Webomatica » Radiohead

Music Notes: Initial Thoughts On Radiohead, In Rainbows

Jason Kaneshiro — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 22:52:12 +0000

Well. It’s a given I’ll buy this album. It’s the sort of disc I feel I have to listen to multiple times, to get comfortable with. My initial thought is Rubber Soul if the Beatles got to rerecord it knowing everything they learned from Revolver through The White Album.

There are a lot less electric guitars, electric noodling, and spacey sound effects (save for Bodysnatchers which sounds almost like Paperback Writer). But what you get is a tighter sound — we’re back to drums, voice, and guitars — not unlike how I view Rubber Soul with its unified, acoustic sound where every song feels a part of the whole. All the “extra” sounds are controlled to the point where they don’t sounds out of place, accidental, or improvised.

With a song like Videotape, I feel there is no question that the piano notes are the notes Radiohead intended. It’s not, sit at the piano and play these chords in whatever voicing or octave you desire, and we’ll work it out in the mix. The entire album bears a sense of decision and perfection that is quite stunning. I feel this is the first album I’ve encountered in a while where I might listen to it like watching a movie — nothing else going on — in order concentrate on the unfolding music. Definitely not background music.

But this may be too polished for some. Similarly, if there’s anything I could fault this album for is an over-reliance on dropped beats or odd meters, no bombastic drumming or guitar solos, and the arena-rock spacey reverb thing has been banished. There is no Paranoid Android or Thom turning his voice into a robot. So it’s a trade off. I’m really enjoying the seriousness of intent and microscopic attention to detail.

I’ll give In Rainbows a more proper review after I’ve listened to it a few more times. But right now, my favorite songs are Bodysnatchers, Weird Fishes / Arpeggi, Faust Arp (this one in particular sounds like a drunken White Album outtake), Jigsaw Falling Into Place, and Reckoner. Gee, that’s five out of ten.

iTunes Store Link: In Rainbows — Radiohead

Radiohead: In Rainbows, Online

Jason Kaneshiro — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 15:00:15 +0000

Needless to say I’m a fair Radiohead fan. They recently announced that their long-awaited album In Rainbows will be for sale via their website for a price determined by you. It’s been some time since their last album Hail To The Thief, so there’s a ton of pent-up interest and demand.

By using the Internet to distribute the album, one can’t help but ask if an already-successful artist really needs a label for distribution anymore. Plus, although the music industry has been hemming and hawing over Apple’s reluctance of variable pricing, I certainly doubt they’d have approved of the variable-price concept.

Radiohead is currently sans-label, so the new album was recorded independently, although still with the long-time producer Nigel Godrich. My assumption is that the album will be better without a label’s influence — we’ll see.

Here’s the tracklist. The nice, tight 10 songs has my mouth watering.

15 Step
Bodysnatchers
Nude
Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
All I Need
Faust ARP
Reckoner
House of Cards
Jigsaw Falling into Place
Videotape

Rolling Stone put together the best compendium of all the In Rainbows tracks, largely culled from live performances where Radiohead played the songs as new material. Based on the previews, I’m looking forward to the rocking Bodysnatchers and the minimalist Arpeggi.

All in all, I’d be surprised if Radiohead can surpass OK Computer but they have at least attracted many people’s interest (there’s even a fawning LA Times editorial) with this “revolutionary” method of releasing their aural vision to the world.

Some New Radiohead Stuff

Jason Kaneshiro — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 17:13:15 +0000

Mr. Tunequest found a little bit of new Radiohead stuff. They’re supposed to release a new album sometime this year. Really hard to make any kind of evaluation with these really short, random snippets, but I’ll certainly get it as soon as it’s released. This taster sounds more band based.

The Twenty Best Radiohead Songs

Jason Kaneshiro — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 14:36:05 +0000

After listening to all the Radiohead albums repeatedly over the past few months, these are the songs I marked with a five star rating in iTunes. The order below is chronological, not from best to worst — Creep is not my favorite Radiohead song.

Update: The list doesn’t yet include In Rainbows or King of Limbs, Radiohead’s most recent albums…

If forced to pick a Top Five, it would be Paranoid Android, Karma Police, Pyramid Song, High And Dry, and Everything In Its Right Place.

