Yoshimi finishes 3rd in Village Voice's Pazz and Jop poll, behind Wilco and Beck. In this connection Christgau says:

Wilco's and Beck's integrity comes down to a stubborn determination—distinctly American in its folksy affect and go-it-alone-ism—to tell the world how very ineffective they feel. There's honor in this. But right below Beck, a better way glints through yet another pokey piece of soundscape Americana, the Flaming Lips' Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, where the psychedelic nutballs joke, cope, hope, and okey-doke with a lot more life than on 1999's The Soft Bulletin. I might have A-listed it if the pink robot was Dick Cheney instead of a stock sci-fi villain.

Lubbock natives The Flatlanders placed a respectable 155th (out of about 1700) with their new album.

Has some critic compared Yoshimi to Styx's 1983 Kilroy Was Here? Memory of the latter is hazy, but I think both are concept albums about futuristic conflicts involving robots and Japan. I doubt the Flaming Lips would relish the comparison.