Gift Wrapped II: Snowed In will feature several originals and, of course, those beloved classics re-imagined. Among the more notable tracks are originals by Devo (“Merry Something To You”) and Spektor (“December”). And despite the fact that you may have heard these since you wanted an Atari for Xmas, covers of “Little Drummer Boy” by The Flaming Lips, Neil and Pegi Young guesting on Ben Keith’s “Les Trois Cloches”, “and Marvin Gaye’s “Christmas in the City” by Everest should rejuvenate the holiday spirit. Plus, you can never go wrong with “The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late)” as performed by Tegan & Sara, which you can enjoy right now with a warm mug of cocoa.

Check out the entire tracklist below. Gift Wrapped II: Snowed In is available now through several major digital musical retailers.

Gift Wrapped II: Snowed In Tracklist:
01. Cavo – “Home For Christmas”
02. Ben Keith (feat. Neil Young and Pegi Young) – “Les Trois Cloches”
03. Oasis – “Merry Christmas Everybody”
04. American Bang – “Christmas Song”
05. Jason Reeves and Kara DioGuardi – “New York In Wintertime”
06. Tegan And Sara – “The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late)”
07. Regina Spektor – “December”
08. Devo – “Merry Something To You”
09. David Foster – “Carol Of The Bells” (instrumental)
10. The Ready Set – “Wonderful Christmastime”
11. Foxy Shazam – “Heaven On Their Minds”
12. The Goo Goo Dolls – “Better Days” (acoustic)
13. Rachael Yamagata – “Baby Come Find Me At Christmas”
14. Everest – “Christmas In The City”
15. The Dirt Drifters – “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)”
16. The Spill Canvas – “It Came Upon A Midnight Clear”
17. Stardeath And The White Dwarfs – “Last Christmas”
18. House Of Heroes – “O Come, O Come Emmanuel”
19. The Flaming Lips – “Little Drummer Boy” (live)
20. Franklin – “Hanukkah, Oh Channukah” (bonus track)
21. The Red Elephant – “Brooklyn Sleigh Ride” (bonus track)

This time around, Tame Impala look to not repeat mistakes, moving up in venue size and number of stops considerably. They are tacking this onto an extensive European tour that will pretty much keep the band working through the end of the year. The sophisticated psych jams have already slayed critics and hopefully, after this tour, they will leave an equally impressed trail of fans throughout America.

Joining them will be Stardeath and White Dwarves, who apparently go well with druggy bands, having previously toured with The Flaming Lips. And if you haven’t picked up InnerSpeaker yet, I’d familiarize yourself if you want to know what everyone keeps talking about at the end of the year.

Tame Impala 2010 Tour Dates
10/07 – Adelaide, AU @ HQ *
10/08 – Hobart, AU @ Uni Bar *
10/09 – Canberra, AU @ ANU *
10/14 – Sydney, AU @ The Enmore *
10/15 – Melbourne, AU @ The Palace *
10/16 – Brisbane, AU @ The Tivoli *
10/22 – Perth, AU @ Astor Theatre *
10/23 – Newcastle, AU @ Fat as Butter Festival
10/26 – Birmingham, UK @ O2 Academy 3
10/27 – Manchester, UK @ Ruby Lounge
10/28 – London, UK @ Heaven
10/30 – Tourcoing, FR @ Le Grand Mix
10/31 – Nantes, FR @ Lieu Unique
11/01 – Paris, FR @ La Maroquinerie
11/03 – Brussels, BE @ Botanique
11/04 – Cologne, DE @ Gebaude 9
11/05 – Zürich, CH @ Mascotte
11/06 – Lausanne, FR @ Le Romandie
11/08 – Vienna, AT @ B72
11/09 – Munich, DE @ 59 to 1
11/11 – Hamburg, DE @ Beatlemania
11/12 – Weissenhäuser Strand, DE @ Rolling Stone Weekender
11/13 – Amsterdam, NL @ The Paradiso
11/16 – Washington, DC @ Black Cat ^#
11/18 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom ^#
11/21 – Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church ^#
11/22 – Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club ^#
11/23 – Montreal, QC @ La Sala Rossa ^#
11/24 – Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern ^#
11/26 – Chicago, IL @ Double Door ^#
11/27 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry ^#
11/29 – Lawrence, KS @ Jackpot Music Hall ^#
12/01 – Austin, TX @ Emo’s ^#
12/02 – Dallas, TX @ The Loft ^#
12/04 – Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater ^
12/06 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge ^
12/07 – Boise, ID @ Neurolux ^
12/09 – Vancouver, British Columbia @ The Biltmore Cabaret ^
12/10 – Seattle, WA @ Neumos ^
12/11 – Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge ^
12/13 – San Francisco, CA @ The Independent ^
12/14 – Los Angeles, CA @ Echoplex ^
12/30 – Hobart, AU @ Falls Festival Marion Bay

