All I Need
Jigsaw Falling Into Place 
Airbag
15 Step
Nude
Kid A
Weird Fishes
The Gloaming
You & Whose Army?
Idioteque
Faust Arp
Videotape
Everything in Its Right Place
Reckoner
Optimistic
Bangers & Mash
Bodysnatchers
....................
Exit Music (for a Film)
Myxamatosis
My Iron Lung
There There
Fake Plastic Trees
....................
Pyramid Song
House of Cards
Paranoid Android
Showing posts with label Radiohead. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Radiohead. Show all posts
Friday, May 16, 2008
Radiohead - St. Louis - 5/14/08
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Album Review:
Radiohead - In Rainbows (Disc 2)
Grade: 82%
(2007, self-released, In Rainbows DiscBox)
"Bangers & Mash" [mp3]
"4-Minute Warning" [mp3]
Ordinarily I don't like to read other critic's reviews before I write my own. I'm late enough reviewing Disc 2, however, that I've unwittingly come across several. What intrigues me is not just that most of these other reviewers have given Disc 2 a low score, but that they seem to be evaluating the collection of songs as its own album. To my mind, this makes about as much sense as evaluating dessert with the same criteria as you would the main entree.
Yet perhaps this slight is more a testament to the strength of the songs than anything. There is definitely a "feel" of an album to these eight tracks, though they total just twenty-six minutes. First we encounter the bridge between Disc 1 closer "Videotape" to Disc 2, "Mk1." It's brief and gauzy, and absolutely perfect for those other nerds listening to Discs 1 and 2 in succession. "Down is the New Up" is a piano-driven number that echoes the jazzy/lounge-y feel of "15 Step" and "Reckoner." It's followed by "Go Slowly," a haunting, breathy track that would probably be one of my favorites if the guitar riffs weren't so unabashedly thieved from "There There" (Go listen to it! Tell me I'm wrong!)
"Last Flowers" is classic Thom Yorke in the vein of "True Love Waits." I've read that the song, which was originally titled "Last Flowers to the Hospital," was taken from a road-side sign in Oxford. The song suits this anecdote.
"Up on the Ladder" is quite different from the other tracks on Disc 1 or 2, and sounds more suited for a Hail to the Thief b-side. (Isn't it interesting how, even though HTTT was in many ways a fusion of the band's styles over the years, it still has a definitive sound? Listen to "Jigsaw Falling Into Place" and tell me it's not HTTT material.)
My two favorite tracks off Disc 2 can be found side-by-side at its conclusion. "Bangers & Mash" is Radiohead at its most raucous. I can just see Thom Yorke, tambourine in hand, writhing on-stage. More to the point, I'd love to see him, tambourine in hand, writhing on stage to this song. This year. Please God. Please God.
"4-Minute Warning" is one of the most achingly beautiful songs I've heard from the band in some time. As much as I've defended the synthy production of "Videotape," I think I would have been even happier with this track in its place. Only Radiohead could make a bomb raid sound so soothing.
Though all of the Disc 2 tracks are accomplished, even for a band like Radiohead, I'm pleased they left them off the "real" album (with the exception of the latter two). So many times we Range Lifers joke about "Bands That Need an Editor." Radiohead is smart enough to never be one of those bands.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
2008: It's Like That Yeasayer Song "2080," But All Anagrammed Up
Once we patch up my brother's deer-ravaged car, the hole in our wall, and Ryan's ripped vest (all casualties of New Year's), we're setting our sights on prettying this blog. Last week over shots of tequila, yes, shots of tequila, we devised many seemingly fabulous ideas -- and sorted out some crucial issues concerning God and foreskin. I won't share any of that with you now, but suffice it to say Range Life is going to look damn good in 2008.
Recent random thoughts, which I shall now purge blog-rant style:
TENTATIVE EDIT: If Wikipedia is to be believed, Face the Truth is technically Malkmus' only solo album. Wiki-legend has it that Malkmus wanted to release his first post-Pavement album under The Jicks moniker alone, but that Matador urged/compelled/coerced him to use the power of his own glorious namesake. Not sure what this means for the upcoming album...
