IN RAINBOWS - RADIOHEAD
What a revelation to wake up one morning and download a new Radiohead album that had only been announced 10 days earlier. Although the actual music here could easily have gotten lost in the hubbub over the name-your-own-price scheme, it proves to be just as inspiring as the band’s new biz model. Many of the songs are sonically modest compared with such labyrinthine productions as “Kid A,” but this more concise approach underscores the gripping finish to “All I Need,” the rush of Kraut-y guitar lines on “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi,” the falsetto-ed Northern soul of “Nude” and the excitable grooves supporting “Jigsaw Falling Into Place” and “Bodysnatchers.” Overall, the material feels more human, more honest, more assured. “I’d be crazy not to follow/follow where you lead,” Thom Yorke sings on “Weird Fishes.” Thousands of artists are now looking at Radiohead and thinking the exact same thing.
