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Davey
01-22-2008, 11:43 AM
Guess that would be a compliment for some bands, but most of you probably get the irony. Kind of like when Dylan got his groove (and audience) back and was playfully tagged the new Springsteen, or whoever else had also worn the "new Dylan" tag and moved beyond it (though I'm not sure Coldplay has aspired to move beyond it, more like a refinement I think).

Just got the CD release of In Rainbows a couple weeks ago (at $8 how can you resist, record companies should really take note, although I'm not one who normally complains about high CD cost since I tend to buy less expensive indie stuff and don't particularly mind the cheapass packaging, and I'm not really thinking of it as something I'll still be spinning 10 years from now - hmm, that's like a whole post-worthy subject just in the parenthesis :)), having not listened to the mp3 download at all except for a couple of the more popular songs that passed by my ears, and after a few listens it does seem kind of underwhelming on the whole. Based on so many best of the year lists and all of the fan hoopla, I guess my expectations were higher than they should have been, but this isn't the Radiohead that made us all such big fans. Pleasant music to be sure, but no sense of adventure until almost the end of the disc. I do like the openers, but nothing really new or exciting, and they still don't seem complete, or even show any real passion for rocking out, especially Bodysnatchers which is just a vamp, almost like a couple incomplete song fragments expanded with some connective guitar riffs. The obligatory rock tracks? Well, I won't go that far, but kind of a big letdown for a new Radiohead album as it moves into Nude (which I know is an old song that has been spiffed up for prime time, but still, doesn't work for me, they really needed an epic here, a "Lucky" to shore up the opening). The shifting dance rhythm on Weird Fishes/Arpeggi is a welcome diversion, especially when it starts building and swirling. I like that, but yikes, sounds just like Coldplay to me. I do love Reckoner, first song on the record I can say that about. Sounds like the real Radiohead is back. And Jigsaw Falling Into Place, followed by the beautiful closer is almost enough to salvage it for me. But man, a bit too little too late, talk about an under-achievement, some of this is just too nice, too bland, especially that crucial middle section of the CD that I think is not very good at all. Have a feeling that I might be in a small minority on this, though. So how's it feel for you a couple months or so down the road? Admittedly, I'm only on about the 4th listen so I'm sure the appreciation will become more with exposure, but are you really satisfied with this? All I Need? Even U2 has better filler than that lately!

:6:

Swish
01-22-2008, 04:01 PM
Guess that would be a compliment for some bands, but most of you probably get the irony. Kind of like when Dylan got his groove (and audience) back and was playfully tagged the new Springsteen, or whoever else had also worn the "new Dylan" tag and moved beyond it (though I'm not sure Coldplay has aspired to move beyond it, more like a refinement I think).

Just got the CD release of In Rainbows a couple weeks ago (at $8 how can you resist, record companies should really take note, although I'm not one who normally complains about high CD cost since I tend to buy less expensive indie stuff and don't particularly mind the cheapass packaging, and I'm not really thinking of it as something I'll still be spinning 10 years from now - hmm, that's like a whole post-worthy subject just in the parenthesis :)), having not listened to the mp3 download at all except for a couple of the more popular songs that passed by my ears, and after a few listens it does seem kind of underwhelming on the whole. Based on so many best of the year lists and all of the fan hoopla, I guess my expectations were higher than they should have been, but this isn't the Radiohead that made us all such big fans. Pleasant music to be sure, but no sense of adventure until almost the end of the disc. I do like the openers, but nothing really new or exciting, and they still don't seem complete, or even show any real passion for rocking out, especially Bodysnatchers which is just a vamp, almost like a couple incomplete song fragments expanded with some connective guitar riffs. The obligatory rock tracks? Well, I won't go that far, but kind of a big letdown for a new Radiohead album as it moves into Nude (which I know is an old song that has been spiffed up for prime time, but still, doesn't work for me, they really needed an epic here, a "Lucky" to shore up the opening). The shifting dance rhythm on Weird Fishes/Arpeggi is a welcome diversion, especially when it starts building and swirling. I like that, but yikes, sounds just like Coldplay to me. I do love Reckoner, first song on the record I can say that about. Sounds like the real Radiohead is back. And Jigsaw Falling Into Place, followed by the beautiful closer is almost enough to salvage it for me. But man, a bit too little too late, talk about an under-achievement, some of this is just too nice, too bland, especially that crucial middle section of the CD that I think is not very good at all. Have a feeling that I might be in a small minority on this, though. So how's it feel for you a couple months or so down the road? Admittedly, I'm only on about the 4th listen so I'm sure the appreciation will become more with exposure, but are you really satisfied with this? All I Need? Even U2 has better filler than that lately!

