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October 13, 2009

Cover art battle: Who has the most artful vaginas?

Islands or Flaming Lips? We report, YOU decide.

Islands - Arm's Way

vs.

Flaming Lips - Embryonic

Sometimes I see associations in the world that are too much fun to ignore, and so I'm inclined to create a competitive battle between them. In this case the gist is simple. Islands and Flaming Lips both put out albums with cover art that unequivocally resembles vaginas. If you harbor any doubt on the above art's inspiration, read further.

From a 2008 interview we did with Islands' Nick Thorburn:

JK: I wanted to ask about the Arm's Way album cover. Most of the reactions I saw to it were pretty perplexed. To me it suggested that if you opened up your chest there'd be some sort of 70s classic-rock utopia inside. Is that fairly on-base?

NT: No, it's a vagina.

JK: So if we opened your vagina there'd be a 70s classic-rock utopia inside?

NT: Exactly. If you opened my vagina, you'd find, you know, pregnant 11-year-olds embracing. You'd find sasquatches. That's the nature of my vagina.

JK: Roomy?

NT: Yeah, I guess so.

Without the directness of Mr. Thorburn admission, Wayne Coyne skirts confirming Embryonic's cover inspiration, while simultaneously implying the lady bits by fleshing out the visual metaphor in the concept for the "Watching the Planets" music video (pics):

Last month, Pitchfork reported on said video's Portland shoot as such:

[On] Wednesday, September 23, they'll be shooting on Portland, Oregon's Mount Tabor. Wayne Coyne told BikePortland that the idea came from the musical Hair: "You know how it's a bunch of freaked out naked people climbing some mountain with blood and fire and finding some new civilization there-- so I thought of Portland, right?"

Here's how Coyne describes the video's concept, which sounds, in a word, ridiculous: "I'm having one of my giant space bubbles covered in fake fox fur. It's going to look like some giant fur egg, and the people on bicycles are gonna sort of be born and erupt out of this fur, vaginalistic thing."

There you have it. Any others that I'm missing? We strive to be completists.

** ** **

Embryonic is out today. The Lips website is offering an Embryonic deluxe edition for $40 bucks. Includes the 2 CDs set with all 18 tracks, a bonus audio DVD of the album in "full dynamic range", a digipack wrapped in a custom "fur" box with full color art, lyrics and photos, and an exclusive lithography of Embryonic's vaginalistic cover art.

Buy deluxe edition here.

Posted by Merry Swankster at October 13, 2009 12:49 PM

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