THE FLAMING LIPS FEAT KE$HA 2012 (YOU MUST BE UPGRADED)

Watch out everyone: it's everyone else, and The Flaming Lips. It's an interesting one, because they've teamed up with a lot of other artists for their new album, from Tame Impala and Yoko Ono, to Neon Indian and Nick Cave, there's a lot of talent in the mix. The album is called The Flaming Lips And Heady Fwends and is out now.

An interesting song and the first single from the album is '2012 (You Must Be Upgraded)' featuring, bizarrely, Ke$ha. The song also features Biz Markie (not sure who he is so here's Wikipedia to help) and whoever the hell Hour Of The Time Majesty 12 is/are - strangely I found this whole spiel about Illuminati conspiracy fairytales when I searched for them/her/him/it: http://www.hourofthetime.com/majestyt.htm. Weird.

What is it with people and conspiracy theories?

...Anyway here is the song.



The Flaming Lips have always been a bit weird, or brave, whichever you like. With past songs like 'She Don't Like Jelly' and 'Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots Part 1', there's definitely something different in the makeup of this psychedelic rock band for however long they've been going, like well over 20 years.

Both the band and Ke$ha herself have never done anything that sounds even remotely like '2012'. The stop-start rhythm of the drums and the brazenly brash buzzing synth that sounds like a snippet of a HEALTH song or something. Not only does Ke$ha's breathy, decadently slack and sultry voice fit perfectly with the slapdash distortion of the song, it also sounds perfect when saying lines like "Put me under your acid spell / Cause I want my mind to be completely toast". It's sharp and strong. Could be Sleigh Bells (thought it was when I first heard it). But then again it couldn't really be many people and listening back, it definitely sounds like Ke$ha.

Then there's this great breakdown in the song from about 2 minutes in to about 3:30. Gentle and floaty, it's just this vast synth swirling around as Ke$ha's vocal becomes more and more reverberated. Then the song whirls round and shoryukens whoever's listening to it as the crazy sawing of the original synth and the original beat swing back in like a meteor on a string.

It's different, it's quirky, it's brave as hell, it's got Ke$ha in it. It's brilliant.

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• The Flaming Lips official site
• They're on Wikipedia!
• They are also on Facebook
• And Twitter

• Here's Ke$ha's official site
• Here's her Facebook page
• And here's her mofo'ing Twitter
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