It’s a good thing the completion of Bradley Beesley’s rockumentary The Fearless Freaks (Shout/Sony-BMG) kept getting delayed. Had this intimate gem, subtitled The Wondrously Improbable Story of the Flaming Lips, come out at the close of the ’90s as intended, Beesley would have missed what has been arguably the most important chapter in the career of fellow Okies Wayne Coyne and company. As it stands, Beesley’s captured not only the teenage years, psychedelic-punk genesis, early major-label days and drugged-out descent of the Lips, but also their amazing millennial return with The Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, albums and accompanying shows that brought them to euphoric new heights of artistic success and cultural impact. A worthy companion to Beesley’s DVD is Void, a collection of the band’s 19 largely self-created videos over 13 years, including both brain-frying versions of “Do You Realize??” » RUPERT BOTTENBERG
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