The Flaming Lips and some “fwends” have taken on the songs of The Beatles' “Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band,” and first up is an iconic little song with Miley Cyrus and Moby.
Click here to listen to Miley Cyrus, Moby and Flaming Lips cover “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.”
Cyrus obviously bends her voice to fit the psychedelic trip on this one; but a trained singer singing purposely flat hurts my widdle hawt. It's nice to hear her step outside her wheelhouse, and, judging from the little blips of in-studio banter inserted at the beginning and end, she had at least a little fun.
As you'll see the song is conveniently located on the pre-order page for the set, officially dubbed “With a Little Help From My Fwends,” a title you will be embarrassed to say aloud, guaranteed. The Oklahoma-founded group has gone the way of PledgeMusic for this release, with lots of extra goodies up as part of the support, though the album has an official release via Warner Bros. The push for extra scratch may have to do with the non-profit angle of the release: “Proceeds from sales of 'With a Little Help From My Fwends' will go to the Bella Foundation, an organization in the band”s Oklahoma City hometown that helps low income, elderly, or terminally ill pet owners with the cost of veterinary care.”
Miley Cyrus shows back up on another cover from the set, “A Day in the Life”; she and Wayne Coyne & Co. performed this song earlier this summer for the Billboard Music Awards. Cyrus has been a vocal proponent of the band and shot a very strange video with them — and, again, Moby — for “Blonde SuperFreak Steals the Magic Brain.”
My Morning Jacket, J Mascis, Grace Potter, Tegan & Sara, Phantogram, Tool's Maynard James Keenan and many more guests aligned for this album, due Oct. 28.
This is a “Fwends” continuation: The Flaming Lips recorded a different guest-heavy set, “The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends,” for release on Record Store Day in 2012, with contributions from Bon Iver, Nick Cave, Jim James of MMJ (again), Tame Impala and more. The group also previously completed their version of a totally different emblematic rock set (with fwends), “The Flaming Lips and Stardeath and White Dwarfs with Henry Rollins and Peaches Doing The Dark Side of the Moon.”
Here is the tracklist for “With A Little Help From My Fwends”:
1 “Sgt. Pepper”s Lonely Hearts Club Band” (Feat. My Morning Jacket, Fever the Ghost & J Mascis)
2 “With A Little Help From My Friends” (Feat. Black Pus & Autumn Defense)
3 “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds” (Feat. Miley Cyrus & Moby)
4 “Getting Better” (Feat. Dr. Dog, Chuck Inglish & Morgan Delt)
5 “Fixing A Hole”
6 “She”s Leaving Home” (Feat. Phantogram, Julianna Barwick & Spaceface)
7 “Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite!” (Feat. Maynard James Keenan, Puscifer & Sunbears!)
8 “Within You Without You” (Feat. Birdflower & Morgan Delt)
9 “When I”m Sixty-Four” (Feat. Def Rain & Pitchwafuzz)
10 “Lovely Rita” (Feat. Tegan and Sara & Stardeath and White Dwarfs)
11 “Good Morning Good Morning” (Feat. Zorch, Grace Potter & Treasure Mammal)
12 “Sgt. Pepper”s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)” (Feat. Foxygen & Ben Goldwasser)
13 “A Day In The Life” (Feat. Miley Cyrus & New Fumes)