My 250 Favorite Songs of the 2000s - #120-111

#120 - The Pain - Murs

Murs 3:16: The 9th Edition (2004)

#119 - Do You Realize?? - The Flaming Lips

Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2002)

#118 - Velvet - The Big Pink

A Brief History of Love (2009)

#117 - While You Wait For the Others - Grizzly Bear

Veckatimest (2009)

#116 - Svefn-g-englar - Sigur Ros

Agaetis Byrjun (2000)

#115 - You Are the Generation That Bought More Shoes - The Johnny Boy

You Are the Generation..... (2004)

#114 - Float On - Modest Mouse

Good News for People Who Love Bad News (2004)

#113 - Malcolm - Ghostface Killah

Supreme Clientele (2000)

#112 - Lloyd, I'm Ready to Be Heartbroken - Camera Obscura

Let's Get Out of This Country (2006)

#111 - Scenic World - Beirut

Lon Gisland (2007)

My 250 Favorite Songs of the 2000s - #200-191

#200 - Fight Test - The Flaming Lips

Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2002)

#199 - Smile Like You Mean It - The Killers

Hot Fuss (2004)

#198 - Njosnavelin - Sigur Ros

( ) (2002)

#197 - Grass - Animal Collective

Feels (2005)

#196 - Brain Burner - No Age

Nouns (2008)

#195 - Everyone Chooses Sides - The Wrens

The Meadowlands (2003)

#194 - Your Protector - Fleet Foxes

Fleet Foxes (2008)

#193 - Raindrops - Basement Jaxx

Scars (2009)

#192 - Karen Revisited - Sonic Youth

Murray Street (2002)

#191 - Hercules Theme - Hercules & Love Affair

Hercules & Love Affair (2008)

My 25 Favorite Artists of the 2000s - #15

#15 - The Flaming Lips

After the greatness of 1999's The Soft Bulletin, the Lips returned with Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots a few years later, reinterpreting the previous albums symphonic orchestration into a sort of quasi-concept album about an Asian girl fighting against a bunch of gigantic robots. The final product was amazing, and after a rather mediocre album in '06, they returned in '09 with Embyronic which once again completely reinvented the sound of the band. The album was the darkest by the group yet, and leaves me wondering going into the next decade where they will go from here, into their 4th decade as a functioning unit. Also, they are simply the greatest live band around today. Go see them immediately.

My Favorite Albums:

1. Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2002)

2. Embryonic (2009)

13. The Flaming Lips - Silver Trembling Hands (2009)

The new Flaming Lips album Embryonic isn't so much a return to form as an almost complete change in the sound they've perfected for the past decade. Seemingly gone are the happy sounds that dominated the past few records, replaced by songs that sound as if they're being shouted up from some dark hole in the ground. While it may sound strange, it works better than just about anything I've heard all year, or in the past few years. The Lips have been one of the best bands going for several decades now, and it's amazing how they've re-invented themselves this late in the game. This song, one of the final tracks on the soon to be released double album, is currently my favorite, as the chorus breakdown is just incredible. As great as every song is, however, I'm sure my favorite will be changing almost daily.