P.S. At our New Year's party, a good friend and fellow rabid Radiohead fan got the number of a girl who journeyed solo to Chicago to see the band this summer (That's right, Jenny, you were able to snag that single ticket, while we were unable to buy two at that same moment. I've forgiven you.) Anyway, let's hope love blossoms between those two, and then we can increase our ever-growing Radiohead nerd orgy!
I'm signing off for now. Come back soon and check out some big changes on the site. And good luck putting together the pieces of your raucous New Year's.
Sunday, December 23, 2007
RADIOHEAD IS NUMBER ONE
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!
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
I Just Downloaded In Rainbows Disc 2
Before you go casting stones in my direction, let me remind you that my In Rainbows is on its way, probably sitting in a box on a boat in the Atlantic Ocean. Since W.A.S.T.E. tells me I might not receive my discbox for another 18 days, I went ahead and downloaded the "leaked" version to tide me over. Can you blame me?
My first impression of Disc 2:
I'm glad this is a separate disc, a bonus EP if you will. I'm inclined to believe that Radiohead learned from Hail to the Thief that more is not necessarily better, and left In Rainbows at ten tracks for a good reason. However, with that said, I feel that I should note that these extra tracks are pretty fucking good. I'm currently digging the one/two combo of "Up on the Ladder" and "Bangers & Mash", which turned out more groove oriented than I anticipated after hearing numerous live versions. Also, fans of stripped down Radiohead will probably come to love "Last Flowers". Think "True Love Waits", but with piano.
If you're impatient like me, just look around a bit and I'm sure you'll find a torrent or .rar file or something. If you haven't ordered the Discbox yet, I'm pretty sure you still can. I know its expensive, but the major gift exchanging holidays are right around the corner. Perhaps you can put a bug in someone's ear to order one for you.
[Link]Radiohead - In Rainbows (Album Review)
Friday, November 9, 2007
Bjork and Yorke - Together Again
entanglement
noun
an intricate trap that entangles or ensnares its victim.
This word appeared across the screen during last night's Radiohead-hosted "web party." The term sounds about right -- certainly brings to mind the government, rampant consumerism, minotaurs lost in labyrinths. If you weren't cool enough to crash the party, behold the following. Fans of "The Eraser" and psychodelic drugs should enjoy this clip, a Thom Yorke solo song done "The Gloaming" style.
If you feel less like ragin' the dancefloor and more like ravaging a lover, enjoy this sweet in-studio rendering of Bjork's "Unravel" (from Homogenic).
Y'all remember that succulent Thom and Bjork duet "I've Seen it All"? (mp3)
Friday, October 19, 2007
The Rockabye Baby CD Collection: If You Must Have a Child, It Must Be Cool...
So last week we posted a quiz called "Best Radiohead Lullaby" in honor of a friend/fellow Radiohead fan's new baby. (In case you missed it, "True Love Waits" and "Sail to the Moon" shared the honor.) Well, it looks like some company called Rockabye Baby! beat us to the punch. This is weird...
Rockabye Baby! "transforms timeless rock songs into beautiful instrumental lullabies, sending your little one to a slumberland of sweet dreams." Rockabye Baby! also transforms you into a snivelling sentimentalist, apparently. In any event, on the company's site you can order fetus-friendly takes on everything from Metallica to The Beach Boys to No Doubt to, that's right, Radiohead. Timeless rock, indeed!
You can hear samples of each the album's tracks:
1. No Surprises, 2. Let Down, 3. Subterranean Homesick Alien, 4. Airbag, 5. Paranoid Android, 6. Knives Out, 7. Karma Police, 8. There There, 9. Everything In Its Right Place, 10. 2+2=5, 11. Sail to the Moon.
Hey, look, the album closer is even our quiz co-winner! Nice!
The collection's concept is somewhat charming, though the tracks sound more suited for a cramped elevator or 99-cent ringtone than the ears of your vulnerable infant. The site states, "Kid A imagines the scope and power of music created by a newborn child." Umm, OK, but why don't you just play the child some "Treefingers" via "How to Disappear Completely" and call it a day? Shit, let him hear the whole album! He needs to learn soon enough that the world is a creepy, vacuous place, but that it can also be quite gorgeous and, I don't know, atmospheric?
A final note: The Rockabye Baby! collection also offers a baby-friendly Coldplay CD. Who wants to bet it's just a repackaged copy of X&Y?
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!
