some random banter from the host, George Lamb.  Enjoy!

More from the brilliant La Blogotheque series.

From their album Danse Manatee performed on the streets of Paris from the La Blogothèque’s “Take Away Show”

It’s a darn shame that Biz Markie is best known for that one song, y’know, the one where he sings off key.  He’s a heck of a beat-boxer and is making a comeback with Yo Gabba Gabba.

Of Montreal’s first video from their excellent ‘Skeletal Lamping’ album.