Hitchcock made his set crescendo from solo acoustic guitar to raucous full-band rock, backed by Sebadoh in his lyrics, whimsical rhymes barely mask troubled, death-haunted insights.Ĭornelius, a Japanese band, was synched to video clips. Sebadoh dropped its insecurity shtick to drive through its mercilessly self-analytical songs with well-made melodies above guitars wrangling like unchecked neuroses.
Short sets brought out the best in the other bands. The group performed with some self-mockery but also took the songs seriously, reveling in their shimmering arrangements and serpentine harmonies. To perform the songs, Flaming Lips were synched to recorded music (including the drumming) and video clips that sometimes showed orchestras and choirs. The songs are lush and contemplative, made to envelop a listener at the club, the band provided 550 pairs of headphones and FM receivers to brighten and privatize the sound mix, though the effect was negligible. ''The Soft Bulletin'' is a rumination on science, death, love and revelation its tempos rarely move faster than hymns. Over a career that stretches back to 1985, the band has gradually exchanged noisy guitars and punky speed for ever more elaborate arrangements behind Wayne Coyne's high, fragile voice. The Flaming Lips, from Oklahoma City, thrive on mixing grandeur and absurdity. With five acts playing short sets - Sebadoh, Robyn Hitchcock, Cornelius and Iqu (formerly Icu) share the bill - the music encompassed orchestral pop, folky guitar strumming, grungy rock, computerized dance beats and semi-ironic 1970's kitsch. It's called the Music Against Brain Degeneration Revue, invoking the so-called Mozart Effect - that listening to complex music improves abstract reasoning - for rock fans.Īctually the revue is a survey of the music that college radio stations dote on: ambivalent about commerciality and proud to be clever. But its current tour, which sold out last Tuesday night at Tramps, has a concept, too. The band's new album, ''The Soft Bulletin'' (Warner Brothers), returns to nominally more conventional songs. Their 1998 album was a four-CD set intended to be played simultaneously on four CD players. Mozart Effect and Earphones, Parts of a Complex EveningĮverything the Flaming Lips have done lately comes with a concept.
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