Sunday 23 May 2010

Amnesiac - Radiohead



During the recording stage of Kid A, Radiohead produced well over 30 songs and rather than releasing a double album, which none of the band members were in favour of, they released their fifth studio album just sixth months after the release of their fourth.

Amnesiac is therefore very much a continuation of what the band did on Kid A; the album is for the most part dominated by electronically produced music and ambient sounds, as Kid A was. Jazz influences are also evident, most obviously in the album closer Life in a Glass House which Thom Yorke (on piano) recorded with British trumpeter Humphrey Lyttelton, along with a clarinet and trombone, producing a funereal, New Orleans jazz-style number.

As with Kid A the band continued to experiment with the way they made their music and what they used to do so. Songs such as Packt like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box and Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors are made up of different electronic textures and sounds and Yorke’s lyrics are cryptic and mysterious. Challenging songs have become a facet of a Radiohead album and Amnesiac is no exception, however there are more radio friendly tracks.

I Might Be Wrong despite its electronic feel revolves around a jazzy guitar riff written by Jonny Greenwood and is one of, if not the most impressive tracks on the album. Knives Out is also a more guitar dominated track, sharing a similar chord progression to arguably the band’s most well-known song, Paranoid Android.

Despite these brief glimpses back to the band’s old style, there can be no doubt that both Amnesiac and Kid A are more about experimenting and trying new things. Songs such as Dollars & Cents, which are dominated by a string arrangement written by Greenwood and a simple bass melody and little else, would never have been found on their 90s LPs. The same can be said of the ominous, bluesy guitar instrumental Hunting Bears which follows. The epitome of Radiohead’s invention though, comes with the penultimate track Like Spinning Plates, a song which is built up over a reversed electronic version of an unreleased track, and also sees one of Yorke’s most hypnotic vocal performances.

Amnesiac is a hard album to sum up. While not as musically accomplished as Kid A, in each track there is something to treasure, whether it be the wailing ondes martenot on Pyramid Song or the Release Me refrain of the new version of the Kid A track, Morning Bell. It is clear that both albums were part of the same project and it seems that the material on Kid A is the best of what was produced from this period – the stuff they had to produce to follow up OK Computer, while the material on Amnesiac is rawer, more organic– the stuff that they simply, produced.

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Monday 3 May 2010

KID A - RADIOHEAD

As a band Radiohead have always pushed the perceived alternative rock boundaries when making their music, whether it be the opening atmospheric sounds on Planet Telex or the changes in time signature and key throughout Paranoid Android, however after listening to their fourth studio album Kid A it is clear that this is what should be earmarked as their transitional album.



The album sees the band abandon their three guitar set-up in favour of keyboards, strings and brass and even an ondes martenot, and drums replaced by drum beats produced on digital tools like Cubase. The lyrical style has also changed with Yorke now adopting Tristan Tzara’s technique for writing Dada poetry where he cut up phrases and drew them from a hat; a technique most evident on the songs Idioteque and In Limbo.

Understandably the band’s influences for this album changed dramatically from their previous works, with the band exploring underground styles such as Krautrock in songs like Treefingers and Kid A. Despite the band’s increasingly wide spectra of styles, there are still some guitar dominated tracks such as How To Disappear Completely which focuses on the pressures of touring with the refrain I’m not here/ This isn’t happening and the most radio-friendly track on the album, Optimistic.

Kid A does take some getting used to. The band have left behind key elements which were so prominent in their other albums and I don’t believe there are many bands who could make a record worth any comment after doing that, however Radiohead have managed to succeed spectacularly. Everything In Its Right Place, the opening track on the album, with its ascending chord sequence alongside a steady, synthetic bass drum, is one of the band’s most astounding songs to date and immediately shows the band’s seamless shift from guitars to synths. Other highlights include The National Anthem with its addictive, repetitive bass line written by Yorke when he was sixteen and the all-too-short climax of Morning Bell.

Kid A shows Radiohead at the peak of their powers. No matter what style they choose it seems they are always able to produce special music. They defy genre, a fact which other bands need to realise isn’t a bad thing, and Kid A is the last of a trio of albums which should rightfully cement Radiohead as one of the most influential and important bands of all time.

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After finishing the album the band drew up a unique marketing campaign. The album was advertised primarily over the internet with short films called 'blips' being put to the bands music and distributed freely online. Most of the 'blips' were animated inspired by Stanley Donwood's album artwork portraying nature reclaiming civilization from uncontrollable biotechnology and consumerism. A video for the amazing Motion Picture Soundtrack was released composed entirely of 'blips' and can be viewed below...