Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne Says Radiohead Made Best Album of the 2000s

The end of a decade marks the beginning of a million music lists wrapping up the past ten years in a pretty bow. While list-making may be the preferred December pastime of music journalists, musicians like the Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne also enjoy picking their favorites.

"I kept mulling over the records that came out in the last ten years," Coyne tells Spinner, "I did really love Radiohead's 'Hail to the Thief' and only because I didn't love all their stuff previous to that. I liked some of their weirder stuff but I was still on the fence about them.

"But there were a couple tracks on that which really blew me away and made me a believer [out of] a non-believer. It's one thing to not care and become a believer but it's another to say I don't give a sh-- and then become a fan. ['Hail to the Thief'] was one of the powerful ones."

Then again, maybe Coyne just likes bands with "head" in their names. "I would also say I really liked Portishead's last record. Even though at the time it came out I was like, 'Oh, I don't understand this.' But it really grew on me a lot."

"I'm trying to remember all the cool records that came out. There were a couple by this band Deerhoof that we played with the past three or four years: 'The Runners Four' album was one of the highlights."

As for his favorite record from the past year, Wayne is sticking with the old-school: "The Beatles re-issues were pretty kick-ass!"