Thoughts onRadiohead: In Rainbows

Talent is a fickle, unpredictable, even reckless phenomenon. It defies expectations and is notoriously unreliable. It's no wonder, then, that the MBAs and liquor executives running the music industry want nothing to do with it. Their existing business model, one of extending what are basically bad bank loans to trust fund kids schooled in formulaic songwriting and anemic production, has had an unwittingly bad effect on their bottom line and an even worse effect on the state of popular music.

Enter Oxford's Radiohead, a band let loose in the halls of the music industry like a greased pig in a frat house. Ever since resisting coronation as the "New U2" in the wake of OK Computer, Radiohead have been causing industry hacks stress and worry: one anecdote goes that upon hearing "Kid A", Capitol immediately canceled the Christmas bonuses of their employees. It's only fitting that Thom Yorke and co. would be the ones to put the knife in the back of an industry only (15) steps away from being completely morally, creatively, and financially bankrupt: The band's novel strategy of treating album distribution like a roadside fruit stand has turned popular music on its head.

All of which would be meaningless, of course, if the album weren't brilliant. Not to worry: it is. Sonically speaking, the band has moved into uncharted territory. While last album "Hail to the Thief" undeniably had its moments, it was hard not to see it as Radiohead losing a step. Trapped between the big guitar drama of "OK Computer" and the electronic excursions of "Kid A", it was unfocused and over-long. The wide shots of a band known for its cinematic sound started to feel cliche and predictable.

Thank God, then, for the tight shots and close-ups of "In Rainbows". Whereas once Thom used to sound like he was singing to you from the other side of an indoor pool, now it's as if he's seated right across the table from you. The drums sound like drum machines; the guitars are immediate and decidedly indulgence-free. Radiohead have gone and made an album that's more futuristic R&B than Sturm und Drang, more Timbaland than Buckley.

"Weird Fishes/Arpeggi", the album's central track, floats along on a bed of hypnotic guitars and crisp drums. Eschewing the sparkling guitar outro of recent live versions, the band take a sharp detour, stripping the song down to drums, some disorienting sound effects, and an incredibly ominous bassline by Colin Greenwood that disturbs and enthralls at the same time.

Similarly surprising is "Reckoner", which surely bears no resemblance to the other Radiohead song of that name and lifts the drum beat from DJ Shadow/Unkle's "Unreal" to form a blissed-out ballad replete with soulful guitar. And you know you're in for a treat when "15 Step"'s burst of handclaps and children's voices starts the record, like "Backdrifts" with a sense of humor, or when "All I Need" more closely resembles the remix of Method Man/Mary J Blige's "You're All I Need to Get By" than The Beatles' "All You Need is Love".

One of the most interesting developments on "Kid A" and "Amnesiac" was the way in which the band learned to be so economical in their use of instruments: every piece of the arrangement played a distinct role. One example of this is "Like Spinning Plates", the sparse cymbal hits of which stand as one of Phil Selway's most evocative performances. The band got away from this on "HTTT" (see: laserbeams) and the record suffered as a result. "In Rainbows" benefits from an overall more minimalist approach: it's difficult to imagine Chris Martin having the courage to write something so deceptively simple as "Jigsaw Falling into Place" or "House of Cards".

The fallout from this record should be as interesting as the record itself. Has it truly revolutionized the recording industry, or just created a new promotional tool? Will said industry learn from this experiment, or attempt to kill the messenger? (witness the recent swiftboating of the band by MTV for giving away MP3s of a higher bitrate than almost all of the music found on iTunes). No matter what the result, with a record like this to show for their efforts, Radiohead, a fickle, unpredictable, even reckless group, have almost singlehandedly made popular music interesting again. "It's the 21st Century," Thom sings on "Bodysnatchers". And now that century has its first great album.

Verdict: 10 out of 10

Listen to "Bodysnatchers":

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Buy the Record/Band Website]

Early Verdict: They Still Got It

Listen to "Bodysnatchers":

[Download the MP3 Here]

Listen to "Jigsaw Falling Into Place":

[Download the MP3 Here]

[Band Website/Order the Record]
[Band Wiki]

Discuss your impressions in comments...

