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From:
William Samuels
To:
I DM
Date:
Tue, 19 Sep 2000 12:36:13 -0700 (PDT)
Subject:
[idm] Radiohead - Kid A
Msg-Id:
<20000919193613.12655.qmail@web2106.mail.yahoo.com>
Mbox:
idm.0009.gz
Here are two things that I have read recently about the new Radiohead. I don't know if this will shed any light on what tunes are suppose be sort of like Autechre..or whatever
quoted 69 lines RADIOHEAD RETURN!> RADIOHEAD RETURN! > RADIOHEAD played the opening date of their first UK > tour for more than three years earlier tonight > (Friday > September 1) before a crowd of 10,000 in a > purpose-built marquee in the grounds of Newport > Tredegar Hall in Wales - the band emerging in a haze > of red light to bring their "genuine freakshow" to > life. > > New album 'Kid A' might be the record that arrived > with a manifesto of minimal guitars and a a > blueprint > inspired by Aphex Twin and Authechre, but live > tonight, new songs like 'The National Anthem' - a > powerful opener packed with juddering 'Bends'-style > intent - and the ferocious, focused 'Optimisitic', > reminiscent of My Bloody Valentine's 'Isn't > Anything' > LP - are fleshed out by a more conventional guitar > style. > > 'Bones' and the sombre 'Morning Bell' - with lead > singer Thom Yorke at the piano - complete the > initial > burst of songs in the first part of the set. > > Yorke remains in a taciturn non-committal mood > throughout the show. His comments remain limited to > "thank you very much", yet his convulsive dancing, > fervent tambourine shaking and cryptically Stipe-ean > hand gestures, which are relayed on a trio of screen > above the audience's heads, his demeanour is > probably > more eloquent than any amount of onstage banter. > However, Ed O'Brien and Jonny Greenwood more than > make > up for the singer's reticence with a traditionally > fervent blur of hair and enthusiasm. > > After a startlingly vehement 'Paranoid Android' and > an > ecstatically-received 'My Iron Lung', the excitable > recognisation factor dips and a more muted mood > takes > over as the band push into all-new material. > > The weirdly discordant disco 'Idioteque' sees Yorke > dancing around in a compulsive circle, jerking his > arms in a strange private code. 'You And Whose Army' > is pure piano evil, accompanied by the sardonic > grinning that was a feature at the band's recent gig > at Scott Walker's London Meltdown Festival, while > 'In > Limbo swirls around the line "Where did you park the > car?" and a needling, insistent guitar. > > 'Everything In Its Right Place' is a particularly > bizarre closer with minimal electric piano twisting > around, following its own internal logic. > > If the audience are in danger of leaving > disappointed > though, they're soon treated to encores of 'The > Bends', 'Street Spirit' and the new, yet relatively > accessible 'I Might Be Wrong'. > > >
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quoted 127 lines 'KID A' - THE CD REVIEW> > > 'KID A' - THE CD REVIEW > > Radiohead give birth! > RADIOHEAD?s 'KID A' was unveiled in its entirety to > a > select group of fans in LONDON this afternoon > (August > 17) - and nme.com has the first full review of this > year?s most eagerly anticipated release. > > An ambitious experiment in ambient beatscapes, it is > permeated by a mood of breakdown and psychosis, with > layers of repetitive loops and synth effects suggest > the band have been absorbing Boards Of Canada, Aphex > Twin, Brian Eno and DJ Shadow. There are no obvious > melodies such as on 'No Surprises', it is more > 'Airbag', the music shaped from rhythmically complex > drum patterns and Thom Yorke more concerned with > yelping and cooing than actually singing, suggesting > his collaboration with Bj?rk, on the 'Dancer In The > Dark' soundtrack, has left an impression. > > First track 'Everything In Its Right Place', is > typical of whole album, built around a simple, > looped > organ line and a pulsing, disembodied beat, overlaid > with cut-up vocal snippets from Thom. > > The title track follows, with pattering drums > underpinning organ chimes and strange sonic > glitches, > while Thom's hiccuping, vocodered vocal is > reminiscent > of the dwarf from 'Twin Peaks'. > > 'The National Anthem' is the most radical thing > Radiohead have done so far. A homage to DJ Shadow, > its > propulsive drums and echoing, jazzy horns build to a > dark, hard climax. > > 'How To Disappear Completely' is almost a relief > with > its acoustic guitar. This is the most conventional > song on the album, a woozy, baroque epic reminiscent > of R.E.M.'s 'Sweetness Follows'. Thom's voice comes > through untreated for the first time, singing "This > isn't happening", and heightening the mood of > breakdown and psychosis which runs through the whole > album. > > 'Treefingers' is an ambient instrumental which > recalls > the soundscapes Brian Eno created with David Bowie > on > 'Low'. Like much of abstract noise on 'Kid A' it > evokes the kind of sound effects normally heard in > '70s sci-fi movies like '2001: A Space Odyssey'. > > We hear a riff for the first time on 'Optimistic', a > glowering, almost funky riot of primal, tom > tom-heavy > drumming and Thom's wailing vocal. Again, Thom's > voice > skirts around an ethereal melody line, before > collapsing in groans. > > On 'In Limbo' Thom admits, "I've lost my way", which > seems to sum up the general tone of his lyrics on > 'Kid > A'. Thom sounds like he's in the middle of a nervous > breakdown. > > 'Idioteque' is the track that sounds least like > Radiohead, as a punishing, Aphex-style breakbeat > crashes in, and piston rhythms underpin a mad Thom > vocal about how "I laugh until my head comes off". > Again, Thom's playing with phrases and looping > cut-up > snippets of his voice over and over, building up > repetitive layers of noise. Now he's singing "This > is > really happening", seemingly unsure whether to > believe > it or not. > > 'Morning Bell' is rooted to a stuttering drum > pattern, > and again finds Radiohead playing with synth loops > and > FX. It leads us into 'Motion Picture Soundtrack', a > Bj?rk-ish wash of warm hammond organ and spiralling > harp, with Thom whispering "I think you're crazy > maybe". It ends the album on a note of almost > heavenly > yearning. There's a pause, then a brief blast of > billowing FX noise. Then, after almost 50 minutes, > it's over. > > There's no obvious choice for a single on 'Kid A', > though it seems likely that 'How To Disappear > Completely' and 'Optimistic' will be considered. > It's > a brave move to come out with something so abstract > after the prog-epic Pink Floyd-isms of 'OK > Computer', > but it generally succeeds in its attempt to > assimilate > their more electronica-based influences, and create > an > expressionistic suite of music rather than an album > of > individual songs. If the dark, fevered, > schizophrenic > mood of the album reflects Thom's mindstate at the > moment, though, the forthcoming series of UK live > shows should prove very interesting indeed. > > > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Mail - Free email you can access from > anywhere! > http://mail.yahoo.com/
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