To read my full album reviews, check out these links: Pablo Honey, The Bends, OK Computer, Kid A, Amnesiac, Hail To The Thief.

1. Creep

What’s good? Here’s my short list:

One chord progression repeats throughout. It takes some talent to provide enough variety that this isn’t that noticeable.
The verse melody, with the slight downward arpeggio reminds me of Erasure.
The middle section where Thom serves up with a unique countermelody in falesetto, foreshadows the unusual melodies found on OK Computer.
One killer drum fill as Thom opens out into full yell.
The crunchy guitar noise foreshadows the guitar experimentation shown on future albums.
The whole thing evokes a mood of alienation and loneliness, soon to be synonymous with Radiohead.

iTunes Store Link: Creep — The Best of Radiohead

2. High And Dry

From the gently syncopated drums of the verse to the comfortable vocal melody, this song is perfection. I can’t think of a single thing amiss here, except the falsetto may not be to everyone’s taste, and this song and the next have basically provided a sound for Coldplay to spend their entire career exploring.

iTunes Store Link: High and Dry — The Bends

3. Fake Plastic Trees

Another perfect song that builds decently — I appreciate its sincerity. There’s a simple organ lick also reminds me of Elvis Costello’s King of America.

iTunes Store Link: Fake Plastic Trees — The Bends

4. Just

This song is incredible. It’s equally varied and exciting as the crazy parts of Paranoid Android. Things are taken to a high level with a guitar lick that rises up to a shivering high note (capable of bursting through eardrums), followed by a second coda broadcast like a telegraph bursting into a phone-booth.

iTunes Store Link: Just — The Bends

5. My Iron Lung

I think this song was written in response to the unexpected chart success of Creep, which pushed the band into the spotlight, but led to the unflattering description of Radiohead as the “British Nirvana”. The “iron lung” of this song refers to a career-sustaining one hit wonder, while also fitting in nicely with Radiohead’s subject matter of life sustaining, dehumanizing technology. But I mention Nirvana as I assume it’s the reason for the brain-crushing middle section that I believe is meant as parody and homage simultaneously. That said, it still sounds cool, with some good contrast between sections.

iTunes Store Link: My Iron Lung — The Bends

6. Airbag

We start with a meandering, epic guitar lick, supported by some extremely compressed drums. During the verse there’s a droning guitar, an off-beat bass, and a persistent drum beat. Every part is unique, and progressively more interesting sonic jewels are ladled on. During the second verse, an effected guitar moans in the background, adding some exquisite bends at the end of vocal phrases. Following that is a strange instrumental section where this background guitar gains the focus. Next, the drums get some attention with some out of control effects sprouting off of it like fractal ferns. Finally, the meandering, epic guitar lick returns, cutting through the haze like a spotlight, and crashing onto a major sixth chord. The song establishes a sense of experimentation in a wide open space.

iTunes Store Link: Airbag — OK Computer

7. Paranoid Android

I could devote a whole post to this one song. If Airbag wasn’t enough, this song seals Radiohead’s place in history. The first section highlights my favorite thing about Radiohead: an unusual chord progression that makes you think, how can there be a vocal melody for that? And Thom delivers, finding a hook laden melody that arcs, and finding unusual high notes to highlight. As he sings, “What’s this?” a spooky android voice and spooky, chiming guitars join in.

During the instrumental the song gains some energy, with a simply stunning bass guitar run. Full guitars join in, a cool drum fill, as Thom’s voice soars to a hight note over the same spinning chords. Then the lead guitar jumps all over everything like a happy gopher.

The song then separates out into another section, that introduces a new, complicated chord progression, mostly sinking into a deep hole as it transverses several keys. The magic is that Thom again finds a hook-laden melody in all of this “rain, rain down on me, from a great height”. It’s a hymn to heaven while sinking into hell. But it doesn’t stop there. A counter-melody appears behind the lead vocal, ending with God’s children.