* = w/ John Steel Singers, Felicity Groom
^ = w/ Stardeath and White Dwarfs
# = w/ Kuroma

At just after midnight, following what was, I’m assuming, an already mind-bending set, The Flaming Lips with protégé’s Stardeath and the White Dwarfs kicked into the opening chords of their own Dark Side of the Moon. An audio of Henry Rollins’ take on the spoken word portion introduces the band as they launch into the heavy psychedelic punk rendition of “Breathe”, rolling right into “On The Run”. It’s a whirlwind of crunchy guitars, fuzzy bass, and all the trippy effects you can handle. What you also notice is that what you heard on record may only be the bare bones of what you get live. With all the hands and guitars on-stage, and even through the low quality of this armature six minute video, this clip seems to be the set up for the best thing The Lips have done live to date.

As of now, the only other place you’ll be able to catch this extravaganza (so far) is at this year’s Bonnaroo. While I’m not sure what becomes of the giant spray can that Coyne seems to be fiddling with at the end of the video, I can only imagine what he has in store for the hippies on the farm. (Although, I have a suspicion it involves confetti and some animal suits.) Until then, for those attending the festival, consider this a six minute teaser for the craziest night of your life, and if you’re not going, I’m sorry, and we’ll make sure to send a post card.

Proving as epic as the actual track itself, the band’s performance of the Dark Side track “Breathe” featured eight musicians relentlessly pounding their respective guitars, drums, gongs, etc., as leader Wayne Coyne did what Wayne Coyne does best — entertain. In this particular case, the Lips frontman split his time between getting down to the beat (aka dancing), smashing a cymbal, and delivering a wonderful vocal performance. In the end, the whole thing was both terrifying and wonderful. Or, in other words, what we’ve come to expect regarding anything related to The Flaming Lips.

As for the end result of said attention? An initial lineup announcement headed by Jay-Z, Stevie Wonder, Dave Matthews Band, and Kings of Leon. Other noteworthy acts include Jack White’s The Dead Weather, Jack Black’s Tenacious D, Weezer, Norah Jones, Damian Marley and Nas, LCD Soundsystem, Phoenix, Regina Spektor, Tori Amos, John Fogerty, and Jeff Beck.

Also set to appear at this year’s edition, which runs from June 10-13, are the Dropkick Murphys, John Prine, Jimmy Cliff, Michael Franti and Spearhead, The Avett Brothers, The Black Keys, Deadmau5, Against Me!, Les Claypool, the Zac Brown Band, Steve Martin & the Steep Canyon Rangers, and Rise Against, as well as a few familiar faces, including the Disco Biscuits, Medeski Martin & Wood, and Calexico.

A number of high-profile indie acts will also perform, including She & Him, Blitzen Trapper, The Dodos, Local Natives, The Gaslight Anthem, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, Chromeo (who will be joined by the legendary Daryl Hall), Tokyo Police Club, and Neon Indian.

We should once again note that today’s announcement was billed as the initial lineup, and additional artists are expected to be named in the weeks ahead. We’ll of course update you when the information becomes available.

Tickets, available in the general admission and VIP varieties, are currently on sale and priced at $234.50 and $1,349.50 respectively. Payment plans are available, as are various rental packages. Hit up bonnarootickets.com for all the specifics.

Additional details regarding the festival itself can be read on bonnaroo.com. We also suggest bookmaring our Bonnaroo Outlook pages, as we’ll update it once additional lineup news is announced. Now would also be a good time to check out our recent interview with Bonnaroo co-founder Ashley Capps.

