There were NO SURPRISES that Radiohead's In Rainbows was number one in 2007.
Enjoy 3 minutes and 46 seconds of Thom Yorkes beautifully messed up face.
ENJOY!
Showing posts with label In Rainbows. Show all posts
Showing posts with label In Rainbows. Show all posts
Sunday, December 23, 2007
RADIOHEAD IS NUMBER ONE
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Album Review: Radiohead - In Rainbows
Radiohead - In Rainbows
(Note: This review is for the mp3 release. A separate review for the Discbox will be written upon its arrival.)
(Self Released, 2007)
Grade: 94.7
In Rainbows (the album)
Weird Fishes/Arpeggi (mp3)
One day after being "rickrolled" by some jackass with too much time on his/her hands, Radiohead surprised the world with the announcement that their seventh album would be self-released, digitally, in a mere ten days. Okay, maybe the entire world wasn't shocked, as I'm certain there are parts of Africa that could care less about what five British blokes do with their time, let alone their music, but still, you and me and everyone we know had Rainbows on the brain. Personally, I don't think I even counted down the final week to my 21st birthday, but I sure as hell counted down the "release date" for Radiohead's seventh album. Why? Radiohead has a hold on my heart and a special place in my life, all thanks to a bald MTV VJ, a killer performance on the Tonight Show With Jay Leno, and a little album called OK Computer. The excitement over counting down 'til midnight (again like my 21st birthday) for my personal download link was fairly new to me, as the territory was slightly unfamiliar. I am old enough to remember midnight CD release parties at record stores - the last Radiohead release, 2003's Hail to the Thief, was the last album I bought at a midnight sale - but something about mixing old-school impatience with modern technology made Radiohead's experiment something I wanted to be a part of. Knowing that somewhere on this Earth, a million people (or more) would be sharing a similar experience with me made it even more fun. As cool as Radiohead's social experiment was, though, nothing tops the actual album itself, which is easily Radiohead's best album since Kid A, and their most widely accessible since The Bends.
Listening to In Rainbows, even for the first time, it seemed like Radiohead was more comfortable with these songs than with anything they have released in the past decade, which I presume is a direct result of the band spending two years writing, recording, and playing the songs live (nine of them at least; "Nude" has been around for nearly a decade). Yes, a similar approach was used on Hail to the Thief, but the results here are significantly better. Where Hail sounds like Radiohead made a mixtape of their songs disguised as a record, In Rainbows is a cohesive, near flawless Radiohead album.
There are many reasons why In Rainbows is such a fantastic, fascinating listen. Nicole may have covered many of them in a recent post, but bear with me while I muse on a few observations of my own. For starters, In Rainbows is, at times, the most "rock" Radiohead has been in quite some time. Traces of rock have appeared on each of the band's albums since The Bends, but In Rainbows has so much guitar you might think it was released in 1997 rather than 2007, especially on "Bodysnatchers", which is easily Radiohead's most intense and gnarliest song since "Electioneering". Every time I listen to it I can picture Jonny ripping into his guitar strings, while Thom rapidly shakes his head from shoulder to shoulder as he wails, "I'm aliiiiiiiiive!" I bet this song kills live.
Speaking of live Radiohead, after attending a Radiohead concert in 2003, I walked away from the show with the impression that the live versions of Radiohead's songs are funkier, or at least more bass heavy, than their album counterparts. I was pretty fucking high at that show, I'll grant you, but I'm convinced Radiohead noticed it too, as it seems to have bled over onto In Rainbows' production and mixing. Colin Greenwood's bass work is prominent throughout the album, and Radiohead do sound funkier, at times even soulful and sexy, like an R&B band or Portishead's self-titled album. It doesn't hurt that Thom's lyrics are oftentimes playful, even sexual. It is a unique direction for the band, proving that even when they're comfortable and accessible, Radiohead are still capable of throwing a curve ball in our direction.
Lastly, the most fascinating aspect of In Rainbows is, in this writer's humble opinion, just how accessible the album is. Radiohead have spent most of their career making jarring follow-up albums to excellent, sometimes iconic releases. Many of these albums were growers, albeit growers that yielded good vibrations with each listen. Kid A, perhaps the new standard to which albums that divide the fans and the critics are set, was so polarizing upon its release it had more than one major music publication proudly hailing Coldplay as the next Radiohead. And while a rock album with touches of R&B might sound polarizing, I assure you that it is manufactured as one easy-to-swallow pill. The songs are arranged and sequenced perfectly, like jigsaws falling into place. The album is long enough to engage the audience, while short enough not to overstay its welcome. It is also highly addictive, and rewarding. My current favorite, "Reckoner," reveals its beauty more and more with each listen, more so than some of the album's immediately engaging songs ("Weird Fishes/Arpeggi", "All I Need").
As you can probably tell, I am in love with In Rainbows. I feel like a teenager all over again. Somewhere in a different space/time continuum, the younger SonicRyan who did his math homework to OK Computer is smiling. Already my $81 is well spent, and the arrival of my Discbox set is still two months off. I have been listening to this album on repeat since the download completed, following the rainbow. Already I have found several pots of gold, with no end in sight.
--Ryan
The moments. The entrance of a sleepy guitar on the backdrop of a synthetic beat. The pure Radiohead rock song where Thom really loses himself. “I’ve seen it coming/I’ve seen it coming.” The isolated falsetto in a song I fell in love with years ago. The wavy, creepy strings. The slow building of distant howls backed by a whirling guitar. The personal lyrics finally let out of the bottle since The Eraser. “I’m in the middle of your picture.” The catchy melodic upbeat acoustic heavily orchestrated number. The drums hiding in the off-beats. The parts that stick in my head and slip loose when no one is around. “Because we separate/it ripples in our reflection.” The expansive, smoldering melody that took awhile, but now cannot seem to get out of my head. The OK Computer droned voices. The organic looped toward its exacted purpose. It’s in the moments.
