This is rarified air for me, reserved for the music of the Taize monastery in France, Russian Orthodox liturgical chants, John Lennon’s first two solo albums. In addition to being every bit as wonderful as he had suggested, it also touched something much deeper in me than almost anything else I had ever heard before or since… until now. Years ago, solely on the basis of Radiohead vocalist and lyricist Thom Yorke’s raving recommendation, I gave a listen to the Icelandic group, Sigur Ros. Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots is a very strong album and well worth your time. I find Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Part II musically uninteresting and just plain silly. Are there weak spots? Yes, but they are hard to find. Numerous psychedelic touches reveal The Lips' devotion to Pink Floyd, but they sound nothing like them, really. They adroitly mix warm analog guitars with digital drums, orchestral flourishes, blatantly artificial and sometimes silly synth patches, augmented with studio trickery and faux-documentary excerpts, all grounded by Wayne Coyne's tremulous, wistful voice. Musically, the Lips write fairly simple pop songs with pretty melodies, but they've come up with arrangements that complement and deepen their lyrical content beautifully. Their lyrics are goofy, heartfelt, incisive, and utterly humane, which couldn't be more endearing. I'm a sucker for these kinds of themes to begin with, but the Lips do something unique with it. Yoshimi is the sequel to The Soft Bulletin, except it's also a loosely organized allegorical concept album about the struggle of humanity to extricate itself from the technological disaster it's created, but lyricist Wayne Coyne concentrates on the human costs involved. You will definitely find me playing this song on repeat from time to time. The saying "it’s not about the destination it's about the journey" applies to all 47 minutes of this album. The greatness of the album both lyrically and musically is mostly only present in the front half. I was looking forward to Yoshimi’s battle with cancer over the course of the album. Most of the fun is found in the first five songs and scattered in small parts in the back half of the album. The best is not a single track found in the middle or the end of the album. It’s Summertime is very beatlesque but definitely not the highlight of the album. The whole album flows very well and does an exceptional job of painting the space atmosphere. I’m not sure I really like any songs on their own. I thought this was an early 2010’s album and I was shocked to find out this album is from 02. Within seconds of hitting play we’re grabbed into the space aesthetic. I’m a sucker for a space adventure and this one was a pleasant one at that.