Oklahoma weirdo-rockers the Flaming Lips have always tried to do things their own eccentric way.
Lately, that means gummy skulls, cel phone songs and a slew of somewhat unlikely collaborations.
For next year’s Record Store Day, frontman Wayne Coyne says he intends to create a compilation of tracks the Lips have done with other artists such as Texas chillwave pioneers Neon Indian, Rhode Island noise-inators Lightning Bolt and lowkey electronic act Prefuse 73.
The indie rock trio have further collaborations planned with Death Cab for Cutie, Ghostland Observatory, Cloudland Canyon and Nick Cave. Additionally, they’re looking to work with bigger names Ke$ha and Lykke Li.
“I am bound to the agreements we have with the other artists because we’re doing all of this as limited editions,” Coyne told Billboard.com. “They’re trusting us not just to sound cool but handle the music with special care.”
A second compilation of the band’s recent collaborations will be released later in 2012.
On past Record Store Days, the Lips have released their version of Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” (featuring Star Death and the White Dwarfs, Henry Rollins and Peaches) and the vinyl-only compilation box set “Heady Nuggs: The First 5 Warner Bros. Records 1992–2002.”
And remember the six-hour song the band just released for charity (“Found a Star on the Ground”)? Well, the Lips are headed back into the studio to record a 24-hour song.