As previously mentioned, the lineup announcement will work something like this. Unlike previous announcements, the 2010 bill will not be unveiled all at once, but rather throughout the day, with the goal being to “generate conversations about the lineup a few acts at a time.” Starting at 10 AM EST (barring any early leaks), bands will begin announcing their participation via various social media outlets and bonnaroo.com. It’s basically like one giant, procrastinating-inducing puzzle. Fortunately, just in case we don’t figure it out by then, Bonnaroo will end our agony by announcing the full lineup later tomorrow night.

Given all this, it only makes sense that we start an open thread, where you guys can chat, complain, and post any discoveries you find. We’ll of course keep track as well!

7:30 pm Update: 90 minutes left! LCD Soundsystem, Les Claypool, Lucero, Kris Kristofferson, Martin Sexton, and Deadmau5 among the newest additions.

5:30 pm Update: Add The Dodos, Tori Amos, Tenacious D, Damian Marley & Nas, Lotus, Blitzen Trapper, Calexico, Mumford & Sons, Aterciopelados, and John Butler Trio to the mix. Still waiting for Neil, Pavement, and Roger Waters…

3:30 pm Update: A few more worthwhile confirmations: The Dead Weather, They Might Be Giants, The Melvins, Dave Rawlings Machine, John Prine, Mew, Dr. Dog, Clutch, and The Bakerton Group. Also, a few more expected: Alicia Keys, Pavement, and Spoon.

2:00 pm Update: So far, we’ve been going at this for a good five hours and we still only know about a 1/4 of the acts. Of those however, there are certainly a fair share of early highlights, including Jay-Z, The Flaming Lips, Regina Spektor, The National, Disco Biscuits, Jeff Beck, Norah Jones, Weezer, She & Him, and Phoenix.

We can also confirm the participation of Kings of Leon, Dave Matthews Band, Stevie Wonder, Dropkick Murphys, and Zac Brown band. As for what we can expect to see in the hours ahead? Neil Young, Spoon, Broken Social Scene, and Deadmau5. Also don’t be shocked if Roger Waters (performing The Wall), Pavement, and My Morning Jacket make an appearance.

Update: Here is the initial lineup…

Against Me!, Aeroplane, The Avett Brothers, B.o.B., Baaba Maal, The Black Keys Bassnectar, Baroness, Blitzen Trapper, Blues Traveler, Brandi Carlile, Calexico, Chromeo w/ Darryl Hall, Clutch, Cross Canadian Ragweed, Damian Marley & Nas, Dan Deacon Ensemble, Dave Matthews Band, Dave Rawlings Machine, The Dead Weather, Deadmau5, Diane Birch, Disco Biscuits, The Dodos, Dr. Dog, Dropkick Murphys, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, The Entrance Band, The Flaming Lips (w/ Stardeath and White Dwarfs) performing Dark Side of the Moon, The Gaslight Anthem, GWAR, Here We Go Magic, Hot Rize, Jamey Johnson, Japandroids, Jay-Z, Jeff Beck, John Prine, Kid Cudi, Kings of Leon, Kris Kristofferson, Ingrid Michaelson, Isis, John Fogerty, Julia Nunes, LCD Soundsystem, Les Claypool, Local Natives, Lotus, Lucero, Manchester Orchestra, Martin Sexton, Mayer Hawthrone & the County, Medeski Martin & Wood, Melvins, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Miike Snow, Miranda Lambert, Monte Montgomery, Mumford & Sons, The National, Needtobreathre, Neon Indian, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Norah Jones, OK Go, Phoenix, The Postelles, Punch Brothers, Rebelution, Regina Spektor, Rise Against, She & Him, Steve Martin with the Steep Canyon Rangers, Stevie Wonder, The Temper Trap, Tenacious D, They Might Be Giants, Thievery Corporation, Tinariwen, Tori Amos, Tokyo Police Club, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, Wale, Weezer, The xx, Zac Brown Band

Here are other expected and rumored acts.

Now, buckle up kids! It’s going to be a long and wild ride!