Suddenly, we’re back in an earlier section with climactic guitar jumping all over everything, but with an added effect designed to slash through an ear drum, plus a shaker for good measure. Better and better, it finally crashes into silence.

iTunes Store Link: Paranoid Android — OK Computer

8. Exit Music (For A Film)

This music stars out with just acoustic guitar and voice, but then opens up to a fuzzy bass guitar and some scary noises. When the lead vocal hits its heights, the music goes sweetly nuts. I love the contrast and build from the song’s beginning to that point. There’s also a sweet suspended note in the keyboards.

iTunes Store Link: Exit Music (For a Film) — OK Computer

9. Karma Police

A perfect song. The initial acoustic guitar chords reminds me of XTC’s Dear God. The chord progression is quite long and intricate. What’s stunning is the melody Thom develops over it, upon first hearing is surprising yet fits perfectly. The middle part (this is what you get) with the piano reminds me of The Beatles’ Sexy Sadie. After two go-rounds with this cool progression, we enter a coda section, inspired by the chords but containing yet another melody that fits perfectly. Variations on “I lost myself” waft over the chords, repeated like a mantra. The active ascending bass line provides an interesting contrast and support. A distorted, delayed echo spins over everything and destroys the song, bit-reducing it into nothing. It’s stunning stuff, and I’d dare say only a step removed from The Beatles’ A Day In The Life.

iTunes Store Link: Karma Police — OK Computer

10. No Surprises

This song is about being asleep, and the open guitar tone matches well with xylophone chimes, evoking a child’s lullaby. The major chord progression and pleasant melody are not unlike what one might hear on The Bends but there’s a sickly sarcastic tone, of a pleasant suburban place where nothing goes on — an advancement of that album’s sound. In this hermetically sealed, man made paradise where nothing ever changes — you may as well be dead, or totally zoned out on sedatives.

iTunes Store Link: No Surprises — OK Computer

11. Lucky

This song is rather “cowboy,” with a similar dynamic variety as Exit Music. What I enjoy is the synergy between Thom’s voice singing “pull me out of the air crash” and the lead guitar bends whining out a counter melody. After two goes around, there’s a syncopated guitar-based bridge that builds to a final chorus, leaving us literally, “standing on the edge,” unresolved.

12. Everything In Its Right Place

This is an awesome, expansive song, with some tasteful computer effects, morphing the lead vocal into loops. Over a keyboard drone, I essentially see it as a distillation, and a direct descendant of Planet Telex and Airbag. The vocal melody is essentially centered on two notes: one the high elation of “everything” and the other on the “right place” and the “lemon” lines. The second section starting at 2:16 is stuck on the lower note, and repeats incessantly until a final release at 2:51, where the voice quickly fades away, leaving the keyboard to drone on alone. That this tension and release occurs around what I consider to be essentially two notes is pretty darned cool.

iTunes Store Link: Everything In Its Right Place — Kid A

13. Optimistic

This is one of my favorite songs from the last three albums. The first section has a haunting falsetto melody. The verse vocals mimic the rhythm of the guitar. But on “try the best you can” the guitars move into an ascending melodic line that’s quite stunning. But my favorite part comes at 1:31 where the guitar and a hollow keyboard double up on a lick which continues on through the second verse. At 2:37 the song opens up with an additional rhythm. Then on 4:24 we get those choice drum fills I love, beneath the opening falsetto melody. As an added bonus, there’s a different version of the tune that takes us out.

iTunes Store Link: Optimistic — Kid A

14. In Limbo

This song has a circling, pulsing rhythm that is instantly memorable. In this pea soup, melodies have been miraculously located. There’s also a neat hook on the phrase “living in a fantasy.”

iTunes Store Link: In Limbo — Kid A

15. Morning Bell

These electronic drums are less eardrum damaging, and of course the major chords on “release me” are perfection, especially with the ascending bass line. It’s a kinder version of the tension and resolution of Everything In Its Right Place. There’s another version of this song on Amnesiac and I prefer this one.

iTunes Store Link: Morning Bell — Kid A

16. Packt Like Sardines In A Crushd Tin Box

There’s some delicious phasing as the clanking loop doesn’t always line up with the timing of the keyboard part or the drum machine. The vocal melody mimics the keyboard part, speaking of disillusionment and years of boredom. I’m guessing the sardines are commuters riding a cramped MUNI bus to work.

