Radiohead In Not-A-Bunch-Of-Black-Guys Shocker!

no no he is an opera singer that is why Dan likes him ;-)

However, I hope when I get as old as Christgau, I don't still care this much about music.

Or maybe I do.

I'm unconvinced of Radiohead's emotional range, to be honest: possibly I'm not as adept as Mark at "screening Yorke out," but none of their sonic diversions manage to change the tone very forcibly. I think the singularity this creates around them is a big part of why they're popular in the way that they are: they look like "the only rock band that matters" because they're one of few rock bands to pick such a not-ingratiating path and follow it so single-mindedly.

Point of comparison: Disintegration. The tone of Radiohead since Kid A reminds me of parts of this record, with two major differences. The first difference is a good one: Radiohead can get cranky and frantic in ways Disintegration rarely attempted, and the Cure has never sounded as ominously or excitingly spazzy as anything like "National Anthem." The second difference is the one that bothers me: Radiohead remind me of Disintegration, but stripped of every moment of earnest or even hopeful beauty. They will not, from what I can tell, ever again do anything like a "Plainsong" or a "Pictures of You." (And even when they did do them, they didn't turn out so well: "High and Dry" / "Stop Whispering...")

Or maybe they will, and they'll just hide it away: last week on M2 I caught Yorke playing "True Love Waits" and was satisfied for the first time. This was the range, the shift, the relief, that was missing from the past three records -- of which I liked Amnesiac best probably because its odd-and-ends format actually lent it that sense of topography. Radiohead sometimes do sound to me like one long moan, albeit a pretty glorious one with some immaculately assembled music; all I ask for is the occasional moment of hitting land or breaking down or seeking peace, no matter how undercut or troubled or complicated it might be. (Which is basically a repeat of what I said here however long ago about Radiohead doing tension with no release: let them bubble up bright or dream pretty for thirty seconds, even, and I'll be on board.)

James: Music should be assessed on its own terms out of fairness and common sense, basically. I think that anyone who should consider themselves to be a decent and professional critic should consider each work of art on its own terms as well as how it relates in the context of the culture at large. Ultimately, I believe that the larger context is much less important, and when writers focus on that (as Christgau certainly does) it ceases to be about the piece of art and more about how that art relates to their set of biases and their limited understanding of something much larger than themselves.

Too much of this review is spent trying to contextualize Radiohead within a world that exists entirely in the head of one man, informed mostly by other people who have a similarly skewed and myopic view of culture and art.

So I say: fuck context. Trying to fit things into a percieved context of the world reveals only the biases, ego, and limited understanding of the critic, and are not very helpful in the long run.

Radiohead don't cover every emotion that a person can have, but they do cover a lot of nuances within their limited emotional palette, which I think is a major part of their appeal. I think that they are good at capturing lots of in-between emotions, which isn't always easy. Think of it like you're mixing paint - it's like they've got a knack for mixing very specific obscure shades and hues of green and blue.

Because Kurt taught us how to feel, man. *sob*

and why shouldn't emotional range be important? there would be just as much of a problem if the Ramones had been the biggest band in the world, too--as in, gee, how does something with such preconceived limits reach so many people? (and haha Ned but get real, that's not what he's saying at all)

Dan: I dunno, you can list, I guess, but I never hear anything really cut through. I'm not asking for "happy," obviously, since I'm counting "True Love Waits" as part of what I'm looking for; it just all feels a bit like watching Sisyphus push the boulder up the hill, except without the part where it rolls back down, or like watching Prometheus chained to the rock, except the birds never come. That's just me.

Also, Michaelangelo - who do you think out there has a wide emotional range?

ams: "moldova"?

How many people realistically expect one artist to cover all of their listening needs in terms of emotional range? I guess if you're only going to listen to one artist it'll get tedious very quickly, but if you've got anything even close to a well rounded record collection (which I think most people do, in their own way), you're probably going to go to different artists for different emotions, different ideas, different occasions. So it really doesn't matter if one artist only is good at covering three or four basic emotions. Someone else will compensate.

part of what i'm saying is rather simplye: it's disingenuous to say "africa" when he means "rhythm and blues"! if he actually means "africa" then it is simply not germane. (saying "rhythm and blues" isn't terribly germane either, but it's not risible.)

So is he invoking r&b, or african music, or what?

I can't see why Christgau would mention Africa if he simply meant that Yorke's voice had little mbalax (or juju, or Afrobeat) in it? And this is different from Cobainbuckleyknowlesdioncreedaguilera how? I get the sense that "Africa" is meant to invoke some tradition which includes r&b and leaves out guys like Yorke.... which I think is misguided and disingenuous.

I hope this doesn't turn ugly because I'm not trying to make fun of you or anything, Matos, I'm honestly a bit confused at this point.

xpost

(don't we all wish we could describe music in terms that are more vivid and concrete!!)

but there's no dichotomy being set up! he's using lack-of-Africa as a description of Yorke's vocal style--it's a parenthetical comment, used to shade the comment. he's referred to De La Soul as pretentious college boys too and you won't see him refusing to say they're African.