On their eleventh (!!) album, the Flaming Lips show no signs of burn-out or complacency. Stuffed with fine tunes and ambitious arrangements, At War With The Mystics succeeds at almost every turn. It is more a grab-bag of varied songs than their largely thematic predecessor, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, or their career-best symphonic masterpiece of 1999, The Soft Bulletin (one of the best albums of the last ten years). At War With The Mystics also dials down the Lips usual whimsy and upbeat spirituality in favor a wider variety of perspectives. While "leader" Wayne Coyne has said the darker, more judgmental tones on this album are due to his anger about the Bush presidency, specific political references thankfully do not dot (or date) this work. And for those who prefer their lighter side (even when they sing about death), there is also plenty here to satisfy those cravings. Starting with one of their most radio-friendly songs in many a moon ("Yeah Yeah Yeah Song"), the Lips then segue into a Prince-like funk number ("Free Radicals"), and follow this with their usual palate of psychedelics, prog-rock style musings (TWO "flute" solos), and synthesized orchestrations. The biggest musical difference of this album in comparison to their last few is the increased focus on songs driven by their guitar-drums interplay, which is a fine thing given that they have one of the most inventive drummers in rock. While some may miss the relentless optimism and unity of sound that has characterized their most recent releases, At War With The Mystics reveals a group still in its prime, still creating and experimenting with different ideas, and, most importantly, still making glorious music. Now if only they can get back on the radio...

Mono, a basic four-piece ensemble hailing from Japan, are blessed with one of rock music's best guitar players on today's scene, Takaakira "Taka" Goto. Taka prefers his all-instrumental compositions to be dark, cinematic dramas that develop from quiet, blissful musings to very loud, nearly symphonic blasts of "post-rock" beauty. While often lumped together with other practitioners of this style, including Mogwai, Godspeed You Black Emperor, Explosions In The Sky, and even Sigur Ros, what distinguishes Mono from these other groups is their focus on building songs on recurrent melodies and hooks combined with the blazing-fast strumming abilities of Taka. You Are There is composed of four ten-minute-plus opuses leavened by two shorter, low-key interludes. All the long compositions begin with hushed, circular melodic patterns that slowly grow into powerful, trance-inducing soundscapes - but without any guitar-hero histrionic string-bending and soloing. Rather, Taka interweaves his very spare, simple melodic patterns with his fluid, rapid-fire strummed chording to create a unique, guitar-dominated wall of sound. His partners provide a solid backdrop, with special kudos going to the orchestral drumming style of Yasunori Takada and the nearly-subliminal string arrangements (a first for this group) produced by Steve Albini. While falling just short of their last album, the career-peak Walking Cloud And Deep Red Sky Flan Folded And The Sun Shined (epic-noise groups sometimes like epic titles), Mono continue to create some the most pleasing and inventive loud guitar music we have today. If that's your cup of tea, then You Are There will fill it to the top.