Saturday, September 29, 2007
In Other Radiohead News: This Guy Should Be Shot
=
So, yesterday morning PF posted the doubtful story, "Something Maybe Possibly Radiohead-Related Possibly Maybe Happening Saturday Morning, Maybe Possibly?" Anyone who knows me knows that something "possibly maybe happening" regarding Radiohead is enough to grab my attention. Apparently a countdown of sorts had been posted on RadioheadLP7.com, a site I don't even want to give any more visitors, but I feel compelled to cite for the sake of journalistic integrity (I'll have the last laugh and remove the hyperlink, bwooohaha).
So this morning I hopped on over to said site and saw that some fucker had removed the countdown and posted the following: "The Most Gigantic Lying Hoax of All Time. I'm NEVER GOING TO RUN AROUND AND DESERT YOU. How to RICKROLL 21,232 people at once." 21,232 people and counting, of course. Now wait just a minute: No. 1, this is a hoax? Ok, fine. But, No. 2... is that a Rick Astley quote? You are going down.
What I really don't get is that on the comments page, everyone is applauding this guy, saying, "I love you," "ha," "I salute you," and my personal favorite, "Greate job man!" WTF???
I could blame Radiohead for being so secretive and cryptic and shit and thereby enabling such hoaxers, but I don't. I blame this Rick-Astley-lovin' bastard. Now I will slink back to my cave and anxiously await any further maybe possibly maybe Radiohead-related news.
COMING SOON - Arcade Fire/LCD Soundsystem live pics!!
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Radiohead Release Date Set?
Does this image say anything to you? To hundreds of fans at the Radiohead fan site At Ease, it spells out MARCH WA X. Maybe Radiohead's seventh long player will see the light of day (on vinyl?) in March. Or not. Feel free to add fuel to the fire over at the At Ease message boards, and we'll try to keep you posted.
Friday, August 24, 2007
Who Will Be the Next Radiohead?
Radiohead!
Already it's begun. Shameless nights of listening to OK Computer, Kid A, and Amnesiac in all their unfolding chronological glory. Heck, I've even brought out Pablo Honey for a spin. The anticipation of the new Radiohead album has verily got me climbing up the walls.
Yesterday I was reading an article in a recent edition of The Chronicle Review (WAY hipper than it sounds), and I happened upon an article titled, "Where Have All the Rock Stars Gone?" After banishing demons of Paula Cole melodies from my mind, I dug in. Author David Shumway suggests that the emergence of singular cultural icons like Elvis, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, etc. becomes far more unlikely as music divides into so many easily accessible niches. This article got me thinking about Radiohead yet again, simply because they have so much crossover appeal, and because they still hold a lot of clout for both fans and the music industry in general.
Whispers amongst the indie scene have suggested that the Arcade Fire is the new Radiohead. I can attest that AF seem the likeliest contender to carry the torch -- that is, assuming Radiohead is ready to pass it. Might I mention again the impending album?
A journey over to Radiohead fan site At Ease, and you'll find incendiary commentary on the debate. Here the Thom Yorke faithfuls trade barbs such as, "The Arcade Fire are the most overrated band since Teenage Fanclub," "That's precisely what I think of the Arcade Fire. I think of a mountain-sized pile of shit and a single violin sticking up from it," "No one cares that you think they're overrated. Teenage Fanclub are far better at what they do than you'll be at whatever you're best at," and my personal fave, "Go make some more 3 year old discoveries about Coldplay." Might the Arcade Fire/Radiohead comparison be making diehard Radioheads a wee bit uneasy?
What is the formula for Radiohead status? Is it sheer talent, or something more? Perhaps some amount of commercial success -- but not too much? The constant reinvention? A tinge of the political? The "cool" quotient of its members? When I saw Arcade Fire
play Lawrence's Jackpot Saloon in '04, Win took his mike stand and smashed it through the ceiling panels. I remember thinking, "That is one cool mothafucka." Reminds me of how I felt watching Thom Yorke waylay on a tambourine.
In time we'll see whether Arcade Fire will have the discography to sustain the Radiohead analogies. I remember when I first started listening to "good" music, someone told me Portishead was "The new Radiohead, but with a chick." I love ya Beth Gibbons and company, but you haven't come close to living up to that initial breathless review. Then again, aren't there rumors about a new Portishead album? Only time will tell.
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