Zaireeka – The Flaming Lips
Finally! After far too long of a wait, I finally got to hear Zaireeka the way it was meant to be heard: playing on four stereos simultaneously. This is no mere album, this is an experience.
I’m a music fanatic, but today I haven’t had any interest in listening to any music, simply because I’ve still got the tones of Zaireeka floating in my head. At turns haunting, hypnotic, beautiful and disturbing; Zaireeka is . . . well, before I find myself simply gushing out tired clichés of praise, I’ll just say that . . . . Zaireeka is quite simply incredible.
At the start of its charm is the way the album demands something of you, quite a few things actually.
First, you need to find at least a few other people to even get the thing rolling. Zaireeka comes on four cds, and they all need to start at more or less the same time (luckily at the start of every track there’s a helpful phrase that allows you to ascertain whether or not you’ve got it running in synch), but you still need enough hands to hit the buttons and that means (unless you are wildly dexterous and flexible) you need a few friends to share the experience with, which is great, because the whole thing lends itself to some sort of ‘rock n roll’ freakout-type-party, and who doesn’t appreciate an excuse to have a get-together?
Title: Zaireeka
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Second, you need a fair share of patience. Getting four cd players to start at the same time can be a bit tricky, and since all cd players seem to run at slightly different speeds, the group I was with last night found it helpful to re-synch the music at the start of each track, you’d be quite frankly amazed at how far out of synch four cd players can get over the course of five minutes. And after attempting a “1 – 2 – 3 – GO!” at least a dozen times, the sound of four stereos reporting back as one is just so delicious you feel like you’ve really accomplished something, which you have, and incredibly lush sounds are your reward.
Finally, Zaireeka demands something extra of you as a listener. Because all the stereos are running at slightly different times, and each cd from the album sort of operates on its own logic, there are definitely times when the sounds you are hearing would best be described as chaotic. What makes it worthwhile are these ‘magic moments’ when it all works together perfectly. The best analogy I can think of is listening to old Grateful Dead concerts, when the band is sort of improvising on stage, and the different parts are trying to mesh, and then WHAM! they do, and the result is just . . . well, honestly the only word that really covers it is . . . magical.
What really struck me last night was the fact that since all these, occasionally discordant, elements of sound are all working within the confines of a larger, cohesive, musical idea; even those tones and sounds that don’t quite mesh are easily integrated into the overarching theme, simply because whatever portion of Zaireeka you are paying attention to is so interesting, so compelling, that your brain has no choice but to make sense out of it. Plus, I’m convinced that the Flaming Lips intentionally messed with the timing of each song so that as long as the synching of the stereos is at least close, there will be moments when everything falls together perfectly.
Occasionally discordant aside; when Zaireeka is working its own particular magic in your world; when the main theme is bopping from stereo to stereo and the supplementary elements are weaving this kaleidoscopic tapestry of sound . . . all I could do was wear a foolish looking grin and just marvel at the majesty of what I was hearing.
Before having heard Zaireeka, I was enamored with the concept of an album that has to be played on four stereos to be heard properly. Having now heard Zaireeka, I know that this is something far more than a clever concept, this is as close to art (art in the sense of being unreasonably beautiful; stimulating, inspiring, worthy of awe and leaving me dying to hear it again) as rock and roll has ever come.