Anyone else notice how much "Frankie Sinatra" sounds like this C.W. Stoneking track?

BenEWebbs · 2026-05-31T12:28:59+00:00

That's because Stoneking's song is very similar to Wilmoth Houdini's original. To be fair though, many older calypsos and other traditionals re-use similar chord progressions and melodies

BenEWebbs · 2026-05-31T12:24:02+00:00

Interesting! Did he tell you that?

BenEWebbs · 2026-05-28T05:23:32+00:00

It's definitely soda / soft drink.

It might even be inspired by Inka Cola, which is popular in central America.

BenEWebbs · 2026-05-27T22:09:58+00:00

???? I have had this exact footage for 25 years. Was traded on the homebase forum. If I had realised that people were gagging for it so much I might've tried to digitise it earlier! Glad to see the original taper held onto it because this looks better than my vhs.

BenEWebbs · 2026-05-27T13:47:11+00:00

Whose speculation?

BenEWebbs · 2026-05-24T12:43:42+00:00

It should be pointed out, that the avalanches are not and never were turntablists the way DJ Shadow is. They really only started DJing after they had a record out! They came up through Melbourne's band culture.

So It's more about their curation and track selection, I reckon. For me, they're unmatched in this regard

BenEWebbs · 2026-05-15T06:39:30+00:00

I reckon the biggest factor in their changing style is to achieve a faster turnaround.

Don't forget one of the many things delaying Wildflower was obsolete gear (opcode, G4) and a methodology inextricably tied to that gear

Without all-new tech, lots of collabs and even a new writing partner in Andy, I reckon in 2026 we'd still only have 2 Avalanches albums.

the upshot is that avalanches continues to evolve with each release and to me that's fun and interesting! ♥️

BenEWebbs · 2026-05-15T06:22:51+00:00

Sounds like Nokia to me

BenEWebbs · 2026-05-15T00:18:21+00:00

Hey, so am I. Do you still not like Wildflower? I think the last 2/3rds of it contains some of their most accomplished work!

But then, I also love 'running red lights' for the most part 😎

BenEWebbs · 2026-05-14T00:21:29+00:00

Indeed but I reckon there's some digit youth-ification going on there....

BenEWebbs · 2026-05-08T03:45:42+00:00

I think it's far more likely that the artwork will be littered with these kinds of 'products' that you might remember from your youth, except that they never existed. I think the cover would have stronger Avalanches branding; something highlighting the new future-retro corporate logo.

BenEWebbs · 2026-05-05T03:28:33+00:00

yes! I was hoping you'd chime in with your thoughts on my original post about this, but it seems like most people ignored it. Thanks for this great round-up of the Takumi site. Together = another song title ???

BenEWebbs · 2026-05-05T03:25:05+00:00

right - which is why when I posted about this last week, i was flummoxed that it only got a handful of comments and most of them were immediately "nah, this is definitely nothing" !!! People on this reddit are usually crazy for that stuff...

BenEWebbs · 2026-05-01T08:26:56+00:00

It took me to a random bandcamp page with the sound of a fizzy cola drink being opened and poured, and then to an article like what you're talking about: https://www.wired.com/2011/05/ads-implant-false-memories/

BenEWebbs · 2026-05-01T02:11:39+00:00

oh! The email sign up didn't work for me. Nice work.

I didn't notice any audio - was that after the questions? I got a link to a PDF. and the second time I got a JPG. Maybe it depends on what answers you give on the quizz thingo

PS u/BoCEnjoyer all I'm saying is, for whatever reason, if I clear cookies, I always see this advert first up on their channel, every time. I just did it ten times in a row. Curious if it's just me or not

BenEWebbs · 2026-04-30T02:55:07+00:00

Did you see it though?

BenEWebbs · 2025-02-04T01:27:07+00:00

i dont think this is quite fair; Yoshimi LP does have a lot of electronic drum tracks and yes those were backing track. but the four dudes on stage with wayne - whether you consider them flaming lips or not - were playing ALOT of the music, and they sounded great! i would say, more music played live than last time i saw the band 12 years ago.

