The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2012}}
{{Infobox album
| name = The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends
| type = studio
| artist = the Flaming Lips
| cover = The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends.jpg
| alt = A series of thin white lines on a black background, with a rainbow effect at the far right
| caption = Standard edition cover
| released = {{Start date|2012|4|21}}
| recorded = 2011–2012
| studio =
| genre = *Experimental rock
| length = {{Duration|m=69|s=17}}
| label = Warner Bros., Lovely Sorts of Death, Bella Union
| producer = The Flaming Lips, Dave Fridmann
| prev_title = The Flaming Lips and Stardeath and White Dwarfs with Henry Rollins and Peaches Doing The Dark Side of the Moon
| prev_year = 2009
| next_title = The Terror
| next_year = 2013
| misc = {{Extra album cover
| header = CD/Digital cover
| type = studio
| cover = The_Flaming_Lips and Heady Wends CD.jpg
| alt = A black-and-white photo of Kesha holding her foot to the camera with a smiley face drawn on her toe, standing in front of Wayne Coyne who is giving a peace sign with his fingers and smiling. The title of the album and the collaborators are written in red to the right.
| caption =
}}
}}
The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends is the first album in the "Fwends" series by the American rock band the Flaming Lips in collaboration with a variety of guests.
Recorded throughout 2011 and 2012, the album was released as a limited edition on vinyl for Record Store Day on April 21, 2012 and on CD, vinyl and digitally on June 26, 2012.{{cite web|last=Battan|first=Carrie|title=The Flaming Lips to Release Collaborative Album Heady Fwends Comp Digitally and on CD|date=May 31, 2012 |url=http://pitchfork.com/news/46695-the-flaming-lips-to-release-collaborative-album-heady-fwends-comp-digitally-and-on-cd/|publisher=Pitchfork Media|access-date=June 12, 2012}} Four songs from the album were previously released on collaborative EPs in 2011.
Background
Following their last full-length album, 2009's Embryonic, the band produced several EPs with other artists including Neon Indian, Lightning Bolt, Prefuse 73, and Yoko Ono.{{cite web|last=Berman|first=Stuart|title=The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends|url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/16522-the-flaming-lips/|publisher=Pitchfork Media|access-date=April 22, 2012}} Four tracks from these sessions appear on the album. The remaining seven songs were recorded at different times and locations, and are exclusive to the LP. The CD, vinyl reissue and digital releases of the album omit the track "I Don't Want You to Die" featuring Chris Martin, but feature an exclusive track with Aaron Behrens of Ghostland Observatory, "Tasered and Maced".
The Erykah Badu version of Ewan MacColl's "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", was a result of Lips frontman Wayne Coyne's unsolicited calls to the singer.{{cite news|last=Rogulewski|first=Charley|title=Erykah Badu Talks Flaming Lips Record Store Day Collaboration|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/erykah-badu-talks-flaming-lips-record-store-day-collaboration-20120421|access-date=April 22, 2012|newspaper=Rolling Stone|date=April 21, 2012}} Badu was initially opposed to covering the well-known 1957 song, but Coyne was able to convince her.
Other pairings resulted from the initiative of other artists, such as the Kesha track.{{cite news|last=Fitzmaurice|first=Larry|title=Wayne Coyne Talks New Flaming Lips LP, Working With Ke$ha, Blood|url=http://pitchfork.com/news/46048-wayne-coyne-talks-new-flaming-lips-album-working-with-keha-and-coldplay-blood/|access-date=April 22, 2012|newspaper=Pitchfork Media|date=April 5, 2012|archive-date=August 23, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130823171350/http://pitchfork.com/news/46048-wayne-coyne-talks-new-flaming-lips-album-working-with-keha-and-coldplay-blood/|url-status=dead}} Kesha had expressed interest in working with the Flaming Lips while visiting the band's hometown, Oklahoma City. She contacted Coyne by text message on his birthday. Her track, "2012 (You Must Be Upgraded)", was recorded in Kesha's home studio in Nashville.