***UPDATE #1***: As much as I love the NME, their early review of the record is cringe worthy:

'Bodysnatchers'
"...the song features a driving rhythm and gnarly blues guitar."

'Nude'
"It's a slow, ethereal song underpinned by Phil Selway's trademark patter and tish drumming..."

'All I Need'
"...it's a semi-love song."

'House Of Cards'
"The guitar picking is almost jolly."

'Jigsaw Falling Into Place'"A Spanish-style guitar intro gives way to a driving acoustic guitar loop and ratatat drums..."

'Videotape'
"Juddery drums and swirly effects kick in later in the song..."

[Read the whole preview]

Musicsnatchers?

Since it's futile to resist the Radiohead juggernaut this week, from this post on it'll be all Radiohead, all the time. Look for a review of the record once I've had time to digest it. Here's an article from The Guardian:

Within two hours of the announcement, three of my friends have left me messages - real voicemails, not even texts. Within a few hours, it's being reported on news sites and the news. The following day I hear two people on the tube talking about it. One looks like a student, the other a banker and they're calculating how many people will pay too little and how many will pay too much, and whether Radiohead are on to a huge profit thing.

The following day I read about the site crashing under the e-stampede. On the same day a friend tells me about a friend of his who went to the site and clicked through the ordering process and then got annoyed when he couldn't pay by paypal - so in a grump, he paid 1p. Which got me so annoyed that I went on the same site and paid a tenner.

Discussion, judgment, conjecture and passion that will no doubt sell downloads by the bucket-load - this is what all marketeers would special offer their soul to have. The twist is that Radiohead aren't marketeers. Although Maslow's Needs, Brand Onion and TGI Run all sound like brilliant Radiohead song titles, I seriously doubt the band has ever heard of the first, looked at the second or come close to commissioning the third. No, Radiohead just do what they do and it works. Maybe brands could do it too if they followed some basic Radiohead rules of unmarketing:

1. Make it great.

It's time to 'fess up here. Prince doesn't work for me because I just don't feel the funk and, in my humble emo opinion, Radiohead are just about the best band on this little planet. Although caricatured as depressive shoe-gazers on downers, they are in fact musical, melodic and experimental with an immaculate grip on ear-bleed rock, twitchy dance and delicate ballad all at once. If something's truly great - a shoe, a phone, a band - then marketing it, or unmarketing it, becomes a whole lot easier.

2. Believe in it.

Passion creates passion, belief creates belief and Radiohead absolutely believe in what they're doing. You can hear it in Thom Yorke's voice. You can see it in the way he loses himself on stage, dancing like a muscle hard-wired to the music. He believes that in this world of social, political and technological uncertainty there is some salvation in song - or something like that. Steve Ballmer believes in Microsoft so much that he jumps around whooping and sweating at conferences. Ingvar Kamprad believes in affordable design to such an extent that he still walks around Ikea stores checking that all the price tags are clearly displayed. Bands or brands that lose perspective create fans that lose it too.

3. Don't explain it.

If you asked a hundred Radiohead fans to explain the appeal of Radiohead, they would all explain it differently. Some might warble on about the band's preoccupations like I did just now; some might stick to the music; some might single out their integrity; or their lack of a record label; some might focus on their unpolished looks. A clever planner I used to work with would talk about brands as having DNA, different strands of which appeal to different people. I think this is right and if so, the reduction of a band/brand into a simple articulate proposition - which marketing is addicted to - isn't helpful. Say less to mean more. As guitarist Jonny Greenwood says on the Radiohead site. "Hello everyone. Well the new album is finished, and it's coming out in 10 days. We've called it In Rainbows. Love from us all. Jonny." Enough said.

4. One good eye.

I'm sure you know that Thom Yorke has a paralysed eye. It's a physical oddity but more than that, it's a perfect analogy. Where many brands (and a lot of bands) look to their product and to their audience, look to create and look to please, Radiohead don't look to please. They simply make music they want to make; try ideas like the pay-as-much-as-you-like download because they want to try them. It's a kind of an artistic approach that repects fans rather than seeks to ingratiate them. And of course, it's an approach their fans love.

