In the past, I’ve tried to get into Radiohead. Because I’m into a lot of digital sounds, Kid A has been suggested to me a bunch of times, because I like Muse The Bends has been recommended to me a bunch of times, but I just couldn’t get into them. I realize they are influential, but I just never really got into them. This must seem like blasphemy coming from a music blogger, but it’s true. Frankly, I didn’t even know they had an album coming out until all of the hubbub about the “pay what you want” price tag. Even then someone sent me a copy of the album before I could contemplate taking a free copy (heh heh). This is where my story changes from uninterested spectator to engaged listener.
Radiohead’s ‘In Rainbows’ springs to life with an urgency I haven’t heard previously in their work. Seemingly devoid of the walls of intellectual bullshit that many holier than thou hipsters desperately cling to to establish their musical superiority. The song “Bodysnatchers” features the lyrics “I have no idea what I’m talking about”, and that upfront honesty is the best thing they could have done to win me over. Though the remainder of the album doesn’t quite live up to the Klaxons channeled through lite-jazz that is B-Snatch, but it’s not a total snooze-fest. “All I Need” distills the urgency and bombastic drama that Radiohead wants to evoke so much, but actually pulls it off. There’s also something about “House of Cards”, I think it’s the production of Thom Yorke’s ghostly wail behind the boring guitar loop. It keeps you just interested enough to not skip the track until the line “I don’t want to be your friend, I just want to be your lover” drops, and seriously who has not been there? Another ambiguously engaging statement that will pull you through until the track ends.
An album that Radiohead actually made me want to listen to, a surprising feat. The price alone should make you all want to go listen to it as well.
MP3 – Bodysnatchers – Radiohead
MP3 – House of Cards – Radiohead
