RAdiohead

oh good, i've been rediscovering the noughties albums lately and enjoying kid a/amnesiac a lot more than i've ever done.

Something of an easy time for Jonny, Ed, Colin, and Phil on this one.

Jonny always does the string arrangements.

From a recent Wall Street Journal "current state of hip hop" Q&A panel, featuring Chuck D. and ?uestlove:

9:21: An audience member asks the panelists if they’ve had moments where they questioned their artistic choices and whether they’ve had to make compromises along the way.

?uestlove uses it as opportunity to address identity issues in black music and how, in many respects, the Roots are the odd men out as a live act, made up of eight members. “We’re the last group of black musicians with a major record deal—everyone else is solo.” It’s an outsider status that sometimes masks what the group is doing musically. For instance, the Roots’ “Game Theory” record was channeling Radiohead’s “Kid A,” but because it had come from a group of black musicians rooted in rap, few critics heard the influence. “We’re on the island of ‘Lost,’” he says, with no one there to call the band on its artistic choices.

*bump*

hmmm pretty

I like the string arrangements but Thom's voice doesn't sound very good on this one and it doesn't help that the lyrics borrowed from the Harry Patch interview don't really rhyme at all.

The strings are exactly what disappointed me about this song, sadly. They're too... merely "tasteful"; leaning toward safer, floaty Gorecki territory rather than my preferred Messiaen-inflected askewness.

*facepalm* @ that WSJ piece

heard the patch song on npr today (the world?). yorke's voice was horrible.

I don't have an "add to basket" button on that page ;(

xpost - i remember that roots album. and i remember hearing the kid a 'influence'. it wasnt necessarily a good thing. i remember the hearing the fake beck influence on there too. that wasnt a very good thing either. ;)

it doesn't help that the lyrics borrowed from the Harry Patch interview don't really rhyme at all.

Since when did lyrics have to rhyme? I didn't think much of this to begin with - in fact, I actually fell asleep to it - but on repeated listens, it's growing on me.

that song reminds me of these horrible convoluted melodies in the Lutheran Hymnnal when i was growing up, they would take these sort of texts that were clearly just written to be recited and then put them to these really labored, painful melodies...nothing rhymed and it sound all awkward..that's kinda what this song sounds like to me

xpost: maybe channeling "Treefingers" the whole time

Orchestral backing, reminiscent of Gorecki.

You do Gorecki a disservice, sir. These strings are reminiscent of little but themselves. I hate this.

thom sounds drunk on this

Perhaps he's (ill-adivsedly?) trying to "channel the spirit" of the 111-year old Patch, who - by the time of the interview on which the track is based - spoke in a hoarse, wheezing whisper...

The Believer: Do you feel like there's any definitive sound that you've been solidifying over your career?

Thom Yorke: I fucking hope not.

I heard this driving back from Michigan last night, sounded a little haunting while driving with a distant thunderstorm flashing in front of me. Anyway, any Americans tried to download this from the website?

listened to the four tet remix of 'scatterbrain' this morning, so much better than the original.

I'm American and I downloaded the song from the website. It worked out fine. You'll get a zip file that opens up easily. And when you put in your credit card number, they'll ask you what country you're from. I think your credit card company will do the pound to dollar conversion. It was $1.70 for me.

This song seems more beautiful to me every time I hear it.

The strings are exactly what disappointed me about this song, sadly. They're too... merely "tasteful"; leaning toward safer, floaty Gorecki territory rather than my preferred Messiaen-inflected askewness.

Haha considering this song must have been written and recorded in less than a week I'd be inclined to cut them a bit of slack.

the lyrics were in some bbc website article last week, they looked like a poem a 13-year-old would write about war

humans be warring

They're actually direct quotes from the last British survivor of World War One, who was well into his second century when he gave the interview in question. (He died recently aged 111.) So you're only about 100 years out!

It's not directly quoted is it, it's adapted from an interview I thought.

Either way, represented as song lyrics they don't look particularly profound.

I don't mind my anti-war lyrics lacking profundity.