iTunes Store Link: Packt Like Sardines In a Crushd Tin Box — Amnesiac

17. Pyramid Song

I had a strange out-of-sorts feeling once, while listening to this masterpiece. The ascending piano chords are in an odd meter that only finds a regular rhythm when drums arrive. As on OK Computer, the vocal part finds an envious melody perfectly suited to the odd chord progression. At 1:54 strings mimic the vocal melody as some fascinating slow motion drums enter. I also enjoy moments at 2:52 and 3:25 where the strings repeat the high vocal part and then settle into the pulsing rhythm of the piano.

iTunes Store Link: Pyramid Song — Amnesiac

18. 2+2=5 (The Lukewarm)

A good opener, with an energy recalling the last three albums, specifically Paranoid Android.

iTunes Store Link: 2 + 2 = 5 — Hail to the Thief

19. Myxomatosis (Judge, Jury & Executioner)

One of my favorites on the album. I love the strange, staggered fuzzy lick, the odd drop out of the music, and spooky droning noises sprinkled over everything. The drum part alternates between two patterns as the lick repeats. It seems concern a cat spreading a disease of fame-induced claustrophobia.

iTunes Store Link: Myxomatosis (Judge, Jury & Executioner) — Hail to the Thief

20. Scatterbrain (As Dead As Leaves)

I love this song. It has a slightly askew, oddly timed chord progression, in which a beautiful vocal melody is somehow found.

iTunes Store Link: Scatterbrain (As Dead As Leaves) — Hail to the Thief

Radiohead Albums: Best To Worst

Jason Kaneshiro — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 13:09:30 +0000

I’m finally done with my Radiohead listening project and can come up a list of their albums from “best to worst” — in my humble opinion, of course.

This actually answered a burning question I had which was how The Bends stacks up to Kid A, Amnesiac, and Hail To The Thief. To my surprise, The Bends fared better than any of those three according to my totally nonobjective Intra-Album Ranking System.

I wish Kid A and Amnesiac had been released as one album, with weaker songs dropped.

1. OK Computer

4.16 stars

Webomatica: OK Computer

Best songs: Airbag, Paranoid Android, Exit Music (For A Film), Karma Police, No Surprises, Lucky

iTunes Store Link: OK Computer — Radiohead

2. The Bends

4.08 stars

Webomatica: The Bends

Best songs: High and Dry, Fake Plastic Trees, Just, My Iron Lung

iTunes Store Link: The Bends — Radiohead

3. Kid A

3.8 stars

Webomatica: Kid A

Best songs: Everything In Its Right Place, Optimistic, In Limbo, Morning Bell

iTunes Store Link: Kid A — Radiohead

4. Hail To The Thief

3.64 stars

Webomatica: Hail To The Thief

Best songs: 2+2=5, Myxomatosis, Scatterbrain

iTunes Store Link: Hail to the Thief — Radiohead

5. Amnesiac

3.54 stars

Webomatica: Amnesiac

Best songs: Packt Like Sardines In A Crushd Tin Box, Pyramid Song

iTunes Store Link: Amnesiac — Radiohead

6. Pablo Honey

2.91 stars

Webomatica: Pablo Honey

Best song: Creep

iTunes Store Link: Pablo Honey — Radiohead

Music Notes: Radiohead, Pablo Honey

Jason Kaneshiro — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 00:30:10 +0000

If Pablo Honey were by any artist other than Radiohead, I don’t think I would own it. The only notable song is the outstanding Creep. Otherwise, there are a few hit single-ish tunes that remind me of the Gin Blossoms, while the rest are shapeless muddles.

Two particular songs seem to inform the band’s later work: You and Creep. Both contain some interesting lead guitar work with splashes of atonality, and Thom’s expressive vocals, ranging between neurotic warbling and a full out holler. Both exist in embryonic form on Pablo Honey and are expanded upon to much better effect on The Bends and subsequent albums.

Needless to say this is my least favorite Radiohead album which is understandable as it’s their first. The band themselves grew to loathe the reputation of Creep and the expectations hoisted on them as the “British Nirvana.”

Based on the music here, the band could have gone a very commercial direction, and thankfully, they didn’t.

You

= 4 stars

This a cool album opener, with the expansive Radiohead sound. But at this stage, it’s hard to tell if they aspired to be Pearl Jam or My Bloody Valentine.

