Who doesn't think a little about mortality as the year approaches its end? And if you're gonna go there, it never hurts to bring Wayne Coyne with you. I admire the Lips' freakout prowess as much as anyone, but I've got a real soft spot for the band's kindhearted/childlike handling of weighty matters like addiction, alienation, and death. And of course, the giant balloons at their shows.I recently listened to the Yoshimi album for the first time in years, and was fully taken by its warmth. This tracks pulls a neat trick — flipping apocalyptic despair into a realization that having an ongoing flow of now that simply persists until it stops persisting isn't really such a bad deal. And the texture of the music is a total winner — a soft drugginess that somehow sheds a very clear light. (You can hear an instrumental version here.)
