New Releases: Flaming Lips And Morrissey Duke It Out

04/03/06 7:00pm

This Tuesday is one of the year's biggest release dates, so we're not even going to waste time with a proper intro.

Getting straight to the point, the new Flaming Lips album has been delayed for more than a year, but it's finally hitting store shelves this week. After two records scored mostly with synthesizers, the guitars are back on At War With The Mystics.

Morrissey's new record, Ringleader Of The Tormentors, is released on Tuesday, but we can't fully endorse it since Moz doesn't endorse Canada. The former Smiths frontman is upset at us over our little ol' seal hunt and says we're all ignorant for allowing it to happen. We say Ringleader is Morrissey's least inspiring effort to date.

A new band who have generated almost as much press as the Lips in the past few months are Islands. Comprised of former Unicorns Nick Diamonds and J'aime Tambeur and featuring contributions from Jim Guthrie and members of Arcade Fire and Wolf Parade, Return To The Sea is Canadian indie rock's first big record of 2006. Look for very big things from Islands this year.

One band who were supposed to be the next big thing but never really made it are back for another kick at the can. The Vines had to stop touring when lead singer Craig Nicholls was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome. Rather than let it hold him back, the singer and his band (minus bassist Patrick Matthews, who left to join Youth Group full-time) will release Vision Valley this week.

Other records coming out Tuesday include Massive Attack's Collected, The Concretes' In Colour, Lacuna Coil's Karmacode and Van Hunt's On The Jungle Floor.