Review for www.nomoreworkhorse.com
Showing posts with label Thom Yorke. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thom Yorke. Show all posts
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Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Album Review: Radiohead – The King of Limbs
Positively the last review of Radiohead’s latest most of you will have to endure. I decided not to join the deluge of reviews which were published in the aftermath of its release in the hope that I’d come up with a more considered opinion.
Shouldn’t have bothered waiting. I’m still none the wiser a month or so later. Admittedly I have found the album a little bit of a chore to listen to. The first 5 tracks are not the most inviting, composed mainly of beats and Thom Yorke’s voice (which I’m not a fan of) floating in and out of occasional guitars, keyboards etc.
Bloom starts like standard-issue, modern day Radiohead, all skittering beats and nonchalant vocals. Occasionally we get some almost Eno-like keyboards rising from the maelstrom. Morning Mr Magpie is very similar tempo and feel wise. Yorke sounds anything but content on this one, though what’s interesting about it is repeated listening reveals the layers of instrumentation underneath, it’s quite complex.
The tempo drops a notch or too as the sonic atmosphere clouds over for Little By Little, which if anything, is the most traditional Radiohead track here, whatever that means in 2011. After the almost random bunch of noises which make up Feral, Lotus Flower is in a similar vein to Little By Little, though possibly a little more groove-orientated.
The heart of the album follows in the shape of the final 3 tracks, which are far more enjoyable to listen to than anything which has gone before. Codex is arrestingly sparse, certainly in the context of that has preceded it. It’s mainly keyboards, with no percussion, giving Thom Yorke’s voice a welcome chance to breathe. It’s a wonderfully simple-sounding spooky melody, further enhanced by some brass which works brilliantly, ending with birds chirping.
It’s followed up by the acoustic guitar strum Give Up The Ghost, which again frames Yorke’s voice superbly over guitar and bongos, before Separator floats on by on a bed of keyboards, twinkling guitar and gentle beats to conclude the album.
It’s no In Rainbows, and for that I commend them. It’s a more difficult beast which may well become a classic by the end of the year, if only for the last 3 tracks.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Album Review: Radiohead - Amnesiac
Have recently been listening to Amnesiac by Radiohead. Derided as Kid B when it came out, I never got around to listening to it until very recently. Kid A was an album which I struggled with at first but has grown on me enormously to the point of near obsession. The first few bars of Everything In Its Right Place take me into a wonderful, airlocked space.
I'm not a huge fan of Radiohead, Thom Yorke's voice grates after a while and also they are completely overrated, belonging to the canon of bands who seem to defy criticism (Velvet Underground, Smiths, Pixies, Stone Roses, Nirvana etc). This album is possibly more accessible than Kid A. The opening track, Packt Like Sardines in a Crushed Tin Box, is a thoroughly original piece of music, driven by a wonderful bassline and a great chorus of 'I'm a reasonable man, get off my case'.
This momentum is spoiled a little by the next track, the funereal 'Pyramid Song'. Not a bad song in itself, but the plodding pace of it jars after Packt. And the less said about the next track, Pull/Pulk Revolving Doors, the better. It's kind of a drum 'n' bass experiment with some warped vocals thrown in, minus any melody worth speaking about. You and Whose Army comes as a welcome relief, which starts with Yorke singing over some sparse electric guitar, before the rest of the instruments come in and build to a great little climax. I Might Be Wrong grooves along nicely, leading into Knives Out, the most 'normal Radiohead' sounding track on the album. It's a great tune, all long drawn-out syllables and jangly guitars.
Morning Bell is reprised from Kid A, but with a totally different arrangement. The serene Kid A arrangement is replaced by an almost child-like arrangement. It sounds a little throw-away until you realise that you can hear the lyrics even more clearly as Yorke's voice is right out front, giving more emphasis to lines like 'cut the kids in half'.
It's followed by Dollars and Cents which to my ears is less interesting and a bit more old-school Radiohead. Hunting Bears is a nice instrumental led by electric guitar which builds a nice healthy bit of tension before the warped sounding Like Spinning Plates, where it sounds like the keyboard line was played backwards.
Life in A Glasshouse is the closing track and it sounds like an old jazz band after taking a load of downers. Yorke sounds almost too bleak on this one before becoming somewhat dismissive at the end ('of course I'd like to sit around and chat'). It's an unsettling way to end the album. Nevertheless the album rewards repeat listening. It's less of a cohesive listen than Kid A, but probably contains more impressive individual songs.
I'm not a huge fan of Radiohead, Thom Yorke's voice grates after a while and also they are completely overrated, belonging to the canon of bands who seem to defy criticism (Velvet Underground, Smiths, Pixies, Stone Roses, Nirvana etc). This album is possibly more accessible than Kid A. The opening track, Packt Like Sardines in a Crushed Tin Box, is a thoroughly original piece of music, driven by a wonderful bassline and a great chorus of 'I'm a reasonable man, get off my case'.
This momentum is spoiled a little by the next track, the funereal 'Pyramid Song'. Not a bad song in itself, but the plodding pace of it jars after Packt. And the less said about the next track, Pull/Pulk Revolving Doors, the better. It's kind of a drum 'n' bass experiment with some warped vocals thrown in, minus any melody worth speaking about. You and Whose Army comes as a welcome relief, which starts with Yorke singing over some sparse electric guitar, before the rest of the instruments come in and build to a great little climax. I Might Be Wrong grooves along nicely, leading into Knives Out, the most 'normal Radiohead' sounding track on the album. It's a great tune, all long drawn-out syllables and jangly guitars.
Morning Bell is reprised from Kid A, but with a totally different arrangement. The serene Kid A arrangement is replaced by an almost child-like arrangement. It sounds a little throw-away until you realise that you can hear the lyrics even more clearly as Yorke's voice is right out front, giving more emphasis to lines like 'cut the kids in half'.
It's followed by Dollars and Cents which to my ears is less interesting and a bit more old-school Radiohead. Hunting Bears is a nice instrumental led by electric guitar which builds a nice healthy bit of tension before the warped sounding Like Spinning Plates, where it sounds like the keyboard line was played backwards.
Life in A Glasshouse is the closing track and it sounds like an old jazz band after taking a load of downers. Yorke sounds almost too bleak on this one before becoming somewhat dismissive at the end ('of course I'd like to sit around and chat'). It's an unsettling way to end the album. Nevertheless the album rewards repeat listening. It's less of a cohesive listen than Kid A, but probably contains more impressive individual songs.
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