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Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Jim Connelly's
Favorite Recordings Of 2006
Monday, January 15, 2007
Jesse Steichen's Favorite Recordings Of 2006
Friday, January 12, 2007
Bill Bentley's Favorite Recordings Of 2006
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Tom Ridge's Favorite Recordings Of 2006
Thursday, January 4, 2007
Lee Templeton's Favorite Recordings Of 2006
Tuesday, January 2, 2007
Anthony Carew's 13 Fave Albums Of 2006
Monday, March 27, 2006
SXSW 2006: Finding Some Hope In Austin
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Letter From New Orleans
Saturday, February 18, 2006
Jennifer Przybylski's Fave Albums of 2005
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Music For Dwindling Days: Max Schaefer's Fave Recordings Of 2005
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Sean Fennessey's 'Best-Of' 2005
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Lori Miller Barrett's Fave Albums Of 2005
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Lee Templeton's Favorite Recordings of 2005
Thursday, January 5, 2006
Michael Lach - Old Soul Songs For A New World Order
Wednesday, January 4, 2006
Found In Translation — Emme Stone's Year In Music 2005
Tuesday, January 3, 2006
Dave Allen's 'Best-Of' 2005
Monday, January 2, 2006
Steve Gozdecki's Favorite Albums Of 2005
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Johnny Walker Black's Top 10 Of 2005
Monday, December 19, 2005
Neal Block's Favorite Recordings Of 2005
Thursday, December 15, 2005
Jenny Tatone's Year In Review
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Dave Renard's Fave Recordings Of 2005
Monday, December 12, 2005
Jennifer Kelly's Fave Recordings Of 2005
Thursday, December 8, 2005
Tom Ridge's Favorite Recordings Of 2005
Tuesday, December 6, 2005
Ben Gook's Beloved Albums Of 2005
Monday, December 5, 2005
Anthony Carew's Fave Albums Of 2005
Thursday, November 10, 2005
Prince, Spoon And The Magic Of The Dead Stop
Monday, September 12, 2005
The Truth About America
Monday, September 5, 2005
Tryin' To Wash Us Away
Monday, August 1, 2005
A Psyche-Folk Heat Wave In Western Massachusetts
Monday, July 18, 2005
Soggy But Happy At Glastonbury 2005
Monday, April 4, 2005
The SXSW Experience, Part 3: All Together Now
Friday, April 1, 2005
The SXSW Experience, Part 2: Dr. Dog's Happy Chords
Thursday, March 31, 2005
The SXSW Experience, Part 1: Waiting, Waiting And More Waiting
Friday, March 25, 2005
Final Day At SXSW's Charnel House
Monday, March 21, 2005
Day Three At SXSW
Saturday, March 19, 2005
Day Two In SXSW's Hall Of Mirrors
Thursday, March 17, 2005
Report #1: SXSW 2005 And Its Hall Of Mirrors
Monday, February 14, 2005
Matt Landry's Fave Recordings Of 2004
Wednesday, February 2, 2005
David Howie's 'Moments' From The Year 2004
Thursday, January 27, 2005
Lori Miller Barrett's Fave Recordings Of 2004
Thursday, January 20, 2005
Noah Bonaparte's Fave Recordings Of 2004
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
Kevin John's Fave Albums Of 2004
Friday, January 14, 2005
Music For Those Nights: Max Schaefer's Fave Recordings Of 2004
Thursday, January 13, 2005
Dave Renard's Fave Recordings Of 2004
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Neal Block's Top Ten Of 2004
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
Jenny Tatone's Fave Albums Of 2004
Monday, January 10, 2005
Wayne Robins' Top Ten Of 2004
Friday, January 7, 2005
Brian Orloff's Fave Albums Of 2004
Thursday, January 6, 2005
Johnny Walker (Black)'s Top 10 Of 2004
Wednesday, January 5, 2005
Jennifer Przybylski's Fave Albums (And Book) Of 2004
Tuesday, January 4, 2005
Mark Mordue's Fave Albums Of 2004
Monday, January 3, 2005
Lee Templeton's Fave Recordings Of 2004
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Monday, June 16, 2003
Finally Tuning In To Radiohead
Neumu's Steve Gozdecki writes: Tabula rasa, baby. That's right, I'm pretty much a blank slate when it comes to the music of the über genius group the world knows as Radiohead. Ever since MTV aired the heck out of "Creep" a decade ago, I've actually made a conscious effort to avoid them. I'm stubborn that way — make just one bad impression on me, and I may well never buy any of your albums.
That's not to say that "Creep" — which I found to be lyrically banal, way too whiny, and musically annoying due to its uninspired shoegazer-meets-grunge sound — is the absolute sum total of my Radiohead listening. I recall a video for a song from The Bends in which the singer was pushed around a supermarket in a shopping cart. I also have vague memories of seeing them open for R.E.M. years ago, and only knowing the two songs mentioned above — it was at an outdoor shed and it was easy enough to tune them out while lying about in the grass. I've heard them played in friends' cars and at parties, too. I even listened to "Knives Out" a few times from a copy of Amnesiac I borrowed to compare it to the Flaming Lips cover version on the Fight Test EP. And that's the sum total of my Radiohead music listening, which isn't to deny that I've read a whole lot about them over the years.
But now, swayed partly by the fact that they actually seem like very likeable people — smart, funny, in tune with my political views — and partly because it seemed time to finally take the plunge, I have at long last purchased their latest, Hail to the Thief. I know, there's probably some more logical starting point from which I should approach the band, but I'm generally a here-and-now, what-have-you-done-for-me-lately kinda guy, so I'm starting with ze newie rather than ze bestie (which everyone tells me is OK Computer).
