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Music

How the Flaming Lips Became the Only Act to Successfully Play Live Shows During the Pandemic

It seems like all these years performing in bubbles has finally paid off. The Flaming Lips have always been ahead of the game. With a successful run of live (!!) shows earlier this year at the Criterion in Oklahoma City, the Lips attempted yet another run of live shows last month. The catch? Both the band and the audience are placed in pressurized bubbles in separated locations throughout the theater. One ticket allocates for one bubble, which can contain up to three people in your party. Seems like a gimmick, right? Both yes and no. Ever since the debut of Wayne Coyne’s bubble feature at 2004’s Coachella Music and Arts Festival, it’s become a staple in the band’s live show. And for years since, they’ve been very vocal about wanting to play a show with the entire band and audience in their own bubbles. And now, they don’t have a better opportunity to execute such an idea.

It’s also a testament to not just how ballsy they are, but also how innovative they’ve always been throughout their career. They’ve always been able to outdo themselves one way or another, whether it be an album released entirely in fur (Emryonic), releasing an album that’s required to be listened to on four records simultaneously (Zaireeka), or releasing a 24-hour long song on a USB stick encased in a skull (7 Skies H3). Regardless of what you think of them, they’ve always pushed the boundaries and tested the limits of what music can be capable of. Comparing their college-garage rock days of the late 80s and the trajectory they’ve travelled to where they are today, they look like the result of Pink Floyd and the Sex Pistols having a baby that fell out of a UFO, and landed in, of all places, Oklahoma. Their audacity to transcend musical limitation has always led me to believe that there are no “good” or “bad” Flaming Lips records, but rather impulsive explorations in how music can be consumed.  

 ‍  ‍  ‍  ‍  ‍  ‍  ‍  ‍  ‍  ‍  ‍  ‍  ‍  ‍  ‍  ‍  ‍  ‍  ‍  ‍  ‍  ‍  ‍  ‍  ‍  ‍  ‍  ‍  ‍  ‍  ‍  ‍  ‍  ‍  ‍  ‍  ‍  ‍  ‍  ‍ Pic courtesy of Flaming Lips/Warner Music/Reuters

And now, the Lips are once again using the times to their advantage, realizing that, even though this is a time of separation, there’s still a viable place for intimacy. It also emphasizes what their music has tackled for decades. From their chaotic live shows to eccentric album releases, they capitalize on what rock music can achieve – a communal experience through personal obsession.

Ever since the 90s, the Flaming Lips have long been rock music’s most inventive band. And surprisingly, most of that time has been on a major record label. But it’s how they’ve marketed themselves that turned these freaks into such a success, being able to develop such a reputation for themselves and subvert expectations. Whether it be trying to record a 24-hour long song, or playing to a theater entirely capsuled in hamster balls, they’ve never been a result-oriented band. They’ve staked their whole career on the premise that it’s not about the destination, it’s all about getting there.

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Featured image courtesy of Scott Booker/Warner Records

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Music

Human After All: Saying Goodbye to Daft Punk

Last week marked the twentieth anniversary of Discovery’s release, and a month prior, the iconic French electronic duo Daft Punk announced their break up after 28 years via a video titled “Epilogue” uploaded to their YouTube page. After nearly eight years of silence from the band (their last effort being 2013’s Random Access Memories), the announcement didn’t come as a surprise to many. To some, it was a satisfying sigh of relief after holding their breath for so long. And to others, it was like losing a loved one. Daft Punk was a one of a kind band, or studio project, or collaboration, whatever you wanted to call it, but they operated in the same manner as a band – taking their influences and assigning them their own definitions. That’s what kept Daft Punk relevant all these years: their relationship with cool.

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Music

Top 10 Albums of 2020

2020 has been a year of exceptions. There will forever be an asterisk marked next to the year in any textbook we read. But damn were there a lot of great albums this year. Some were years in the making (A Written Testimony, Fetch the Bolt Cutters), some started and completed all in quarantine (Folklore, McCartney III). And wow was music our saving grace this year – whether it was refrigerator buzz noise just to have on in the background to keep us company, or in depth, reflective epics that required us to study. Despite the feeling that making an album and needing to share it with the world is so self-indulgent, these albums were here to remind us that, we don’t have to make anything during this time. We don’t have to be productive. But rather, sit in and feel these feelings that we’ve suppressed and never had to feel before. Here are Era of Good Feeling’s top 10 albums of 2020.

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Music

How Do We Separate an Artist’s Sound from Whence it Came?

Radiohead’s Kid A turned 20 last month, which, at the time of its release, was considered polarizing: was it groundbreaking, or a letdown? It’s been regarded as the former, but upon its anniversary, a common response was: “I remember how game changing it was, but I can’t seem to recall a single song on there.” Kid A was, in fact, deemed a gamechanger – the first album of its kind to not only effectively use the internet, but also sound like it. They were a rock band that was not afraid to take a left turn.

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Music

Thief of Hearts: Adrianne Lenker’s Empathy

On a rainy night last February, Adrianne Lenker played a show at Pico Union Project, touring for her excellent solo record, abysskiss. Half way through the set a woman started to have a seizure. Lenker immediately called for the crowd to give her space, and after a few tough minutes, it passed and they were able to recover. “I’m sorry,” the woman mustered on her way out. Lenker sweetly, and yet also seriously reassured her, “We’re all in this boat together.” 

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Music

Arcade Fire’s ‘The Suburbs’ at 10

Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs turns 10 years old this summer, and for many people, it wasn’t worth batting an eye. But to others, if it feels like it’s been longer than ten years, than the album has done its job. Having released not one, but two (!!) era defining records within a decade of each other, The Suburbs solidified the band as one of the biggest and best in the world.

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Music

Yes, We’re Writing About Taylor Swift’s ‘Folklore,’ Because It’s that Relevant

The last time I listened to an entire Taylor Swift album was 2008. My family was spending the summer in Chicago and Fearless was the only CD in my sister’s car. So, naturally, it wore many repeats on its sleeve. I don’t listen to Taylor Swift, and I never have. I have heard her music, but never gone out of my way to do so. But this, more importantly, meant that she’s simply always been “there” in my life, always lurking, much like any sitting U.S. President or Kanye West. (Although we see who’s having the last laugh now.)

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Music

What is the Greatest American Rock Band of All Time? The Answer is Not as Easy as You Think…

Last month, a tweet sent out by (of all people) Hank Azaria spawned an online conversation that got people flipping through their mental rolodex.

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Film Music TV

For the past few weeks, we at Era of Good Feeling have been struggling to put into words our thoughts regarding society’s status. To be honest, we’ve never taken any sort of political stance and often times have avoided doing so. It has never been our nature to side with political viewpoints. But the silence from us has lasted far too long, and the public dissolution going right now is only fueled by it. That being said, we stand with our black and LGBTQ friends who have made us better people and the world a better place, and who continue to fight for their lives and what they believe. We are here for you.

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Music

Meet Vern Matz: “Not Cool Enough for Brooklyn” – The Six Feet Apart Interview

In the next wave of Brooklyn bands to break out of the borough, Vern Matz will be neither the ones following, nor leading. By way of Yale University, they’ll be off to the side, observing the patterns and tropes that come with such a scene and turning them inside out. Their music surfs on rhythm supported melodies, where the percussion is merely a vessel to carry such. They do not give philosophical credence between their music, videos or live shows, because they are all one and the same. It’s the content that is king. Everything they output has been imbued inside of them since their formation, thus defining a signature, unified aesthetic.