Reception
{{Album reviews
| rev1 = AllMusic
| rev1Score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite web|last=Heaney|first=Gregory|title=The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends – The Flaming Lips|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-flaming-lips-and-heady-fwends-mw0002349857|work=AllMusic|access-date=June 26, 2012}}
| rev2 = Entertainment Weekly
| rev3 = Pitchfork
| rev4 = Spin
| rev5 = Clash
}}
Pitchfork commented on the wide variety of collaborators; mainstream artists such as Kesha and Coldplay's Chris Martin share space with more experimental artists such as Lightning Bolt and Prefuse 73. Despite the disparate artists involved, Pitchfork stated "[t]his piecemeal patchwork of tracks hangs together amazingly well as a front-to-back album." The website rated the album 8.2 out of 10. Entertainment Weekly gave the album an A rating. Spin was less positive; giving a 6 out of 10 rating, they quipped that the other artists were "globetrotters on Gilligan's Acid Island". Clash commented that the numerous guests tempered the band's usual outlandish workouts but did note that "Whilst that suppressed weirdness may be a detraction to the diehard fans, it makes for the band's most accessible work since Yoshimi...."{{cite news|title=The Flaming Lips – The Flaming Lips And Heady Fwends – Clash Music Latest Album Review|url=http://www.clashmusic.com/reviews/the-flaming-lips-the-flaming-lips-and-heady-fwends|access-date=23 July 2012|magazine=Clash|date=July 23, 2012}}
The music video for "First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" provoked controversy between the band and guest vocalist Erykah Badu when a rough cut was leaked online that misrepresented Badu.{{cite web |url=https://www.avclub.com/the-flaming-lips-infuriate-erykah-badu-chase-silly-gui-1798231661 |title=The Flaming Lips infuriate Erykah Badu, chase silly Guinness World Record |publisher=The A.V. Club |last=Hyden |first=Steven |date=2012-06-07 |access-date=2012-06-07}} As a result, this video was never officially released, however new vocals were recorded featuring Amanda Palmer, and a similar video to the one with Badu was filmed also featuring Palmer.{{cite web|last=Breihan|first=Tom|title=The Flaming Lips & Amanda Palmer – "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" Video (NSFW)|date=August 27, 2012 |url=https://www.stereogum.com/1135251/the-flaming-lips-amanda-palmer-%E2%80%9Cthe-first-time-ever-i-saw-your-face%E2%80%9D-video-nsfw/video/|access-date=June 3, 2019}}
Packaging
The band released the double LP in vinyl form in a 10,000 unit run on April 21, 2012, as part of Record Store Day. Each disc was hand-pressed using multiple shades of vinyl pellets and has a unique pattern.{{cite news|last=Triplett|first=Gene|title=CD review: The Flaming Lips 'The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends'|url=http://newsok.com/cd-review-the-flaming-lips-the-flaming-lips-and-heady-fwends/article/3667754/?page=2|access-date=4 May 2012|newspaper=Look at OKC|date=April 20, 2012}} Coyne claimed that he had requested and was given blood samples from some of the album's collaborators, including Kesha and Neon Indian's Alan Palomo. His plan was to have small amounts of the blood sandwiched into the vinyl of a limited edition of the album, and make them available to "interested rich Flaming Lips people."{{cite news|last=Erlich|first=Brenna|title=The Flaming Lips' 'Fwends' Vinyl Will Contain Collaborators' Blood|url=http://read.mtvhive.com/2012/03/27/wayne-coyne-blood-fwends-interview/|access-date=April 23, 2012|newspaper=MTV Hive|date=March 27, 2012}}{{cite news|last=Hudson|first=Alex|title=The Flaming Lips Collecting Collaborators' Blood for 'Heady Fwends' Release|url=http://exclaim.ca/News/flaming_lips_collecting_collaborators_blood_for_heady_fwends_release|newspaper=Exclaim!|date=March 27, 2012}} The double LPs with blood inside were pressed at United Record Pressing in Nashville. Custom editions have been sold via the headyfwends.com site: One copy was traded for two copies of prominent United customer Jack White's blue liquid-filled 12" single "Sixteen Saltines" (a Record Store Day 2012 exclusive only available at the Third Man Records store).{{cite web|url=http://www.glidemagazine.com/hiddentrack/wayne-coyne-tweets-show-how-blood-vinyl-is-made/ |title=Wayne Coyne Tweets Show How Blood Vinyl Is Made |date=May 2, 2012 |publisher=Glide Magazine |access-date=2015-07-28}} 10 more copies (encased in plexiglass with a photo collage cover made from the front cover photo of John Lennon and Yoko Ono's Unfinished Music No.1: Two Virgins) were sold by Wayne Coyne for $2,500 USD each (plus $200 hand-delivery fee), with the proceeds going to the Oklahoma Humane Society and the Academy of Contemporary Music at the University of Central Oklahoma. Customers who bought a copy of this edition also received a copy of the regular vinyl set for listening. The records were hand-delivered by AnatomyOne, of Oklahoma City's Womb Gallery, and photos of the buyers holding their copies were linked on Coyne's Twitter account.