--Chad
I was waiting for an old friend. It had been years since I’d seen her, left her blistered and angry, a little weathered. Before she’d worn dark half-moons under her eyes, carried self-loathing in frail bones. She never looked so beautiful. Now I wondered how time would mark its passage upon her in undetectable but certain ways, like the inching of the long arm on a clock. I knew nothing. I knew she would not disappoint.
For days I’ve breathed nothing but Radiohead. I’ve craved nothing else. I’ve prowled the Internet, scraped my knees on the album’s tiniest criticisms. I’ve championed “House of Cards” after seeing it spurned, like that summer a boyfriend said orange wasn’t my color and I vowed to prove otherwise. I’ve sung caricatures of “Reckoner” with friends. Doodled rainbows on faded receipts. I’ve stirred the coals of conversation with my squat grocery-checkout hermaphrodite, to whom I evinced that the new album was, for lack of a more concise companion to my linking verb, amazing.
Already I fear my friend’s absence. I fear the moment I’ve traversed every haunted inch, explored each crook of an elbow, sung her in the car, out screamed the rain, falling in love, falling from love, falling in.
--Nicole
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
It's Coming!
Our review for In Rainbows is on its way, I swear. Until then, here's something I found while floating around the internet, the original leak of Arpeggi that hit the net a month or so back. It is very, VERY different than the album version. Personally, I'm glad they changed it. I'll let you judge for yourself.
Arpeggi (mp3)
Happy waiting!
Friday, October 12, 2007
Have You Heard?
Radiohead -
In Rainbows
There's been a lot of talk about Radiohead changing the music industry with their latest album. By thumbing their nose at record labels and leaking their own album, they've eliminated the middle man and kept the focus on the music. Nothing about the album's release has been traditional -- but is this so jaw-dropping for a band like Radiohead?
Certainly nipping the record label and traditional release allowed the band to pull the wool over everyone's eyes and launch the biggest (and perhaps only) surprise in today's music scene. Subsequently nipping professional reviewers also kept the album under wraps (Head on over to Spin.com and check out this nifty diagram about album leaks). In the upcoming weeks we will see how critics approach this issue. Ordinarily they have months to dissect a new album before publishing a review on the album's release date. Now that Radiohead have pulled the rug out from under everyone, will critics rush to write reviews, or will they give the album time to simmer? Will they publish their reviews on some yet-to-be-determined date, or will they wait until the CD comes out in March? If the CD doesn't come out until 2008, is the album's official release date 2007 or 2008?
These questions and more have riddled me this week. I for one want time to digest the album. That said, here are some random musings I've entertained so far, in no particular order:
This kinda sounds like The Eraser. This sounds like the Bends-era
b-side "Palo Alto". This sounds like "Let Down," but not really. This
sounds really soulful. This is the band's most tuneful work since OK
Computer. This part sounds like "Hail to the Thief." I thought someone said "Arpeggi" leaked and it kinda sucked; someone should shoot that idiot. I feel really emotional right now. This sounds like "Electioneering" guitar. All of these songs have lyrics. Some of these lyrics remind me of The Eraser; Thom really accessed his emotional side recording that solo album. I don't know if I agree with Thom that this is the "creepiest" album they've ever made... OK, getting eaten by worms and weird fishes is creepy. Thom is rocking those vocals. Thom sounds like a lounge singer. This sounds like Beck's Sea Change. This sounds like "Wolf at the Door." Those drums sound really far away. Those loops are perfect. I wonder what Josh will think of what they did to "Nude." I wonder what I think about what they did to "Nude." The last song just blew my mind. I have the chills. So that amazing ending we heard on that teaser came from "All I Need"! This new album is amazing. Maybe I should have paid $81. I want to listen to it again. And again. And again.
Wow, a Radiohead freewrite can be highly cathartic. I recommend it.
One last note: by forgoing the traditional release format, Radiohead have yet to reveal the album's official album art. Once again, this has thrown the industry into turmoil. Apparently fans have started making their own covers for the album, a trend I continued here. What do you guys think? Should we have a create-your-own-In-Rainbows-cover contest?
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
I Just Downloaded In Rainbows
I have only listened to half of it, but it is good. Very good. I sincerely hope you too are listening. As for me, I'm feeling fine...
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Forget About March Wax, or Why Telling Your Fans That You Are Not Releasing an Album When You Really Are Makes Up For Working 12 Hours.
Rumors of Radiohead's seventh album not being released this year appear to have been greatly exaggerated. Granted, this could turn out to be a great big hoax like the one that occurred yesterday, but since the following post came from the band's official blog, Dead Air Space, I am inclined to believe that this is true:
"Hello everyone.
Well, the new album is finished, and it's coming out in 10 days;
We've called it In Rainbows.
Love from us all.
Jonny"
There you have it, the album formerly known as LP7 has a release date. It appears that the band has eschewed the label route entirely, not that they need one at this point, in lieu of taking the album directly to the fans themselves. Fans can order a gorgeous looking 2 LP set at 40 Euros (roughly $51) plus shipping, or can (apparently?) name a price for the mp3s.
But more importantly, RADIOHEAD'S NEW ALBUM WILL BE OUT IN 10 DAYS!
FUCK YEAH!
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