h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Just out of interest Cogito, what do you think of Kid A? Pretentious tripe or actually good? Or something else entirely?

I actually liked parts of it (as well as Amnesiac), but I've always been into pretentious electronic noodlings, so I don't think it's self-important prattle (especially since I think popular rock and roll is pretty much dead, so it's a bleak future being a conventional rock band. Sure, you could live on the sidelines as an indie/punk/hardcore band, but they are too big for that). I think it was a brave goal to completely change their sound instead of continuing the usual route expected of them. The only downside is that listening to both albums in a row really left me rather depressed, since Thom Yorke always sounds like he's this close to suicide. It's beautiful, but it's a cold and sad beauty, like a flower encased in ice.

I actually really liked Kid A, because for some reason I found their previous material a bit run-of-the-mill - don't get me wrong, it was good, but not very INTERESTING. I do think that Kid A is superior to Amnesiac, though Amnesiac does have a lot of good songs... I think Kid A works better as a whole, and I absolutely love the first four tracks.

Yeah, nothing bores me more than conventional rock and roll. Yes, it was exciting once, but that was a long time ago, and they've been beating the formula to death ever since.

Random quote from an interview I ran across:

Thom Yorke: Kid A and Amnesiac were not that much of an experiment. Really, they weren't. I mean it's not f---ing rocket science. It's not. Compared to the music we listen to, it's pretty f---ing mild.

Jonny Greenwood: It's all repetition again, and chords. I think if we wanted it to be obscure we could do a much better job of it, but that's never a reason to make music.

It's true. It's more pop than some of the stuff I listen to. It just looks so experimental compared to most of the crap that goes by the name of pop these days.

It's true. After all the reports I read of Kid A before hearing it, I would've thought it consisted of the sound of someone hitting a Spaniard with a ferret, or something. I mean, sure, it might've been a diversion from guitars on a few tracks but it isn't THAT experimental. It's just good. Anyway, the hype did them some favours, so I suppose it worked out well for the band.

If I may interject (hello Jake--hello Mr. T.), I want to add a little bit to this. I really like everything Radiohead has done from The Bends on. Even on The Bends, I think you could sense the band getting impatient with rawk (see "Bulletproof"), and OK Computer, obviously, continued that trend. That said, I didn't even find Kid A to be that much of a departure for them. I thought it was great, but also pretty well prepared for (see "Fitter Happier," "Climbing Up the Walls," "Exit Music," "Melotonin"). Radiohead strikes me as a band that is easily bored, and they just want to try new things. I can imagine Kid A being an incredible shock to people who otherwise listen to the Bizkit and Aerosmith, and who thought, irrationally, that OK Computer was the pinnacle of something rather than a logical progression out of rock. But I just didn't find it that way. I didn't even find it cold and alienating. I think I would have found it pretentious if it wasn't so emotionally moving. In fact, I liked Kid A so much that I have postponed buying Amnesiac mostly because I'm afraid of being let down.

So--the real reason I've butted in on this: given how very much I like Kid A, should I buy Amnesiac? Or should I just wait until the next one?

I really love Kid A and looked forward to Amnesiac to being more of the same - as it's from the same sessions.

I'd say yes, do buy it, it IS a good album - but it's not "Kid B", in my opinion. Sure there are similiarities in that it uses electronics and jazz elements regularly (excellent) but that doesn't mean it feels the same.

Buy it with an open mind and just see what happens - there are some stonking tracks on it (though some sound better live, in my opinion).

Gadzooks, an interjection! Well, I think we're all a bit agreed here that while it is a bit of a new sound (no guitar solos, etc.), it's not a radical departure like some would have you believe (there's still somewhat conventional song structures, etc.) I'm glad they want to try new things, since I imagine it would be a bit dull to have the same sound for 20 years, but some bands don't seem to mind. I guess I'd call it the David Bowie effect: when you've hit on something big, go in a completely different direction, since it's not really easy to consistently stay at that pinnacle of critical acclaim. So, everybody like Ziggy Stardust, and he killed it. They liked Aladdin Sane, and he killed it. And so on and so on. Of course, when it doesn't work, you can do the same thing as well, which is why even Bowie doesn't know who he is anymore.

But I'm digressing. I don't really find Kid A pretentious and experimental, and it definitely can be moving. Amnesiac is more of the same, but with some differences. It seems a bit more mellow and even somewhat more optimistic, as if Kid A is a descent into depression and isolation, and Amnesiac is waking up the next day. There's still some sadness, but also hope and even defiance (you and whose army?). I think you'd like it.

Have you heard anything by Tortoise, Cogito? If so, what did you think?

I've heard a little, and it was fine. Of course, I'm not a real expert in this area, since I'm often listening to obscure electronic groups that sound like items in the Ikea catalog (Fibla, Autechre, Plaid, Pole, etc). So I've not really been that cognizant of some other artists scoping out this area (although I can recognize the influence on Radiohead from Autechre, Aphex Twin, Orbital, and even the Magnetic Fields). And there is the whole Jazz angle in there (Miles Davis and all). This is not to diminish what Radiohead has done, just to note that no artist exists in a vacuum, and it's interesting to see how they all influence each other.

Jake,

You hear The Magnetic Fields in Kid A? How do you mean? I'm not challenging your ear, I'm just curious.

And though I'm sure we all more or less agree on this, I think musicians should always take it as a compliment when fans can tell what they've been listening to. It's my humble opinion that if you come across something that sounds like nothing you've ever ever heard before, all that means is that you haven't listened to enough stuff yet (and it's always true, at least in my case, that I haven't listened to enough stuff). Musicians always do--and should--borrow ideas from one another. It's what makes music interesting, and it foils the record industry's attempts to put everything in neat little categories and keep white folks and non-white folks in different parts of the record store.

Hello,

Yes, I actually do hear a little bit of Magnetic Fields in some of the kookiness there. And there was an interview (on the BBC, so don't moderate it!) http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/world/radiotext.shtml where Jonny actually says (explaining a bunch of CD influences for Kid A):

"That was 'Travelogue', by SMD. You've also brought in a cd by Magnetic Fields.
"Yes. One of my problems over the past year has been the paucity of lyrical content in contemporary music. I'm a bit embarrassed because when I met Stephin Merritt after his show I'd just got off a plane from Tokyo, I was really jetlagged and had had 3 pints of lager, so I was totally inarticulate, but his words are wonderful. They're dry, they're witty, they're sad - it sounds crass but Cole Porter meets Ian Curtis - it's that wonderful maudlin humour - my favourite is 'Mama was a rodeo, Papa was a rock n roll band and love was a trucker's hand'…[sic]"

So, I'm not completely bonkers!

Yours,
Jake

That's a great interview. Those boys listen to *everything*.

Yeah, and everybody is listening to everybody else. It makes for some dizzying choices at Other Music (so many choices), but it's great to see how these sounds are whizzing around the globe.

Dr. Funk,

So did you wind up purchasing "Amnesiac" in the end? If so, what do you think?

Yours,
Jake

Haven't bought it yet, but plan to. I listened to some 30-second clips of a couple of the tracks--an "Everything in Its Right Place"-esque number and a great-sounding Thom plus New Orleans band thing that sold me. It's on the list. Along with some salsa and gamelan CDs once I figure out what I want. Got a lot of musical pokers in the fire these days.

The latest issue of the New Yorker features interviews/profiles of Radiohead and PJ Harvey (among other bands), as well as bluegrass artist Ralph Stanley. You might find it interesting, although I am surprised they could not find one electronic act to talk to.