If you are a fan of the 2003 surround sound release of Flaming Lips’ now classic album – Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots – I suspect you’ll love the new 20th Anniversary Dolby Atmos remix which was just released today on November 1, 2024.
From the official press release, we learn: “This marks the first release of Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots on Blu-Ray in Dolby ATMOS mixed by Dave Fridmann & Atmos engineering & mastering by Jon Fridmann, DTS-HD 5.1 Mix mixed by Dave Fridmann & Elliot Scheiner, and DTS-HD 2.0 Hi-Res Stereo mixes by Dave Fridmann. The package insert also includes an excerpt from an interview by Wayne Coyne with Jon and Dave Fridmann, discussing the Atmos mixing and listening experience… The Blu-Ray also notably boasts animated visualizer “Bleep Blops” and four newly remastered music videos—“Fight Test,” “Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots Pt. 1,” “Are You A Hypnotist??,” and both versions of “Do You Realize??”
The new Dolby Atmos Blu-ray of Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots is available reasonably on Amazon for about $22. You can jump there by clicking on the album title anywhere in this review.
Working forward from the 2003 surround sound design originally created by audio legend Elliot Scheiner with producer David Fridmann, the new Dolby Atmos experience retains much of that version’s discrete immersive joy but takes it to new plateaus. This Dolby Atmos remix of Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots is an entirely new experience, delivering a more polished, refined and elegant vision for the surround sound listening experience. I might even go as far as saying that the original 5.1 mix might be viewed as effectively a demo leading up to this wonderful 20th Anniversary reinvention.
Everything feels smoother without losing discrete definition, which has often been one of my biggest complaints about many Dolby Atmos mixes I’ve heard thus far. There is plenty of interesting immersion going on here yet it never feels gimmicky. I know this sounds like PR fluff but on this Atmos mix the sounds do seem to appear more in a three-dimensional space than previously.
Oddly enough, this mix design reminds me aesthetically of one of my favorite surround listening experiences: David Crosby’s If I Could Only Remember My Name. A completely different recording, of course, that mix always impressed me because of its discrete detailing while simultaneously delivering room-filling instrumental imagery across the listening environment. Particularly Phil Lesh’s (RIP) enveloping bass work is a particular wonder, especially given that there is no subwoofer channel — it is a 5.0 mix!
Some of my favorite moments thus far on the new Blu-ray Dolby Atmos version of Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots include the magical cymbal splashes on “Are You A Hypnotist?” (which emerge with the line about “waving your powers around…”). The always beautiful “Summertime” is more haunting than ever with lead singer Wayne Coyne’s voice taking on a mesmerizing presence in the room. I have to double check but it feels like the ending was expanded there too, which is neat.
“All We Have Is Now” wraps the listener in voices at points. And somehow, the incredible mix on “Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots Pt.2” — in which the entire drum set flips around the room in time with the music — sounds even better than the 2003 version. This new version feels more like the drum kit is moving, not just the drum sounds (if you will).
The newly remastered promotional videos included on the disc look great, especially the classic “Mark Pellington” version.
If you are getting into Dolby Atmos music, I’m comfortable saying that this is one of the more innovative and interesting mixes I’ve heard to date. And I can’t always say that: again, many early Atmos mixes I’ve heard have played it too safe to the point of being boring. If you love The Flaming Lips’ Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots you need to hear the 20th Anniversary Dolby Atmos Blu-ray edition which is elegant, immersive and exciting.
Mark Smotroff is a deep music enthusiast / collector who has also worked in entertainment oriented marketing communications for decades supporting the likes of DTS, Sega and many others. He reviews vinyl for Analog Planet and has written for Audiophile Review, Sound+Vision, Mix, EQ, etc. You can learn more about him at LinkedIn.