Creep

= 5 stars

What’s good? Here’s my short list:

One chord progression repeats throughout. It takes some talent to provide enough variety that this isn’t that noticeable.
The verse melody, with the slight downward arpeggio reminds me of Erasure.
The middle section where Thom serves up with a unique countermelody in falesetto, foreshadows the unusual melodies found on OK Computer.
One killer drum fill as Thom opens out into full yell.
The crunchy guitar noise foreshadows the guitar experimentation shown on future albums.
The whole thing evokes a mood of alienation and loneliness, soon to be synonymous with Radiohead.

How Do You?

= 3 stars

Is this a Sex Pistols imitation?

Stop Whispering

= 2 stars

Is that a bee girl dancing?

Thinking About You

= 2 stars

Meh. Sorry.

Anyone Can Play Guitar

= 3 stars

Decent, I just don’t care for how the chorus is a bit too “up” in comparison with the rest.

Ripcord

= 2 stars

Meh. Sorry again.

Vegetable

= 3 stars

The theme song to Empire Records?

Prove Yourself

= 3 stars

The theme song to an 80s John Cusak film?

I Can’t

= 4 stars

Out of these Gin Blossoms movie soundtrack songs, I like this one best — something about the odd note on the first chord and the syncopation of the chorus. Liz Phair or Lisa Loeb, would you do a cover? Please?

Lurgee

= 2 stars

One more movie soundtrack song. Sorry for the last time.

Blow Out

= 2 stars

Let’s muddle about and get nowhere.

(Sorry, I can’t count the other versions of Creep on this disc as that’s just cheating.)

Intra Album Rank: 2.91

Wikipedia: Radiohead: Pablo Honey

Next Album: The Bends

iTunes Store Link: Pablo Honey — Radiohead

Music Notes: Radiohead, Kid A

Jason Kaneshiro — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 12:12:02 +0000

Near impossible to follow up OK Computer with another masterpiece, Radiohead took a bold leap into the unknown. Kid A’s roots are in OK Computer, namely the computerized vocals, spacey feel, and down-tempo minor chord centered songs, but an experimental, electronic vibe wins out.

After OK Computer Radiohead contemplated a return to three minute pop songs, or abandoning chords and melody altogether. It seems they settled on changing more or less everything. Band members play different instruments, Thom’s voice is digitally processed into an instrument in and of itself, traditional rock guitars are nearly nonexistent, and lyrics reduced to phrases pulled out of a hat. The resulting album was widely anticipated and sold well on its debut, although both fans and critics alike were polarized.

Personally, I feel this union of electronica and mood a place the group had to go. There’s a direct line from The Bends to OK Computer to this collection and it’s a rare group that continues experimenting after achieving commercial success. Despite my mixed feelings about some songs, a few are better than anything on their previous three albums.

Everything In Its Right Place

= 5 stars

Kid A

= 3 stars

Much of the first song’s promise is rather destroyed with this cute, tinker toy chiming and a voice effect that is so overwhelming that any vestige of a human voice is obliterated. I guess it’s an artistic statement, maybe about the birth of Kid A, which is fine, but not not much fun.

The National Anthem

= 3 stars

We start with a fuzzy bass line and a persistent drum beat that means business. I even like the vocal effect. However, the jazz group that enters at around 2:40 becomes a bit overwhelming for my taste, and things turn into a free-for-all snark fest at around 5:51. I find the end result rather unlistenable.

How To Disappear Completely

= 4 stars

I love the high string drones over the spinning bass line, the latter of which plays the right notes but in a rhythm of its own. The strings are progenitors to those found in The Pyramid Song and the squeaky bird calls of Where I End And You Begin.

Treefingers

= 3 stars

Basically an instrumental. Nice, ethereal, and rich — I just find it boring.

Optimistic

= 5 stars

In Limbo

= 5 stars

This song has a circling, pulsing rhythm that is instantly memorable. In this pea soup, melodies have been miraculously located. There’s also a neat hook on the phrase “living in a fantasy.”

Idioteque

= 3 stars

I ought to appreciate this song more since it’s so direct and accessible, but the electronic drums are so relentless I can barely listen to it.

Morning Bell

= 5 stars

Motion Picture Soundtrack

= 2 stars

Harmonium, fade in, nice idea, but what to make of it? Is it death and heading toward the light? I’m always hitting skip.