:6:
...Byrne in the latest edition of Wired, and it was pretty interesting, focusing on the their novel 'name-your-price' digital download. I really didn't understand the motive behind it, and didn't much care, but we could see more of by bands with a similar fan base I suppose.

The gist of it was to bypass the advance copy routine where the first critic to write about it, and who may not be into the band, will write a less-than-enthusiastic review and everyone who follows seem to do a copy and paste, meaning whoever was first has all this power, and it's all luck of the draw.

He also states that the only reason that were able to do it was because they've been through the process and have a large fan base, and that it's not supposed to be a model for anyone else. They're in a situation where they are 'out of contract, have their own studio, and a new server', so it was an obvious thing for them to do. And the 'name-your-own-price' came from their manager, Chris Hufford, which surprised me.

It goes into detail about the whole purpose of creating CDs rather than just a song, the delivery system of the product and so forth. Interesting stuff all in all.

Swish

3-LockBox
01-23-2008, 12:56 AM
<TABLE id=HB_Mail_Container height="100%" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0 UNSELECTABLE="on"><TBODY><TR height="100%" UNSELECTABLE="on" width="100%"><TD id=HB_Focus_Element vAlign=top width="100%" background="" height=250 UNSELECTABLE="off">I have to say I wasn't much into Radiohead past OK Computer. Kid A had one track on it I liked well enough to put into MP3 rotation, but an album like Amnesiac lost me. Writing songs that sounded more like tone poems, Thom Yorke had surely been bitten by the Peter Gabriel bug by then - enamoured with the sound of his own voice, their songs seemed to focus on how cool he thought his voice sounded with electronic acompaniment. Some interesting soundscape stuff to be sure, but what was missing for me was a 'Creep' or 'High And Dry' or 'Let Down'. I know this sounds funny coming from someone who likes prog, but for me, a five minute song shouldn't take 3 and a half minutes to develope. It was production-as-instrument ala The Beatles, without the songcraft IMO.

So it figures, if a fan of the artsy, experimental-for-experimentation's-sake stuff doesn't like the new Radiohead, that I would. And I do. In fact, the only track I hear that reminds me of middle era Radiohead, it is Reckoner and its my least favorite track (sorry Davey). That is not to say that Rainbows is a true return to The Bends or Pablo Honey, but its familiar. It still has that production-as-instrument quality to it that became prominent on OK Computer and beyond, but it pays more attention to songcraft, and less on atmospherics.

I can hear some correlation to Coldplay, but Thom Yorke still sounds like he could mop the floor with Chris Martin. Coldplay is about as much a rock band as Seals And Crofts; they'd be doing very well to make an album as good as Rainbows.

My first purchase of 2008 and its is a score! Recommended.

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3-LockBox
02-01-2008, 03:53 PM
<TABLE id=HB_Mail_Container height="100%" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0 UNSELECTABLE="on"><TBODY><TR height="100%" UNSELECTABLE="on" width="100%"><TD id=HB_Focus_Element vAlign=top width="100%" background="" height=250 UNSELECTABLE="off">OK, I'll have to admit that House Of Cards sounds very much like Coldplay.

I'm diggin it though.
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Davey
02-28-2008, 10:36 AM
Gotta say in all fairness, this record does get better with age. Can't escape the feel that much of it is just meandering fluff made to feel more substantial by the excellent production, but if so, that's OK with me too because it does have a very nice flow, and seems to make my body feel good when I surrender and go with that flow. These guys have gotten very good at what they do. Wish they would get a little more quirky and menacing sometimes, maybe get more in touch with some early Brian Eno or Roxy Music, or maybe even some "Running Gun Blues". The time seems ripe for another man who sold the world.

The main thing for me is ... when it's over I don't really care, no overwhelming desire to hear it again, just a fading memory, so I put on a totally different record like Bloomed, and then hear everything in its the right place :)