Radiohead, In Rainbows

October 19th, 2007

So I got the new Radiohead album a couple of days ago. Its called In Rainbows(IR) which I think is a fantastic title and the artwork is super as well. Well I think so, as I have just seen it on the website and as yet I only have a nicked version, I have all the good intentions of buying the special edition when I reach a place which actually stocks it. I have been at sea for 2 months and have not been in an English speaking city for those entire two months. I don’t think that Contanza in Romania even has a MP3 player never mind a person who could direct me to the nearest shop with the Special Edition Radiohead Album.

A friend of mine JJ suggested that IR was better than Hail To The Thief (HTTT). I disagree. For me httt was the culmination of years and years of work and growth from the band. It encapsulates everything from The Bends to Amnesiac. Everything that they had done well, 90’s rock to their newfound love of electronica blended so well into an album with soul and warmth that moved me so much. It is easily one of my all time favourite albums and I find it very difficult to compare anything with it.

I have a bad habit of being disappointed with Radiohead albums and then a few months later retracting my words proclaiming that they have once again reinvented what musicians should be doing. I did it with Kid A and had to retract my words 6 months later when I listened to it in the way it deserved, without comparing it with Ok Computer.

So maybe I am playing with fire when I write with less than absolute enthusiasm about IR. There are a number of standout tracks which have blown me away, but I think that maybe Thom and the boys have been listening to far too much Sigur Ros and Aphex twin recently. The rhythm is sigur and the beats are Aphex. I don’t like the coldness of Aphex twins music. The beats have given the same coldness to IR.

Kid A has a lot of electronica, but it was warm and taken from real instruments all twisted up. The main thing I love about Radiohead is the way they reinvent music every album. It doesn’t hold true for this album. I hear Eddie Vedder’s voice all the time. Especially from the album ‘yield’ I think the song is ‘evolution’. The other band I hear a lot is Sugardrive, now I know that that is clutching at straws as Radiohead have never heard of Sugardrive never mind heard their music. The sounds that Radiohead are creating are very similar to the album ‘When I Died I Was Elvis” which is about 10 years old, but Sugardrive did these twisted sounds with the distorted voice ten years ago.

There are a few tracks which are fantastic, Bodysnatchers and All I Need. Bodysnatchers has one of the most wonderful changes in rhythm I have heard in a long time. All I need is very quiet for a long time and it is a very short song. It is a teaser of the highest degree. The last minute is exquisite, I wish I could sleep in that percussion/ piano combination. It makes the album worthwhile. I have been humming House Of Cards for the last two hours. The entire album is very listenable but nothing jumps at me like when Thom screamed “Because…” in 2+2 =5

I am comparing this album with its predecessors, which might be unfair. I have not stopped listening to it for two days solid. It is a thoroughly enjoyable album, but when you are genius you will be compared with what you did before and they have done much better.

I am sure I will eat my words…

Peace TheBrr

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