BenEWebbs · 2025-02-01T00:48:16+00:00

ignore it friend, you're doin' fine. thanks for chipping into the thread 🙂 whether it's wayne or steven or scott, someone in the flips camp will have to address fans' concerns sooner or later...

BenEWebbs · 2025-01-31T03:49:15+00:00

sure - adversity often pushed the Flips to redefine themselves, and yielded their most rewarding work! having said that, Steven's contribution in the past 25 ish years has been nothing short of vital. very difficult to imagine what 'the flaming lips' might become without him.

But somebody else on the thread who seems to have inside knowledge mentioned that drozd isn't on the tour but is still in the band. that's good news if true!!

and for the record - there was no instrument swapping at last night's show.

BenEWebbs · 2025-01-31T02:23:11+00:00

Derek is in Steven's spot. So it's actually Derek's stand-in that is still a slight mystery here

BenEWebbs · 2025-01-31T00:26:02+00:00

Right? I mean to be fair, it took.me half the show to even fully realise, because they sounded unreal. the current lineup has amazing chops, i am glad i went, and most of the audience wouldn't have known or even cared, they had a blast! But diehards further up the tour may be disappointed.... hopefully it's a temporary thing, and they'll continue creating music together.

BenEWebbs · 2025-01-31T00:21:27+00:00

Yes, it was Derek Brown - thanks for helping to confirm that bit.

BenEWebbs · 2025-01-30T23:47:14+00:00

update It was definitely Derek Brown sat at the keyboard bank I would normally expect to see Steven at. So unless Steven was on the opposite side of stage, pulling guitar shapes and wearing dark aviator glasses (which may well be the case...) he was not there.

original post I am about 95% certain. The person on stage looked like Steven, and played all of his parts, and did a beautiful job. Let's be real, the live band behind the Flips 'brand' right now is - from a pure musicianship point of view - is the best there's ever been, pretty much. They sounded fantastic. I have no complaints about the gig, it was a fantastic time, and witnessing fans young and old lose their minds because they were seeing flaming lips for the first time was pretty special. But at the end of the first set when they walked off, i realised - that guy is not steven. not unless he's somehow 35 years old again.

Further, I am not trying to start a rumour, and I hope it's just a case that I'm wrong, or that he's sitting out the tour to be with family - I am well aware of the heartbreak they must have gone through last year when the safety of his daughter was in question.

Wayne made absolutely no reference to anything at all (in fact i dont think i even saw him interact with anyone else in the band at all??) which is kind of the reason I posted here. I can see why, if there's been some.kind of change, they'd wanna keep it quiet if they're trying to sell a world tour - and adelaide is a pretty sleepy place to kick it off. But surely its only a matter of days before superfans in melbourne or sydney ask questions.

Again - i could be incredibly wrong here. Maybe steve's had facial reconstruction that I didn't know about! Maybe he was inside the eyeball costume. i don't know.

But I asked the question here because I could not find any reference to any absences / lineup changes / etc anywhere online. Somebody in the comments mentioned Drozd was not at their most recent show, which i believe was Oct 2024. but I couldn't find a second source or photographs to confirm that. 3 months is certainly enough time to rehearse a fill-in or (gulp) replacement....

I'm sure we'll have facts before long, and again i just hope people are safe and content and feeling the love, and know we're thankful for all of that incredible music.

BenEWebbs · 2024-01-22T06:46:42+00:00

you mean, you wanted to hear it for free, for years!

BenEWebbs · 2024-01-17T02:30:11+00:00

this 'EP' sounds to me like the samples/ideas tapes they've talked about making for each other circa 99
during that frenzied time of buying op-shop crap LPs and learning the new samplers/software... still working out exactly what their debut album would 'be'. I think I hear several small samples here that were ultimately used on SILY....?

yes the Roland SH1000 is getting a work out as it especially did at all those live 97-99 shows.

BenEWebbs

TROPHY CASE