Track listing
=Compact disc and digital editions=
{{tracklist
|headline = The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends track listing
| extra_column = Featuring
| title1 = 2012 (You Must Be Upgraded)
| extra1 = Kesha, Biz Markie & Hour of the Time Majesty 12
| length1 = 4:09
| title2 = Ashes in the Air
| extra2 = Bon Iver
| length2 = 6:13
| title3 = Helping the Retarded to Know God
| extra3 = Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
| length3 = 7:03
| title4 = Supermoon Made Me Want to Pee
| extra4 = Prefuse 73
| length4 = 3:17
| title5 = Children of the Moon
| extra5 = Tame Impala
| length5 = 5:32
| title6 = That Ain't My Trip
| extra6 = Jim James of My Morning Jacket
| length6 = 3:47
| title7 = You, Man? Human???
| extra7 = Nick Cave
| length7 = 3:34
| title8 = I'm Working at NASA on Acid
| extra8 = Lightning Bolt
| length8 = 7:59
| title9 = Do It!
| extra9 = Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band
| length9 = 3:28
| title10 = Is David Bowie Dying?
| extra10 = Neon Indian
| length10 = 6:36
| title11 = The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
| extra11 = Erykah Badu
| length11 = 10:04
| note11 = written by Ewan MacColl
| title12 = Girl, You're So Weird
| extra12 = New Fumes
| length12 = 3:21
| title13 = Tasered and Maced
| extra13 = Aaron Behrens of Ghostland Observatory
| total_length = 69:17
}}
=Vinyl original RSD edition=
{{tracklist
| headline = Side 1
| all_writing =
| extra_column = Featuring
| title1 = 2012 (You Must Be Upgraded)
| extra1 = Kesha, Biz Markie & Hour of the Time Majesty 12
| length1 = 4:09
| title2 = Ashes in the Air
| extra2 = Bon Iver
| length2 = 6:13
| title3 = Helping the Retarded to Know God
| extra3 = Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
| length3 = 7:03
}}
{{tracklist
| headline = Side 2
| all_writing =
| extra_column = Featuring
| title4 = Supermoon Made Me Want to Pee
| extra4 = Prefuse 73
| length4 = 3:17
| title5 = Children of the Moon
| extra5 = Tame Impala
| length5 = 5:32
| title6 = That Ain't My Trip
| extra6 = Jim James of My Morning Jacket
| length6 = 3:47
| title7 = You, Man? Human???
| extra7 = Nick Cave
| length7 = 3:34
}}
{{tracklist
| headline = Side 3
| all_writing =
| extra_column = Featuring
| title8 = I'm Working at NASA on Acid
| extra8 = Lightning Bolt
| length8 = 7:59
| title9 = Do It!
| extra9 = Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band
| length9 = 3:28
| title10 = Is David Bowie Dying?
| extra10 = Neon Indian
| length10 = 6:36
}}
{{tracklist
| headline = Side 4
| all_writing =
| extra_column = Featuring
| title11 = The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
| extra11 = Erykah Badu
| length11 = 10:04
| note11 = written by Ewan MacColl
| title12 = Girl, You're So Weird
| extra12 = New Fumes
| length12 = 3:21
| title13 = I Don't Want You to Die
| extra13 = Chris Martin
| total_length = 69:17
}}
=Vinyl reissue edition=
{{tracklist
| headline = Side 1
| all_writing =
| extra_column = Featuring
| title1 = 2012 (You Must Be Upgraded)
| extra1 = Kesha, Biz Markie & Hour of the Time Majesty 12
| length1 = 4:09
| title2 = Ashes in the Air
| extra2 = Bon Iver
| length2 = 6:13
| title3 = Helping the Retarded to Know God
| extra3 = Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
| length3 = 7:03
}}
{{tracklist
| headline = Side 2
| all_writing =
| extra_column = Featuring
| title4 = Supermoon Made Me Want to Pee
| extra4 = Prefuse 73
| length4 = 3:17
| title5 = Children of the Moon
| extra5 = Tame Impala
| length5 = 5:32
| title6 = That Ain't My Trip
| extra6 = Jim James of My Morning Jacket
| length6 = 3:47
| title7 = You, Man? Human???
| extra7 = Nick Cave
| length7 = 3:34
}}
{{tracklist
| headline = Side 3
| all_writing =
| extra_column = Featuring
| title8 = I'm Working at NASA on Acid
| extra8 = Lightning Bolt
| length8 = 7:59
| title9 = Do It!
| extra9 = Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band
| length9 = 3:28
| title10 = Is David Bowie Dying?
| extra10 = Neon Indian
| length10 = 6:36
}}
{{tracklist
| headline = Side 4
| all_writing =
| extra_column = Featuring
| title11 = The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
| extra11 = Erykah Badu
| length11 = 10:04
| note11 = written by Ewan MacColl
| title12 = Girl, You're So Weird
| extra12 = New Fumes
| length12 = 3:21
| title13 = Tasered and Maced
| extra13 = Aaron Behrens of Ghostland Observatory
| total_length = 69:17
}}
Vinyl edition has locked grooves at the end of each side.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20120815070714/http://headyfwends.com/ The official website for selling the blood vinyl version]
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-A4I_Ib3to Wayne Coyne walks through The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends]
{{The Flaming Lips}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flaming Lips And Heady Fwends, The}}
Category:2012 collaborative albums
Category:Record Store Day releases
Category:The Flaming Lips albums