"War, what is it good for, absolutely nothing"
"Why can't we be friends"
"War war is stupid, and people are stupid"

^ i'm down with all of that.

yeah those are better than this tho, I dunno, I have been ambivalent/positive towards Radiohead for the last few years, without listening to any of their music, but when I read about this I really thought it's their worst side, like a "knowing" lyric about war. There's nothing clever about knowing war is shit. That's why it's shit.

Thom & co. didn't "write" the lyrics to this song. All the lines are excerpts from interview(s)[?] with Patch.

As mike t-diva said up thread:

Lyrics taken from an interview transcript with the recently deceased World War One survivor.

Oops, sorry, didn't notice everyone had already pointed this out. Sorry y'all.

Thanks !Alicia!, that is exactly what I was looking to hear. Didn't want to illegally download a charity track.

from the bbc:

World War I veteran Harry Patch will be buried tomorrow. The former plumber, who fought at the battle of Passchendaele in 1917, gave a memorable interview to Today reporter Mike Thomson in 2005.

Thom Yorke, lead singer of the band Radiohead, was moved by the interview to write a tribute to the veteran, inspired by Harry Patch's words.

kind of ambiguous, either way even if they quoted him verbatim, he was speaking in an interview, they then use those words as a lyric.

OK, I've now played the original interview - Patch comes in at 1:47 - and Yorke's lyrics aren't verbatim quotes. He takes some of Patch's words and adds to them.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/listenagain/ram/today1_ww1_20051224.ram

Thom Yorke: No more Radiohead albums

The Radiohead frontman says his band have no intention to release another album and will instead focus on download-only singles and EPs

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/aug/11/thom-yorke-radiohead

Didn't he say something like that a few years back?

Also that's one of the funniest photos of him I've seen, photoshop do-overs plz.

I'd rather have semi-regular EPs than an album every four years, but I bet they end up going back on this anyway.

No talk of the new track floating around (newer than "Harry Patch," I mean)? Leaked mysteriously, no comment from band or management yet, but it sure as hell sounds like them. It's not bad, actually, I like it better than HP probably.

oh it's called "These Are My Twisted Words" btw.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2ztWvuyXeU

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     iiiiiiiiii                                            iiiiiiiiiiii
      iiiiiii    radiohead - these are my twisted words      iiiiiii
      iiiiiii                                                iiiiiii
       iiii       artist.......radiohead                       iiii
       iiii       title........these are my twisted words      iiii
       iiii       label........??????????                      iiii
       iiii       cat.nr.......?????????                       iiii  
       iiii       style........'dificult'                      iiii
       iiii       nr of tracks.1                               iiii
       iiii       total length..5.32                           iiii
     iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
       iiii       audio source.CD Advance                      iiii
       iiii       encoder......LAME 3.93                       iiii
       iiii       quality......320kbps/44.1kHz/Joint Stereo    iiii
       iiii       size.........12,70 MB                        iiii
       iiii       ripper.......sca[GG]er                       iiii
       iiii       rls.date.....2009-08-17                      iiii
     iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
       iiii         i just wanted to reassure readers          iiii
       iiii          that following representations            iiii
       iiii              seeking confirmation                  iiii            
       iiii           that before your very eyes               iiii                       
       iiii             behind the wall of ice                 iiii
       iiii         that the box is not under threat           iiii
       iiii          however they are set to remove            iiii
       iiii                    other boxes                     iiii
       iiii       in fact i have the list in front of me       iiii
       iiii         i went to a briefing on their plans        iiii
       iiii           and challenged them to tell me           iiii
      iiiii           exactly what the cost would be           iiiiiii
     iiiiii                                                    iiiiiiii
    iiiiiii             they spoke in broad terms              iiiiiiiiii
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  iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii                  
   iiiiiiiiiii    we're looking for: talented puppeteers        iiiiiiiiiii
    iiiiiiiiii    worms, disgruntled executives, sacked flies   iiiiiiiiii
      iiiiiiii     genres: doomcore, folktronica, ukf           iiiiiiii
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    iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii                                                               
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I love this song.

Definitely a Radiohead song. Are they trying to channel Sonic Youth? It sounds like a b-side from the bends era.

Does that text at the bottom say "Hall of Vice"?

"Hall of Ice", even?

i like the guitars in 5 over the beat in 4. i think.

Ha, style: 'difficult.'

Feels like it should be a few minutes longer.