The Flaming Lips 2002 album Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots was somewhat of a watershed moment in Indie pop history. Featuring a bevy of electronic instruments, dreamy delays, and wispy vocals from frontman Wayne Coyne, the album played a sizable role in taking traditional pop music song structures and blending them with the avant-garde to create a lush landscape of atmospheric sounds. This had already been done by numerous artists in the past of course (you can hear the influence of Pink Floyd, Cocteau Twins, and David Bowie all over this record), but it felt fresh in the early 2000’s especially when compared to the dominance of grunge, alternative rock, and boy bands that came a decade prior.
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots sounds like the aforementioned David Bowie decided to drop a little LSD, fiddle around with his computer, and write an Indie masterpiece filled with orchestral elements that take you on an ethereal ride to a different dimension. Over the course of its 47 minute run-time The Flaming Lips accomplished something I think every artist tries to — an album you feel rather than hear, an experience rather than an event. It’s all a bit like a lucid dream.
Standout Songs: “Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell”, “Do You Realize?”, “In the Morning of the Magicians”, “One More Robot / Sympathy 3000-21”
