Radiohead - In Rainbows

"Down Is the New Up"... grooves. Reminds me of "Talk Show Host" a bit.

Top 3 (subject to change once I hear Disc 2):

1. Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
2. Reckoner
3. Videotape

4 minute warning should have taken Videotape's spot on disc 1.

For people who already got the discbox: Does the vinyl include all the songs, or just the songs from disc 1?

Vinyl = disc one.

4 minute warning should have taken Videotape's spot on disc 1.

To quote one Vincent Vega, "That's a bold statement." Cue the Pepsi challenge once my discbox arrives...stay tuned (and hot with anticipation).

Vinyl = disc one.

Damn, 2 LPs for 10 songs? Oh well.

Last Flowers has some interesting guitar parts in the right channel that weave nicely and subtly with the piano, but Thom's voice is mixed so high it's almost hard to hear. Still a nice song, though.

Got my discbox today!

Where do you live?

(not trying to be creepy, I'm just wondering if any packages have hit the US yet)

In DC.

I got mines today too (Greater Boston). Encoding Disc 1 as I write this...

As for the vinyl, it's two plates but only the first disc b/c they're 45 RPM.

There's not enough love for "Up On The Ladder."

I just got my box too! A winner is me!

OMG!!! They've thought of everything! Vinyl run out groove inscriptions! (old Sisters of Mercy fan here, I don't know why I checked, even, but they did it)

disc 1 side A: RIPPLES
disc 1 side B: ON A
disc 2 side A: BLANK
disc 2 side B: SHORE

That's the first thing I checked for when I opened my box!

New Order always used to have good run-out inscriptions.

Does Thom really sing "I'm trapped in the Tardis" at the beginning of one of the songs?

I really don't get the love for Bangers and Mash, it just sounds like an awkward half-finished mess to me.

Does Thom really sing "I'm trapped in the Tardis" at the beginning of one of the songs?

Yes, yes he does.

disc 2 : "this CD contains some photos and some pictures." "here are a few suggestions of what to do with them:"

What's that? Other stuff on Disc 2?

I never thought of exploring it!

this CD contains some photos and some pictures.

the photos are by jonny & colin.
the ones with an SK in the filename are by steve keros.
the pictures are by donwood & tchock.
all of them were taken/made during the making of this record.

here are a few suggestions of what to do with them:

1. use them as a screensaver.

2. make a slideshow of the photos or pictures. play the record at the
same time. ?.

3. print them out massive, frame them and hang them above your bed.

4. admire the dynamic artistes at work, as they plunge flailing into
middle age.

5. attempt to trace the arguably bizarre trajectory of donwood and
tchock as they begin by doing urban landscapes and end up with work
that even they cannot describe.

6. adapt or alter to your liking. it's extraordinary what you can do
with photoshop. or even scissors and glue.

7. turn an old tshirt inside-out. print something out on that iron-on
transfer stuff and stick it on the tshirt.

8. actually thinking about it, just type 'inkjet media' into a search
engine and see what the possibilities are.

9. for instance, you can print onto thin magnetic sheet and then stick
it onto a vehicle or a fridge or something.

10. try to work out which photos we edited out, and why.

bye

Listening to my 320/LAME encoderings, the bump in fidelity (and mastering!) was much overdue. Adios 160kbps bottoming out and/or distortion! I didn't appreciate the greatness of "Faust Arp" or "All I Need" until now.

I'll definitely be picking this up the day it comes out. (1) to support the band (2) added fidelity will be welcome.

Dammit, I didn't realize they were going to play at 45RPM.

Once again my fucked up turntable (plays 33s fine, but plays 45s at about 38-39RPM) lets me down.

Presently understanding why "Down Is The New Up" didn't make the Disc 1 cut (didn't like it live, don't like it recorded either - the title & lyrics of spiritually kindred "2+2=5" strike me as a touch clevererer).

I really like Down Is The New Up - the best bit is the enormous empty half-moan-half-roar that emerges from god knows where to offset Thom's fake Prince yelp.

Love the lyrics to "Down is the New Up", and I'm pleased with the studio version even if I think the Thom solo performance from that Nigel Godrich show is my favorite.

Not to bolster my argument with an artist's own decisions, but: they did relegate it to the second disc for a reason. Musically it's a fine b-side; interesting, "pleasing" - to paraphrase.

It's the obviousness of its title/chorus that irks me (which is unusual for Radiohead's otherwise consistent meeting/exceeding of my lyrical/creative expectations). So it's not all of the lyrics, it's just the title/chorus that makes me cringe (a little).

At least for "Down is the New Up" and "4 Minute Warning", it seems to me that they were left off the album primarily for thematic reasons--they don't suit the more personal nature of proper album.