So you're now invited to read along and join me in quasi-real time as I remove the cellophane, leaf through the booklet and poster-sized insert (I bought the "special edition"), and make the conscious decision to listen to a Radiohead album for the first time ever. (For the record, this listen took place at 9 p.m. CDT time Thursday, June 12, 2003 whilst I sprawled on my living room couch with a pen and pad of paper, a single lamp providing illumination, no muted telly or other distractions, no mind-altering substances imbibed or ingested — in short, just about as clinical a home listening experience as possible.)
1. "2 + 2 = 5": Cool, I haven't heard a song start with the sound of an electric guitar getting plugged in since Sonic Youth's "Catholic Block." Thom Yorke's voice isn't as annoying as I recall. At the same time, he doesn't convey fear so much as weary resignation through this Orwellian album opener.
2. "Sit down. Stand up": Fairly cool electro sounds, even if the sequenced percussion reminds me of Men Without Hats' minor '80s hit "Pop Goes the World." I'm struck again that Yorke's voice doesn't quite match the lyrics, as the authoritarian commands ("Sit down. Stand up.") and threats ("We can wipe you out") he repeats throughout this one. About three minutes in the song goes all jungle, and I start having Goldie flashbacks. I'm not sure what to make of the raindrops at the end — I tend to think of it as nature's way of cleaning up, but I'm not sure what Yorke's meaning is.
3. "Sail to the Moon": Nice piano and atmospheric bits — is this the calm after the storm? The lyrics really kind of stink, but it's a pretty song.
4. "Backdrifts": A not-so-OK-computer intro and a rather dull beatbox that wouldn't have been out of place on a The The record 20 years ago. More resignation ("We tried but there was nothing we could do."), more strong hints of dystopia, and a perplexing final lyric ("All evidence has been buried/ All tapes have been erased/ But your footprints/ Give you away so/ You're backtracking").
5. "Go to Sleep": Break out the acoustics, and Tom's warble. And the bass player finally shows up.
6. "Where I End and You Begin": Cool funky undercarriage, very Madchester-ish. Jonny Greenwood's pulled out the theremin. Lyrically, the track suggests a forsaken God looking over her creations and not liking what she sees.
7. "We Suck Young Blood": — Well, the Brits gave us the show "Pop Idol," which we turned into "American Idol," so it might as well be a British band that gives us a song condemning the whole vampiric process by which young stars are manipulated, made, and then discarded. Spooky slow handclaps.
8. "The Gloaming": So vague that it scarcely registers as a song. Combines the soundtrack to a "Star Trek" episode with the bleeps from an Atari 2600 game. Maybe this is the spawning of a new dance genre, tweets & bass.
9. "There There": I suppose it makes sense that this, as the most conventional rock song so far on this album, would be the single. "Just 'cause you feel it/ Doesn't mean it's there" sounds like a coded message to fans, and a fierce counterplay to last decade's hedonistic call of "Don't fight it, feel it." I think I rather like this one, though I wish there were more of the punchy drum bursts like the one that ends the song.
10. "I Will": Gently weeping guitars with white elephants, sitting ducks and little babies' eyes. An interlude more than anything else.
11. "A Punchup at a Wedding": Good groove and tune, coupled with a nicely ambiguous lyric that makes me want to know just when this wedding took place. If the album had a different title I wouldn't be so wrapped up in wondering about this, but I get the feeling that Bush or Bin Laden (or a combo of the two, since their lives did follow such similar courses for their first 40 years or so) is the one who started this punch-up. Favorite image so far on the album comes from the line "The pointless snide remarks/ Of hammerheaded sharks" — because they do in fact look like they're smirking. Another song that stands out for me.
12. "Myxomatosis": "Our sci-fi funk machine goes to 11."
13. "Scatterbrain": Soothing track, with a lyric that suggests the narrator is suffering from news overload, pushed into a state of cognitive dissonance.
14. "A Wolf at the Door": Brace yourself, Thom's rapping, or at least verging into the turf of "Bob Dylan's 115th Dream" on the verses. The chorus lifts up very nicely. Very sound, dreamy album closer.
And with that, I'm left pulling a Peggy Lee, wondering, Is that all there is? I want to like this album, but the initial listen hasn't quite done it, outside of a handful of tracks.
Part of my mild disappointment stems from the fact that no band could survive the kind of hype and praise with which Radiohead is showered by fans and journalists alike. But at the same time, this record is getting very good reviews despite a few critics taking potshots at the band for trying to find a compromise between the direction it was moving toward on Amnesiac and Kid A, and its previous, more concrete guitar-led material.
While it's true that a lot of bands take time to grow on you, the truly great ones have done it for me instantly. Like the first time I ever listened to Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures — I was hooked from the first measure of "Disorder," pulled in first by the crisp drumming, then Peter Hook's lead bass, followed by Bernard Sumner's simple guitar riff and Ian Curtis' inimitable voice. Or the instant buzz I got off of the multiple layers of weirdness on "Chasing a Bee," the lead track on Mercury Rev's debut album. The jaw-dropping brilliance I sensed when the "quiet version" of Yo La Tengo's "Big Day Coming" came forth in a heartbeat through the indie record store's headphones. Or even the "What is that?" that played through my mind the first time I heard "Bring the Noise" blaring from down the hall of my freshman dorm all those years ago. I've felt none of that from my previous brief encounters with Radiohead, or from Hail to the Thief.
Radiohead are, no doubt, an important and inventive band, with a legacy that should last and place them in the all-time rock-critic canon. But it's not just my contrarian streak that is keeping them off my list of favorites.
The InsiderOne Daily
Report appears on occasion.
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