[Read the whole article]

Listen to "Videotape" (Live):

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Band Website]
[Band Wiki]

Woah

This from Dead Air Space:

Hello everyone.

Well, the new album is finished, and it's coming out in 10 days;

We've called it In Rainbows.

Love from us all.
Jonny

The album is going to be available for digital download, and it's ON THE HONOR SYSTEM!!! Pay what you want...no, really. Post how much you paid in comments...

[Radiohead.com]

***Update*** Here's the tracklisting (I believe "Open Pick" is now "Jigsaw Falling into Place":

CD 1 AND VINYL:
15 STEP
BODYSNATCHERS
NUDE
WEIRD FISHES/ARPEGGI
ALL I NEED
FAUST ARP
RECKONER
HOUSE OF CARDS
JIGSAW FALLING INTO PLACE
VIDEOTAPE

CD 2 AND VINYL:
MK 1
DOWN IS THE NEW UP
GO SLOWLY
MK 2
LAST FLOWERS
UP ON THE LADDER
BANGERS AND MASH
4 MINUTE WARNING

DOWNLOAD:
15 STEP
BODYSNATCHERS
NUDE
WEIRD FISHES/ARPEGGI
ALL I NEED
FAUST ARP
RECKONER
HOUSE OF CARDS
JIGSAW FALLING INTO PLACE
VIDEOTAPE

Listen to "Bodysnatchers" Live:

[Download the MP3 Here]

***Update #2*** Have Radiohead consciously or unconsciously killed the record industry? Time seems to think so:

Radiohead's contract with EMI/Capitol expired after its last record, Hail to the Thief, was released in 2003; shortly before the band started writing new songs, singer Thom Yorke told TIME, "I like the people at our record company, but the time is at hand when you have to ask why anyone needs one. And, yes, it probably would give us some perverse pleasure to say 'F___ you' to this decaying business model." On Sunday night, guitarist Jonny Greenwood took to Radiohead's Dead Air Space blog and nonchalantly announced, "Hello everyone. Well, the new album is finished, and it's coming out in 10 days. We've called it In Rainbows. Love from us all."

While many industry observers speculated that Radiohead might go off-label for its seventh album, it was presumed the band would at least rely on Apple's iTunes or United Kingdom-based online music store 7digital for distribution. Few suspected the band members had the ambition (or the server capacity) to put an album out on their own. The final decision was apparently made just a few weeks ago, and, when informed of the news on Sunday, several record executives admitted that, despite the rumors, they were stunned. "This feels like yet another death knell," emailed an A&R executive at a major European label. "If the best band in the world doesn't want a part of us, I'm not sure what's left for this business."

[Read the whole article]

Up On The Ladder?

AtEase reports on the latest goings on in Radiohead world, including the possible return of "Up On The Ladder":

The latest post on Dead Air Space features a photo of Thom Yorke in front of a microphone… with the lyric ‘im stuck in the tardis’… Yes indeed… the first line of ‘Up On The Ladder‘. Even the photo’s file name is “upontheladder.jpg“. So, may we state here that the track is back on the map and actually one of those tracks that have been mastered recently for LP7?

It’s quite a surprise to see ‘Up on the ladder’ as a contender for Radiohead’s new album, as we haven’t heard anything about it since it was dropped for Radiohead’s 2003 album ‘Hail to the Thief’. The band were already working on the track during their Kid A sessions in 2000 and was performed live on their Iberian tour in 2002 and one of the few songs that didn’t make it to LP6. Good to see that ‘Up on the ladder’ isn’t dead and buried after all.

And we might have a release date:

The latest image on Radiohead’s Hodiau Direkton has been encoded as ‘MARCH WA X’. This whole Worm Buffet icon coding has been taken up a notch. ‘MARCH’ can be interpreted as the month of the release of Radiohead’s new album. Then the X could be a 10. March 10th?

[AtEase]

Listen to "Up the Ladder" (Live in Salamanca):

[Download the MP3 Here]
[Band Website]
[LP7 Wiki]