Intra Album Rank: 3.8

Next Album: Amnesiac
Previous Album: OK Computer

iTunes Store Link: Kid A — Radiohead

Music Notes: Radiohead, Amnesiac

Jason Kaneshiro — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 13:12:07 +0000

Amnesiac arrived eight months after Kid A and sprang from the same sessions. It’s hard not to consider these songs as “Kid B”. In addition, these songs are pretty much studio based, and possibly a deliberate attempt to be strange and vague in order to free Radiohead from the expectations regarding their more commercial work.

This album has a few songs I really love (namely the first two), but it’s dragged down by material that I feel is weaker than that Kid A or Hail To The Thief. I can appreciate the artistic effort, but that doesn’t always translate into entertaining listening.

Packt Like Sardines In A Crushd Tin Box

= 5 stars

Pyramid Song

= 5 stars

I had a strange out of sorts feeling once, while listening to this masterpiece. The ascending piano chords are in an odd meter that only finds a regular rhythm when drums arrive. As on OK Computer, the vocal part finds an envious melody perfectly suited to the odd chord progression. At 1:54 strings mimic the vocal melody as some fascinating slow motion drums enter. I also enjoy moments at 2:52 and 3:25 where the strings repeat the high vocal part and then settle into the pulsing rhythm of the piano.

Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors

= 3 stars

Much like an experiment. Notable is the vocal’s complete destruction into computer bits.

You And Whose Army?

= 4 stars

Pretty guitar strumming, with a truly sleepy, bored vocal that has an amusing contrast with the begging for a fight lyrics. However, things open up to a spacious stomp featuring piano, only to shuffle off to bed.

I Might Be Wrong

= 3 stars

Drone song. The bluesy guitar suffers from the electronic drum support.

Knives Out

= 4 stars

I like this descending chord progression, sinking to the subconscious. Another neat swooping melody is located, amid some fascinating interplay between several guitars.

Morning Bell/Amnesiac

= 4 stars

I prefer the Kid A version of this number, but the “release me” chords are too precious to pass up. Meandering does set in however, complete with organ noises, and the result is a bit too close to Magical Mystery Tour excess.

Dollars & Cents

= 2 stars

A Pet Sounds “clock” sound in the background and some odd drumming try to get this going, but I’m not getting on board. I think the reason why is revealed during the song’s last moments at 4.50 as it seems to be all based around some incessant keyboard stabbing.

Hunting Bears

= 3 stars

An instrumental number with just electric and bass guitar. The bass outlines chords that aren’t obviously suggested by the guitar part.

Like Spinning Plates

= 3 stars

Hmmm. This one is backwards most of the time, and then Thom’s voice switches to forward. The shift supposed to be a cool moment, but it doesn’t work for me.

Life In A Glass House

= 3 stars

Radiohead meets the sound of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. It’s interesting, but unfortunately something I appreciate more than enjoy. Great hook on the lines “But of course I’d like to sit around and chat.” Essentially, the wind instruments are a tad too flamboyant for my tastes.

Intra Album Rank: 3.54

Next Album: Hail To The Thief
Previous Album: Kid A

iTunes Store Link: Amnesiac — Radiohead

Music Notes: Radiohead, Hail To The Thief

Jason Kaneshiro — Wed, 30 May 2007 19:29:13 +0000

Radiohead’s sixth and most recent album (dating from 2003, which shows how much time has passed since anything new) returns to guitar based roots after the electronic experimentation of Kid A and Amnesiac, but doesn’t go back far enough to recall The Bends. While it combines aspects across their previous work, in my opinion, those choices aren’t necessarily the best, and as such Hail To The Thief is disappointingly hit and miss.

Overall, the songs are slightly over-long without enough contrast between them or their sections. Even after repeated listening, I find many indistinguishable. I recall a musical moment and can’t place if it came from Kid A, Amnesiac, or Hail To The Thief.

Still, when Radiohead hits, they hit large, and my favorite tracks bear repeated listening, namely 2+2=5, Myxomatosis, and Scatterbrained.

Each song has an alternate title while the elaborate album art contains influential words evoking the fears facing modern society.

2+2=5 (The Lukewarm)

= 5 stars

A good opener, with an energy recalling the last three albums, specifically Paranoid Android.

Sit Down, Stand Up (Snakes & Ladders)

= 4 stars

I like the how this song builds almost organically and evolves into “raindrops” section where dizzy, drum-triggered tones mimic raindrops.

