The Flaming Lips And Robyn Hitchcock Ready New Albums, Tour

06/08/1999 4:00 AM, Yahoo! Music
Craig Rosen

(6/8/99, 1 a.m. PDT) - The Flaming Lips and Robyn Hitchcock will tour together for the first time when "The 1999 International Music Against Brain Degeneration Revue" kicks off July 13 in St. Louis.

Other acts set to appear on the tour, which will stop for multiple nights in large clubs, include Sebadoh, Cornelius, and Kid Loco.

The Lips' latest effort, The Soft Bulletin, is due June 22. The album, produced by the band and Dave Fridmann, marks the group's first proper album since 1995's Clouds Taste Metallic. The band's last release was Zaireeka, an experimental four-CD set recorded for simultaneous playback.

For the tour, the Lips will perform the headphone concert, which the band previewed in March at South By Southwest (LAUNCH feature, 3/25). At stops on the tour, the Lips will hand out 500 pairs of headphones and small FM receivers that will allow clubgoers to hear the concert over a specifically designated frequency for enhanced stereophonic listening.

Jewels For Sophia, due July 20, is the latest offering from Hitchcock. Once again, Hitchcock called on a number of friends to lend their support. The album, produced by Jon Brion, features guest appearances by R.E.M.'s Peter Buck, Grant Lee Buffalo's Grant Lee Phillips, R.E.M. sideman/ Minus 5 member Scott McCaughey, and Homer's Tim Keegan.

While Hitchcock has no plans to broadcast his set, he is already pondering the fate of this next album. "I don't know if my next recordings will be released in the conventional disc form that has lasted the whole of the 20th century, with various permutations," he writes in notes that accompany advance copies of Jewels For Sophia. "Next time the music might just come out of a tap or appear directly in your frontal lobe..."

Features on the Flaming Lips, Robyn Hitchcock, Sebadoh, Cornelius, R.E.M., and Grant Lee Buffalo are available on LAUNCH.com; look for a Jon Brion feature soon.

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