Feature image courtesy of Ryan Mastro…

Having heard and said all there is to hear and say about it, Dark Side of the Moon represents a breakthrough in production value and experimentation, with the added advantage of being indelibly stamped by simple, iconic album art. This record operated under a “less is more” mentality, and in turn, helped pave the way for more adventurous fare to come later. So, when The Flaming Lips embarked on a whimsical quest of fuzz and frenzy to cover DSOTM in its entirety, we do not consider it a slight against Pink Floyd, but a respectable “balls out” tribute. Even in profiting on the coattails of Embryonic, one listen to Coyne and company’s rendition will speak volumes of the love behind the craft, the respect behind the recreation.

Note that this is not solely a Flaming Lips credit; to make everything spot on, Coyne enlisted multi-talented mad man Henry Rollins to recite the original commentary spliced amongst DSOTM‘s cacophony of audio tracks, while Coyne’s nephew’s atmospherically epic band, Stardeath and White Dwarfs, participated musically on over half of the reworked songs. Great measures were seen through to give this undertaking both a means to breathe imaginatively and a proper amount of dedication to the source material — initial scope included. This is “re-imagining” to the letter; while careful to remain in tune with the base lines, The Flaming Lips have sculpted an album that really stands on its own in this act’s 13-strong catalog.

There is techno-pop and pure industrial accoutrement across the board, colors and sounds you can almost taste. Opener “Speak To Me/Breathe” marks a slow build of heartbeats and evil laughter punctuated by some “philosophical everyman” (portrayed now by our own Mr. Rollins); this new rendition reshapes itself with distorted modern stoner rock melted by swinging sixties swagger. “On The Run” displays a dark dance party laced with acid, ending on a series of alarms, coughs, and fire engine sirens that segue into “Time/Breathe (Reprise)”, Reznor style, courtesy of Stardeath. As a cover, “Time” is still as haunting in the early stages, with explosive awakening sans clocks and ringers, the extended guitar crescendo, and finally a quiet fragility of vocals accompanied by tambourine; after the “Breathe” reprisal, we come to DSOTM‘s prize piece — “The Great Gig In The Sky”, where Peaches gets to shine (and we finally get to draw some parallels).

Peaches earned the honor of performing singer Clare Torry’s famous non-lexical vocal number on “The Great Gig In The Sky”, and unbelievably (almost frighteningly) nails it. The Richard Wright composition is phenomenal as a standalone instrumental, but Torry — upon instructions to “think about death” and basically just go with it — had laid down a piercing track that could rival some of the best soul and jazz known to man. Via The Flaming Lips, “The Great Gig In The Sky” is flipped on end in a fashion akin to Revolting Cocks’ “RevColution Medley”, becoming a crossbreed of discotheques and nightmare serum; Peaches becomes less of a vocalist here and more of a tragic, post-millennium Earth goddess mourning the death of innocence, encompassing the new age “Great Gig” with appropriate tonal accents to set this maddening dance floor aflame.

After an excruciating Microsoft Sam impression on “Money”, “Us And Them” clocks in at just under eight minutes to become the prolonged intermission — a gentle ocean of subtle static, peaceful negotiable lyrics, and chiming keyboards suddenly broken apart at the end by “Any Colour You Like”. “Any Colour You Like” was already the most upbeat song on DSOTM besides “Money”, though not quite as epic as closer “Eclipse”, but here it is taken to a straight-up 70′s rock level and feels like it would make a spectacular live token to throw in at future Flaming Lips or Stardeath gigs. In its final moments, “Brain Damage” remains the lamenting, disturbing lullaby for the indisputable insanity within us all, whereas “Eclipse” brings the listener full circle with garage rock and choral hums.

Frankly, The Flaming Lips and all others involved have crafted a visceral take on DSOTM with care, resorting to high-definition helplessness and lunacy by fully embracing its very fringes ten-fold. The idea of a tribute album is not a new one for Pink Floyd, but these particular DSOTM sessions here with Lips, White Dwarfs, Peaches, and Rollins are worlds apart from a five buck cheapo orchestrated by some estranged studio acoustic player in the local FYE bargain bin.