Sail To The Moon (Brush The Cobwebs Of The Sky)

= 3 stars

Back to the down-tempo, spooky, singing from a cave mood pivoting around a minor chord. There are some nice falsetto parts and added notes in the guitar, but ultimately nothing all that new.

Backdrifts (Honeymoon Is Over)

= 4 stars

A standard pop song structure with some spooky electronic sounds and a steady drum loop. The lyrics seem to imply a de-evolution of a society on the edge of collapse.

Go To Sleep (Little Man Being Erased)

= 4 stars

Nice to hear the return of an acoustic guitar, and later, some squeaky electric ones. But just when a new section of aural turmoil seems primed to arrive, it ends.

Where I End And You Begin (The Sky Is Falling In)

= 3 stars

Some echoed moaning over a steady drum and bass groove. I do like the “eczema the place” (?) line and the high electronic whines that accompany it.

We Suck Young Blood (Your Time Is Up)

= 2 stars

This is the first song on this album I’d say I dislike — the hand claps and slow swing rhythm just don’t do it for me.

The Gloaming (Softly Open Our Mouths In The Cold)

= 4 stars

Neat bass. Again, the structure is a standard pop song, which helps me get beyond the sonic strangeness. My interpretation is artificial intelligence nanomachines taking over the world. “The Gloaming” is also the subtitle for the album.

There There (The Boney King Of Nowhere)

= 2 stars

Not a fan of this one, either. I do appreciate how as it continues it seems to settle into an early beat groove accentuating the sevenths with an echo guitar, and at the four minute mark there are some neat Helter Skelter guitars. It just takes an awfully long time to get there.

I Will (No Man’s Land)

= 3 stars

Reminiscent of OK Computer, but I can’t say much more.

A Punch Up At A Wedding (No No No No No No No No)

= 3 stars

Funk? Meh. There’s a neat piano groove which eventually devolves into meandering. Luckily, this tedious confusion is shattered with the direct hook of the subsequent tune.

Myxomatosis (Judge, Jury & Executioner)

= 5 stars

Scatterbrain (As Dead As Leaves)

= 5 stars

I love this song. It has a slightly askew, oddly timed chord progression, in which a beautiful vocal melody is somehow found.

A Wolf At The Door (It Girl. Rag Doll)

= 4 stars

The most direct song on here, it has a Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds crossed with Because intro. I think it suffers from the lack of another section, but certainly leaves me hopeful for the next Radiohead album.

Intra Album Rank: 3.64

Wikipedia: Hail To The Thief

Next Album: In Rainbows
Previous Album: Amnesiac

iTunes Store Link: Hail to the Thief — Radiohead

Music Notes: Radiohead, The Bends

Jason Kaneshiro — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 04:34:57 +0000

The Bends is Radiohead’s second album, and sounds it — an evolutionary step squarely between the melodic rock of Pablo Honey and the moody, otherworldly masterpiece OK Computer. There’s conflict between standard rock and more experimental, nearly atonal sonic textures. Some songs are frustratingly safe, others gloriously so, and a few flirt with the cutting edge. In retrospect, Radiohead was on the edge of a creative leap, peeking into a canyon but not quite over the rift.

Radiohead could have easily made a career out of folk rock songs like High and Dry, Fake Plastic Trees, and Black Star, but thankfully took the more experimental route, drawing from Street Spirit, Nice Dream, Just, and Planet Telex to fuel their future. You can hear whispers of their subsequent work on The Bends.

Planet Telex

= 4 stars

The highly effected piano chords foreshadow Everything In Its Right Place. Better examples of spacious, epic songs come later — it’s a lesser version of Air Bag. I find the chorus chords starting with “Everything is…” a bit disappointing after the awesome intro and verse.

The Bends

= 4 stars

The lyrics document an air crash, suburban ennui, a bomb going off. Airplanes seem to be a favorite Radiohead metaphor, and I think of how we fragile humans have created a world where we’re dependent on machines for survival. I especially love the guitar lick surrounding the lonely question: “where do we go from here?”

High And Dry

= 5 stars

Another perfect song that builds decently — I appreciate its sincerity. There’s a simple organ lick also reminds me of Elvis Costello’s King of America.

