The Flaming Lips "Embryonic"

I am "Convinced of the Hex" this record has placed on me. "The Sparrow Looks Up at the Machine" has this ominous riff that goes well with the slightly dreamy delivery of Coyne. This song is so "Evil" with it's sparse spacey rining bloops and slower pace, but maniacally hides the hook in your head. "Aquarius Sabotage" is a great noisy distortion, riff ringing, quick pacer that slows down to a dreamy underwater passage after 1:20, its reverse, at only 2:10 (ok, not a complete reverse). "See the Leaves" ominous horn which might resemble how "Jaws" may sound on land; and the last 2 minutes have a beatless heart ringing in your ear. "If " I had a clue to describe the next song I would. "Gemini Syringes" sounds like something playing over a cradle with those high notes, but the bass, and other instrumentals, as well as spoken word segments give it their stamp. "Your Bats" are driving me crazy, I cannot even think straight with all that banging on the skins, which I'm not sure if they're steel drums or garbage cans,and that bagpipe at the end. "Powerless" is a killer song,and one of the longest at 6:57: "Pain and pleasure both get you high/No one is ever really powerless/ That's what she said, now I can't forget/No one is ever really powerless/No I think I know what that really is." Ok, this is the "Ego's Last Stand" with this prominent riff of the canoodling kind and toy piano ready to kick some bass. The drums and keys join in the fight around 2:30."It's heavier now/Once you see their faces/Oh, they're just like us/It's heavier once/You stand in their places/Oh, the ego is crushed/ The only way you/Is destroy all traces/Oh, destroying yourself." I love the next song, which has one saying "I Can Be a Frog," and a whole other menagerie of animals, as well, as a tornado and a helicoptor among others."Well, it seems like she can be anything/Any kind of creature she wants to be" even a witch. "Sagittarius Silver Announcement" includes a countdown with spacey vocals/harmonies, and this riddling bass, that will have you considering eating the fruit from the evil tree, and becoming one with the silver machine. Free? The trip to "Worm Mountain" seems much shorter than it is at 5:21 because of it's raucous ride on those galloping drums and funky bass.  The "Scorpio Sword" is the prize on the mountain, but I no longer want to use it now that I have it, instead I would like to use a vocoder and accodian. These "Silver Trembling Hands" cannot continue to play that harp, and driving drums. It's time for the "Virgo Self Esteem Broadcast," which has not much to say vocally, but instrumentally it says to resist that machine and be you. When "Watching the Planets" I cannot help but see a billion stars over a desert, which could be by the subtle influence from the Middle East, and this muted fuzz. A soldier has died by trying to warn the others of the "UFOs Over Baghdad," who had used keyboard effects as lasers and the ringing bass as a death ray. "What Does It Mean?" to connect with an acoustic strummed and country-bass flavored track;"You and me, we've lit our fuse/I don't care if we're born to lose/Going to infinity/Out all night, the sun's too bright/Though I'm blind, it'll be all right/Going to infinity/What does it mean?" If I could only choose 12 audio zodiac signs they would be: The Sparrow Looks at the Machine, Evil, Aquarius Sabotage, Gemini Syringes, Your Bats, Powerless, Ego's Last Stand,I Can Be a Frog, Worm Mountain, Silver Trembling Hands, Watching The Planets,and UFO's Over Baghdad.