Radiohead - In Rainbows

"OLD...MAN...RAGGETT..."

http://www.marcnorton.us/media/DIR_73405/73516.jpg

Part four is up.

ditto cosmo vitelli, kid a is such vivid music

Listening again to it today made me realize how wrong a lot of people have been about that album, including myself. I had remembered it as this restrained calm, rather foolishly.

Kid A was the first album that I remember mp3s wrongly informing perceptions of the whole. A random track like "Treefingers" could be your first (and only) foray into Radiohead's new music. I remember reading from people in forums at the time, who came for Karma Police redux and thought they were swindled into Music For Airports instead.

As for the chatter about Amnesiac being a "return to form" (take that, Kid A!), that notion had been so cemented in Truth by the time the band posted a stream on their website that I was intensely confused on first listen, getting through each track and thinking, "This is pretty cool, but what the fuck?"

I just keep thinking about this album "it won't be as good as Kid A"

If you go in with that expectation then it won't be!

Listening again to it today made me realize how wrong a lot of people have been about that album, including myself. I had remembered it as this restrained calm, rather foolishly.

The misperception that has always bugged me the most is the idea that Kid A was nothing but an Autechre/AFX/Squarepusher/Warp Records ripoff. I always asked for specific examples of which Radiohead song sounded like which Autechre song, but strangely, I never got a good response.

I enjoyed your article, Ned, and the last 3 as well.

I just keep thinking about this album "it won't be as good as Kid A"

They've defied my expectations before, and it's been 4 years since HTTT. I really have no idea what this one will sound like. It just as easily could be a retread as it could be relevant. They're smart enough, so I'm hopful.

What does beer have to do with this? o_O

I think it's good that they've been out of the limelight for a while. Doing it this way means that there'll be less "WTF, it's not as good as the last one" or any silyl expectation. I'm going to treat In Rainbows very much as a new leaf in the Radiohead book, a fourth chapter if you will.

I still keep meaning to assemble a single mix CD from parts of Kid A and Amnesiac...and call it 'Kid Amnesiac'.

I still keep meaning to assemble a single mix CD from parts of Kid A and Amnesiac...and call it 'Kid Amnesiac'.

-- Edward Bax

You'll need "Worrywort" and "Kinetic," surely. . .

I paid about $6 for the download. [pound symbol]2.90, to be exact.

I paid $5. I always tend to remember Kid A as "restrained calm" myself. I guess that shows how little I listen to it now.

Part five is up.

And part five-a (since part six is tomorrow).

I always thought the "Here comes the flood" intro to Everything in its Right Place was a reference to R.E.M.'s "E-Bow the Letter", not Peter Gabriel.

"Will you show me something that nobody else has seen?
Smoke it, drink
Here comes the flood
Anything to thin the blood
These corrosives do their magic slowly and sweet"

What makes that interpretation more convincing to me is how close of friends Stipe and Yorke are and the fact that they've toured together.

Yeah, I heard R.E.M. in that song too -- especially after hearing Yorke sing the Patti Smith part at the Tibetan Freedom Concert.

You're actually almost certainly right there, though I wonder if REM didn't borrow the line from Gabriel. I can't say I remember a single thing about "E-Bow the Letter" at this point beyond the title. (On the 2001 Hollywood Bowl bootleg I have he sings part of the Beatles' "Baby You're a Rich Man Too" by way of introduction so I wonder if/how much it all varied.)

On the 2001 Hollywood Bowl bootleg I have he sings part of the Beatles' "Baby You're a Rich Man Too"

Could you possibly email just that track to me?

Drop me a line with a preferred address...

Did my email reach you?

It did, thanks!

He used to sing all sorts of stuff in front of that song. I used to have some boot where he sang "If you tolerate this, then your children will be next" at the beginning. I'm not sure if he's a Manics fan (for some reason it seems doubtful) or if he just liked the line.

though I wonder if REM didn't borrow the line from Gabriel.
-- Ned Raggett, Monday, 8 October 2007 00:51 (5 hours ago) Link

OTM!

What makes that interpretation more convincing to me is how close of friends Stipe and Yorke are and the fact that they've toured together.

-- Z S, Monday, 8 October 2007 00:20 (11 hours ago) Link

yeah, plus the fact that it's that song in particular...

That song is about the whole period of time that OK Computer was happening. We did the Glastonbury Festival and this thing in Ireland. Something snapped in me. I just said, "That's it. I can't take it anymore." And more than a year later, we were still on the road. I hadn't had time to address things. The lyrics came from something Michael Stipe said to me. I rang him and said, "I cannot cope with this." And he said, "Pull the shutters down and keep saying, 'I'm not here, this is not happening.'"

wow! michael stipe co-wrote HOW TO DISAPPEAR...
that's great! had no idea.

I should, though, point out that the song which these introductions are being added to is not "How to Disappear Completely" but "Everything In Its Right Place." That said that is a v. good anecdote.

So with two days to go, has anyone gotten a reply back from WASTE yet?

You mean order confirmation? Yeah, pretty much immediately after I ordered, last Monday.

Nope not the order confirmation but the activation code for the d/l.

Download customers.

You will receive a further e-mail shortly before the 10th October detailing your username and activation code. The e-mail will also provide the link to the download area.

Oh, that one - I think we'll know the first mails have been sent out by a global slowing down of the internet.

StanM very funnily OTM.

Ned, thanks for the blog countdown. It's kind of funny how reading through a couple entries on what's a pretty gloomy Monday morning here brought me back to the time when a couple of these albums were released.

You're welcome -- I admit I'm quite pleasantly surprised at how well the series has gone down, it was just a random idea I had last Monday that I decided to run with. (And I know that a couple of people are probably sick of the Myspace bulletins by now...)

I should, though, point out that the song which these introductions are being added to is not "How to Disappear Completely" but "Everything In Its Right Place." That said that is a v. good anecdote.

-- Ned Raggett, Monday, 8 October 2007 12:42 (6 hours ago) Link

Will the email notifications be sent at midnight UK time? Or will they be staggered so the damm site wont go down?

Part six. This one was a little exhausting.

Oooh - I already miss this series of articles and it's not even finished yet!

"remember when ned did that great series of posts leading up to in rainbows?"

I remember it like it was just yesterday.

'Countdown to IN RAINBOWS' = Da Capo Best Music Writing nominee?

that would be awes.

I have a pretty major take-home exam coming up that's going to last from Thursday to Sunday. I have no idea how the hell I'm going to be able to focus on it if In Rainbows does come out tomorrow. Fuck. Everything from the big announcement to Ned's countdown (my problem, obv, not Ned's) has gotten me way more hyped up for this than I would have been.

Seriously considering waiting until after the weekend to hear it, and steering clear of any music sites including this one in the meantime. The problem is I don't know if I'm going to be able to do it argh.

What's the exam?

Legal ethics. It shouldn't be a particularly difficult paper but I haven't started studying for it due to a bunch of other commitments.

Oops, that would do it. (I've been there...)

uh huh. lolcollege

;__;

I'm curious if at this point there's any fans that do expect this band to progress in a new direction. I've always seen (as with the majority, I think) that Hail To The Thief was a comfort record; an album made by musicians still bitter and passionate, but with the more modest goal of funneling that passion into a collection of great songs. Sans overriding statement or unexpected left turns. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if In Rainbows turns out similar in that regard. In fact I'd be totally content with that.

I've held off from tracking all the 'new' songs (partially because I missed last year's tour -- about which more tomorrow on the blog), so hard to say on my end, but I'd want to hope for a break/progression similar between OK C and Kid A. Guess we'll find out.