Assuming this transcription of the lyrics is accurate (my discbox and I are suffering a bit of separation anxiety at the mo'), "Down..." would fit thematically (i.e., sufficient amount of the personal "you" and "I", no?):

Get yourself together
Let the light pour in
Pour yourself a hot bath, pour yourself a drink
Nothing's gonna happen without a warning
Down is the new up
What is up, buttercup
Down is the new up, is the new up

Your services are not required
Your future's bleak, you're so last week

Ladies and gentlemen, without a safety net
I shall now perform a 180 flip-flop
I shall now amputate, I shall now contort
Because down is the new up
What if I just flip-flopped?
Down is the new up
Down is the new up
Down is the new up, is the new up

You're on Candid Camera
The chink in your armor
Topsy turvy town, topsy turvy town
Shake your pockets out
Pass it on, pass it down
Topsy turvy town, topsy turvy town

45 12 inches sound really awesome though

dblcheeksneek: I don't know, the lyrics still seem politically-oriented, or they at least seem to address the outside world rather than his own self or a personal relationship like so many of the songs on In Rainbows. I think it's the "flip-flop" references that make me feel this way--they immediately call to mind the 2004 election.

Some of the lyrics of "Down..." immediately call to mind the 2004 election. You're making my point: it's one thing to be direct and lyrically clever ("2+2=5"") vs. direct and patently obvious ("Down..."); the latter I (and, in my opinion, Radiohead) can do without.

To your point, I can see where not all of the first-person lyrics of "Down..." fit with Disc 1's mostly relational theme, but, for now, I'm sticking by relegated-for-quality-rather-than-thematic rationale.

In other news, the break at 2:06 of "Bodysnatchers" is brilliant, brilliant, brilliant.

Fair enough, though I don't think that being direct and patently obvious is necessarily an issue. And the lyrics to "2+2=5" don't strike me as particularly clever either.

As one of many masters of the obvious here at ILM, I'd like to point out that differing points of view can co-exist and be equally right: I don't think that being direct and patently obvious is necessarily an issue.

No. It's not. For you. But as you may glean from my posts above: it is, for me. I'm not atop a soapbox here. Not proselytizing.

You : "2+2=5" :: Me : "Down Is The New Up"

I get it. And I'm OK with it.

Yup, it's all good.

Anyone else having a bitch of a time getting the vinyl in and out of the discbox?

yep. not a big fan of those little round cardboard things the center holes of the CDs are supposed to fit around either

Yes on both accounts. The foam buttons the cds click onto are a pain in the ass.

I received mine in the mail today. It fits in my record shelves - without the outer sleeve. So now the sleeve is laying on top of some old jeans in my closet.

agh i'm still waiting for this. i'm a bit upset, i kind of assumed the vinyl would be the bonus disk too.

Well, at least you can't say Radiohead/w.a.s.t.e. misled you,

DISCBOX

THIS CONSISTS OF THE NEW ALBUM, IN RAINBOWS, ON CD
AND ON 2 X 12 INCH HEAVYWEIGHT VINYL RECORDS.

A SECOND, ENHANCED CD CONTAINS MORE NEW SONGS, ALONG WITH DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHS AND ARTWORK.

THE DISCBOX ALSO INCLUDES ARTWORK AND LYRIC BOOKLETS.
ALL ARE ENCASED IN A HARDBACK BOOK AND SLIPCASE.

Huge praise from Alex Ross in Salon today:
http://www.salon.com/books/awards/2007/12/13/book_week_picks/

But my record of the year came from outside the classical field. Radiohead are filed under rock, but to me they are collectively one of the most interesting composers in contemporary music. The secret weapon on "In Rainbows" is Phil Selway, drumming intricate, tricky, spiky patterns under the surface of what seems to be a lush, almost romantic album. Was there some story about the price? I forget: "Videotape" puts me in another world.

nice review:

http://soundsect.com/review/154.html

Pitchfork reviews disc 2:
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/47597-in-rainbows-cd-2

Where's my discbox? Come on w.a.s.t.e. - by boat, really? Knowing that the retail version would be nearly out before I finally received my discbox might've factored into my decision to buy this thing.

I've ordered shoes off the net since i had the email saying my Discbox had left, which have arrived, and still no sign of my Discbox.

Kind of annoyed about the fact that tickets to their concerts aren't being sent out now too. In the confirmation email it says they won't be sent out till 2 weeks before the concert. I completly missed this, if it was stated on the page where you order them. Why not send them out now? I won't even be at this address two weeks before the concert. Waste of time for everyone involved.

Why not send them out now?

In a word? Scalping.

Oh, right, so they're just delaying the scalping? Great.

You got a better solution? (I'm not being snarky, actually.)