Aja on 1/10/2007 at 22:45

---

For anyone else, yes. But this is Radiohead, man! The Beatles of my generation!

Aja on 9/10/2007 at 23:51

---

:( I wonder if the bitrate depends on the amount you pledge...

Fingernail on 10/10/2007 at 08:23

---

Well, I've listened all the way through once so far, and a few of the tracks stand out as being instantly special - I'd say at this early stage, Nude, Faust Arp (lol Eleanor Rigby), Reckoner, Jigsaw and Videotape are the standouts. Radiohead tracks have a habit of growing on me, though, so I'm not writing off the others at all.

It certainly is quite a minimal sound - not too much "techno" going on really (the exception being 15 step mostly), quite a lot of guitar although it never really sounds overloaded like the old stuff. But it sounds like a band just playing together most of the time, which is a good thing I think. But it's quite a beautiful record in places, too.

Probably also good is that although most are over 4 minutes, I didn't find any of them outstaying their welcome.

So far I'm liking it more overall than Hail to the Thief, but that was 4 tracks longer, and for me too up-and-down in terms of quality - I do like some of it but some could have just been lost. And that also had a sort of excessive aspect (two titles for everything!) which this notably lacks - just ten tracks, simple arrangements, often simple sounds (not too much Johnny effects wankage). Sometimes a sort of garage feel.

I just wish they'd packaged a cover image in the zip to put on media player, but ah well. The bitrate seems adequate to me. As usual for a Radiohead record or most modern releases, it's been mastered too loud but what the fuck, it's still music.

Fingernail on 10/10/2007 at 08:55

---

I know, I sort of crave huge sweeping orchestrations on Videotape. It's almost too far the other way. The line where he just goes "etcetera etcetera" in 15 step made me sort of chuckle with irony.

There's a definite difference to how he writes songs now from "before". You can tell it with Nude in some ways, an older song. I feel that in the past, he was coming up with good melodies first. Now it seems he strings a vocal melody over a general sort of ostinato or groove or whatever.

Think of the beautiful shape of the melody of something old like Fake Plastic Trees - the accompaniment is now almost of the focus of Radiohead's music.

There also used to be more general harmonic structure - the songs would move from key to key in many cases (as many songs do - to give a chorus emphasis or what have you), now it tends to be more static. I sort of prefer more movement. That's one of the great things about Bowie's music (particularly the early 70s stuff) - he'll just whack everything up a step for the chorus, or have a huge change suddenly and it's really dramatic. Not many people do that.

Anyway, ramble. I have it on in the background and I really like this album. It's pretty.

EDIT: although you know what, if it weren't for Yorke's voice and a couple of the chord sequences, it'd wouldn't be very identifiably "Radiohead".

Aja on 10/10/2007 at 17:14

---

In Rainbows is fantastic.

I only listened to it once, but it immediately struck me as something special. I'd even go so far as to say it's their best album, certainly their most experimental, and it's definitely unlike any of their previous work.

I wouldn't agree with Pitchfork that Radiohead has nestled into a sound for themselves, not now, anyway. OK Computer is a cynical (prog)-rock album, Kid A is ethereal and abstract, and Hail to the Thief is oppressively electronic .

In Rainbows is beautiful, minimal, dense.

Most Radiohead albums have been growers for me, and I know that I'll come to appreciate In Rainbows even more over time. But when an album initially impresses me like this, that's a safe bet on regular and continued rotation.