Despite exchanging accentuated blues and simplicity for loudness and eletronica, this cover transcends genres and gives us new eyes to gaze upon the glory that has been and always will be Dark Side of the Moon.

Oh ya, and the tracklist too:

01. Speak To Me / Breathe (feat. Henry Rollins and Peaches)
02. On The Run (feat. Henry Rollins)
03. Time / Breathe Reprise
04. The Great Gig In The Sky (feat. Peaches and Henry Rollins)
05. Money (feat. Henry Rollins)
06. Us And Them (feat. Henry Rollins)
07. Any Colour You Like
08. Brain Damage (feat. Henry Rollins)
09. Eclipse (feat. Henry Rollins)

The Flaming Lips and Stardeath and White Dwarfs will perform the album together live at a concert on New Year’s Ever at the Cox Center in Oklahoma City, OK. This is the only planned live performance of the album (let’s hope that will change!). Remarkably, tickets are still available.

According to Los Angeles Times (via P4k), The Flaming Lips will follow up the recently released Embryonic with a full album re-do of Pink Floyd’s 1973 classic Dark Side of the Moon. While details remain a bit sketchy, the album is said to a collaborative effort with Stardeath and White Dwarfs, aka the band that features Wayne Coyne’s nephew Dennis, and sports the guest talents of punk legend Henry Rollins and electronic musician Peaches.

No word on a release date, but according to Pitchfork, it will likely be an iTunes-only release.

To begin, last night saw the Lips take to The Colbert Report for an interview and a performance of the Embryonic track, “Convinced of the Hex” (via Prefix). And while no confetti and giant beach balls were dispersed, the band did not leave before handing over a copy of the new album, which is now streaming in its entirety on the Colbert website.

As for what’s on tap? Well, on September 22nd, the band will debut a brand new video for “I Can Be A Frog”, aka the song which features Yeah Yeah Yeah’s Karen O providing backing animalistic sounds, on its MySpace.

There are also a few rather special dates to mark on your calender.The Lips have confirmed that they will indeed play their hometown of Oklahoma City on New Year’s Eve, December 31, 2009, at the Cox Center. Tickets for the show will go on sale Saturday September 19th. Ticket prices range from $10, $20, and $25 (plus venue/transaction fees). Special Guests will be Oklahoma brethren and labelmate Stardeath and White Dwarfs.

This date will be proceeded by another one you may have heard of. On October 24th, the band will hit Oklahoma City for the third annual “March of 1,000 Flaming Skeletons” Halloween parade. Costumes are suggested, flaming torches will be provided. Click here for all the info.

And that’s a bit it for now. Well, that is unless you have already pre-ordered Embryonic in any of the following formats:

• A standard CD, featuring 18 tracks.

• A limited-edition deluxe package, designed by the Lips themselves, that includes two CD’s (18 tracks plus a bonus audio DVD of the full album) and a custom hardcover book featuring 24 pages of full-color art, lyrics, and band photos.

• Vinyl with a single gatefold jacket that includes two colored LP’s.

• A Direct to Consumer package, which will be sold as a digipack inside of a custom “fur” box and includes two CDs, plus a bonus 96k 24bit-super resolution audio DVD (256 times higher resolution rate than standard CD audio), and an exclusive album artwork lithograph. Some of these prints will come autographed by the band.

• A super MEGA Deluxe vinyl edition that is so epic it has yet to be detailed.

Boy, these guys sure know how to make you salivate…

The Flaming Lips 2009 Tour Dates:
10/18 – San Francisco, CA @ Treasure Island Music Festival
10/31 – Oklahoma City, OK @ March of 1,000 Flaming Skeletons
11/01 – New Orleans, LA @ Voodoo Experience
11/06 – Lubeck, DE @ Rolling Stone Weekender
11/07 – Hamburg, DE @ Herning Concerthall
11/09 – Brussels, BE @ Ancienne Belgique
11/10 – London, UK @ Troxy
11/11 – London, UK @ Troxy
11/13 – Portsmouth, UK @ Guildhall
11/15 – Glasgow, UK @ O2 Academy
11/16 – Manchester, UK @ Academy
11/17 – Birmingham, UK @ O2 Academy
12/31 – Oklahoma City, OK @ Cox Center