Bones

= 3 stars

Not a big fan of this one, but I do like the skeletal first verse, where with minimal instruments the chord progression isn’t so obvious. The Planet Telex effect is reiterated.

Nice Dream

= 4 stars

Meet the chiming, bell-like guitar used to much better effect on No Surprises. There’s also a screaming guitar that could have gone somewhere other than it does. It’s a good song, but suffers slightly as its subject matter and mood are explored more fully on OK Computer.

Just

= 5 stars

My Iron Lung

= 5 stars

Bullet Proof

= 3 stars

Not a fan of yet another journey into expertly crafted, ethereal falsetto, as the superior High and Dry and Nice Dream renders this song a bit irrelevant here.

Black Star

= 4 stars

There’s much I like about this song, and from any other artist I might grant five stars, but unfortunately despite a great ear-worm melody, it’s just a relationship song with nothing extra that pushes it to a higher level.

Sulk

= 3 stars

I’m not a big fan of the six-eight time employed here, but after listening to the rise and fall of the vocal melody, it’s pretty clear where Keane sprang from.

Street Spirit (Fade Out)

= 4 stars

This could be on Kid A or Amnesiac but without the cool computer noises. I think there are better examples of this sort of song on subsequent journeys.

Album rating = 49 / 12: 4.08 Stars

Wikipedia: Radiohead: The Bends

Next Album: OK Computer
Previous Album: Pablo Honey

iTunes Store Link: The Bends — Radiohead

Music Notes: Radiohead, OK Computer

Jason Kaneshiro — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 18:25:13 +0000

Earlier, I ran a poll asking which musical artist to profile in a song by song, album ranking manner — the winner was Radiohead. I’m starting with OK Computer and The Bends as I find them easier to review, for reasons that will become clear in subsequent posts.

OK Computer was Radiohead’s third album — and the distance from Pablo Honey — their first — is vast. Many bands never evolve to the heights climbed here, either self-destructing or remaining mired in mediocrity over many more albums.

This sonic masterwork was recorded in a non-professional atmosphere (an apple shed and a historic mansion) with the then unknown Nigel Godrich, an engineer on The Bends. Their label was unimpressed with the results, but OK Computer soon went on to critical and commercial success.

The lyrics are alienated and abstract, conjuring a modernity where humanity is lost amid cold but life-supporting technology. The sonic landscape is atmospheric, eerie, and otherworldly, suggesting horrific disasters which occur at the hands of our tools.

Airbag

= 5 stars

Paranoid Android

= 5 stars

Subterranean Homesick Alien

= 4 stars

The atmosphere created by this song is quite amazing, with the heavy reverb and echo effects on the guitar. Interesting are the sparkly keyboard notes decending after “uptight.” The lead guitar licks provide a nice countermelody to the lead vocal.

Exit Music (For A Film)

= 5 stars

Let Down

= 4 stars

Like a lesser No Surprises, the juicy part are the chords under “crushed like a bug in the ground” and how they stumble back to the tonic chord via some guitar licks. In comparison with the previous four songs, it’s not so great — especially during the meandering center. When the sparkly keyboard arpeggios appear, it finds some firmer footing.

Karma Police

= 5 stars

Fitter Happier

= 3 stars

This “song” if you could call it that, is the meandering equivalent of The Beatles’ Revolution 9, but thankfully much shorter.

Electioneering

= 3 stars

This song is okay, but quite average after everything that’s come before. I don’t care for the cowbell, for until Thom’s voice comes in, I could confuse this with Guns N Roses or Oasis.

Climbing Up The Walls

= 2 stars

I find myself skipping this one, as it sounds like The Cure covered by a heavy metal band.

No Surprises

= 5 stars

Lucky

= 5 stars

The Tourist

= 4 stars

A good, solid ending song, that shares some elements with No Surprises and Exit Music lending the album coherence. The melody to the lyric “slow down” is especially pretty, as are some choice drum fills. During the guitar solo and beyond, the band’s energy unifies until beautifully ending on a sole triangle chime.

Album rating = 50 / 12 = 4.16 stars

Wikipedia: Radiohead: OK Computer

Next Album: Kid A
Previous Album: The Bends

iTunes Store Link: OK Computer — Radiohead