You Can Now Listen to All Major NIN Releases in Their Entirety via the NIN: Access iPhone App; Your Correspondent Left in a Quandary!

By Mango Starr on 05-12-2009

According to our buddies at Billboard, The Flaming Lips' next release will be a double album, and it's called Stay in Touch with the Samsung Eternity! Actually, no title has yet been released for the At War with the Mystics follow-up (though, The "At War With the Mystics" Follow-Up would be a pretty sweet title), but it's exciting to know that The Lips will be finally tackling their first double album. If any major label artist deserves to spread its music across two albums, it's The Flaming Lips. Hell, they've already done a four-discer!

Crazy man Wayne Coyne tells Billboard that 13 tracks have been written so far, with eight or nine more expected. The double album is tentatively slated for release later this summer on Warner Bros.. It sounds freaky too:

"I think with this there was an element of accidentally stumbling upon more spontaneous sort of freak-out stuff," Coyne tells Billboard. "We were sitting at (drummer) Steven's house and we just started out having these freak-out jam sessions where he'd play drums and I'd play bass and we just would sort of do freaky stuff. Some of those recordings, even though they're not recorded very well, really had a spontaneity about them that we probably wouldn't have purposely done.

So we just went with some of that and use those as sort of the bedrock of what we'd do later on with overdubs and lyrics and stuff like that. It sounds very exciting."

By Jon Lorenz on 05-12-2009

Last August, we saw the cancellation of the U.S. premier of composer Rhys Chatham's A Crimson Grail (TMT Review) due to weather problems (TMT Feature). This year, Chatham -- who recently collaborated with Karole Armitage on Drastic Classicism (TMT Feature) and writes horoscopes (TMT News) -- has decided to take a second chance and is on a search again for 200 guitarists. The original performance, commissioned by the city of Paris in 2005, included 400 guitarists, though Chatham has shrunk it down to 200 and also made a few changes to better suit its location at Lincoln Center's Damrosch Park. The performance will take place August 8, 2009.

Check out the requirements below to see if have what Rhys is looking for, and be sure to get your application in by June 15. You can find more information here.

Requirements for performing in A Crimson Grail:

1. It is necessary to be a competent guitarist with at least a rudimentary comprehension of standard musical notation. A bit of basic music reading is involved to be able to perform. All musicians participating will be assigned to one of four sections, each of which will have their parts provided in simple written notation and textual instructions, and explained by section leaders.
2. You must be able to commit to attending all three rehearsals, and all 12 hours of rehearsal time. Rehearsals will be held at a Manhattan location to be announced later, tentatively scheduled for 6 to 10pm on each of the following days: Wednesday, August 5, Thursday, August 6, and Friday August 7.
3. This may sound obvious, but you must be able to commit to attending a day-long rehearsal/sound check and the performance on Saturday, August 8. The approximate performance time for A Crimson Grail is 7:30 pm, on a multi-artist show that begins at 7pm. You and your equipment will need to be in place prior to the start of the concert. The piece is approximately 60 minutes in length. The performance is outdoors, with guitarists on the perimeter of Lincoln Center's Damrosch Park, West 62nd Street between Columbus and Amsterdam.
4. Each guitarist must bring his or her own equipment for all rehearsals and performance. This must include: an electric guitar or bass of good quality that stays in tune; a good quality amp (having a power rating of not less than 50 watts); a guitar jack (20 foot minimum); a guitar strap; a digital guitar tuner; a guitar stand; and a string changer. At the composer's request, you will need to re-string your guitar, guitar strings provided by Lincoln Center.

Please note the following restrictions: No acoustic guitars. No hollow body electrics. No vibrato or whammy bars.
5. Sorry, but no beginners. Professional and semi-professional musicians will be given preference over amateurs.
6. This is an all-volunteer event. Due to the size and scale of the event, there are no fees or expense reimbursements for participating guitarists. The experience of being part of a once-in-a-lifetime performance…priceless.

My additional requirements:

1. Your guitar must have at least 5 strings on it (Yeah I know you think its artsy to only use 4 strings but we draw the limit at 1 missing string. OK.)
2. No Pete Townsend windmills.
3. You must have absolutely no knowledge or have ever once played the following songs on guitar: "Stairway to Heaven," "Freebird," "Smells Like Teen Spirit," "Iron Man," "Dueling Banjos," "Back In Black," and "Louie, Louie."
4. Must not have a subscription to Guitar Player or Guitar World.
5. Finally, you must look cool on stage.