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10 October 2007

Thoughts on In Rainbows I'm about two thirds of the way through and so far it's very, very strong. Much, much better than Hail To The Thief, which I didn't rate too highly.[More:]

It's darker sounding, a little slower and quieter than previous albums. It doesn't have the huge guitar of the earlier albums (but that's not much of a surprise (No Surprises?!)) but it's much, much more accessible than Kid A and Amnesiac, which took a lot of work for me to get into.

Anyone else got it? If so, what do you think?
Okay, that's a seriously good album. The deluxe boxed set (£40 in December) has the CD with another 8 tracks on it. I can't afford it at the moment, but if those tracks are as good as the rest of In Rainbows, then they're going to be worth getting.
posted by TheDonF 10 October | 02:11
Just woke up. I'm going to unzip and burn it so I can listen on the way to Yorkshire...
posted by chuckdarwin 10 October | 02:42
I like it.
posted by matthewr 10 October | 02:43
I'm on my second listen now. I am really liking it. Feels much more cohesive than Kid A and Amnesiac, and not as "gimmicky" as Hail to the Thief. Glad they toned down the jittery electronic beats. I guess Thom made Eraser to get that out of his system, and now Radiohead is back to making the darker instrumental stuff.
posted by good in a vacuum 10 October | 04:17
Only a few songs in... will report back.
posted by BoringPostcards 10 October | 08:03
Overheard my boyfriend listening this morning as I was getting ready for work, and I liked the few songs I heard. I'll put it on my iPod tonight and listen on the plane tomorrow.
posted by misskaz 10 October | 08:33
OK, I kept getting interrupted by people wanting me to work, but on first listen: good. "Nude," "Reckoner" and "Videotape" especially caught my ear. I look forward to burning it to CD and hearing it on the stereo this evening.
posted by BoringPostcards 10 October | 08:46
I downloaded it this morning, but only had time to listen to one song, and MuddDude said "that would be cheating".

So, T minus 07 hours till "In Rainbows" for me. :(
posted by muddgirl 10 October | 09:09
BP - yep, loving those tracks. "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi" is also strong.
posted by TheDonF 10 October | 10:00
Been driving all day. I listened to it four times.

It is colossal. I adore it. Turned up loud (I love the stereo in my VW) whilst on the M6, Bodysnatchers nearly made me cry. The beauty of the five of them playing together properly overwhelmed me, and I remembered sitting there in the pitch dark and hearing Thom sing Exit Music during a power cut (Cleveland, 1991).

I do not
Understand
What it is
I’ve done wrong

Full of holes
Check for pulse
Blink your eyes
One for yes
Two for no

I have no idea what I am talking about
I am trapped in this body and can’t get out

Has the light gone out for you?
Cause the light’s gone out for me
You can fight it like a dog
And it brought me to my knees
They got scared and they put me in
They got scared and they put me in
All their eyes wrapped around my face
Although everybody else can see

I’m alive

Make a sound
Move back home
Get an invitation
With the edges
Sawn off

I have no idea what I am talking about
I am trapped in this body and can’t get out

Has the light gone out for you?
Cause the light’s gone out for me
And you can draw it out of me
It is the twenty-first century
They found me at the top
And they brought me to my knees
They got scared and they put me in
They got scared and they put me in
All their eyes wrapped around my face
All their eyes around my face
I didn’t want anybody else to see
I didn’t want anybody else to see

I’m alive

I’ve seen it coming


posted by chuckdarwin 10 October | 11:43
Here's what I really meant to say:

If one were planning to change the entire music industry with a single album, you could choose a lot worse records than this one to do it with.
posted by chuckdarwin 10 October | 11:47
Been up since about 5:30, listened to it twice, just ventured out elsewhere online from the maelstrom of the RH boards (NOT Atease, I wouldn't go there right now if you paid me) and I'm really glad to find postive reactions here on Mecha.

Yeah, I like it. My listening is a bit complicated because some of these songs I've already been listening to in their live versions, so I had to adjust to, for example, their making Videotape into a kind of sonic art piece rather than the ravishing climactic piece it was last year (I saw it premiered in London, so I have a special attachment to it).

Anyway, lots of other stuff to say about it thematically and so on, but mostly I'm just happy with how broad the sonic palette is, how the songs differ from each other, and how they fit all those kids into 15 Step. :)
posted by jokeefe 10 October | 13:07
Ah, and KEXP plays Videotape just as I posted that.... Heh.
posted by jokeefe 10 October | 13:08
Hmmm. I'll still trying to solve Videotape in my head, I think. But I've finally signed on for the new version of Nude, which considering I figured they'd never top the San Fransisco '98 live performance, is something.

Erm, am I fangirling too much?
posted by jokeefe 10 October | 13:17
Is it me, or are Pitchfork, At Ease, and Inrainbows.com all down atm?

Not that I need to party with the RH kids or order it again or anything.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane 10 October | 14:01
goodnews, that server traffic probably just a by-product of the entire western hemisphere signing at once to praise or vilify the Oxonians.
posted by chuckdarwin 10 October | 14:07
Sigh. Yeah, I know.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane 10 October | 14:12
Thousands Start Day With Radiohead's 'In Rainbows'

Radiohead's new "In Rainbows" album is finally available online from Radiohead.com today (Oct. 10), with thousands of fans downloading the 10 new tracks early this morning.

Billboard's unique download activation code arrived at 7:38 a.m. British Summer Time and -- in contrast to ordering, which was slowed by Web site failures and a clunky interface -- the downloading process was swift and glitch-free.

Within two minutes, the first track, "15 Step," was flickering into life, a minimalist-yet-funky throwback to Thom Yorke's recent solo record, "The Eraser."

Forty-two-and-a-half minutes later, it's clear that while the business model may have shocked the music industry, the album represents solid progression, rather than radical departure, from previous Radiohead albums.

The trademarks of Radiohead's post-"OK Computer" sound -- electronic effects, intricate guitar work and Yorke's eerie falsetto -- are all present on songs like "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi" and "Nude."

Yorke's vocals and lyrics are more prominent than on the likes of "Kid A," and there is a more accessible edge to songs like "Faust ARP," "Jigsaw Falling Into Place" and "House of Cards," which features the unusually direct Yorke lyric "I don't wanna be your friend, I just wanna be your lover."

No figures are yet available for how many downloads have been sold, or the average amount paid under the band's "honesty box" pricing policy. However, unofficial sources suggest most customers have chosen to pay around £5 ($10.17) for the download edition. The album will not be U.K. chart eligible, according to the Official U.K. Charts Co.
posted by chuckdarwin 10 October | 14:19
Not that I need to party with the RH kids or order it again or anything.

I've been doing nothing else for the last six or seven hours. Alex Petridis gave it a rave in the Telegraph, so far... and there are two interviews with Jonny that have gone up this morning, short in Rolling Stone and longer in Gothamist.
posted by jokeefe 10 October | 15:01
Also, Thom posted on DAS this morning/evening:

hard hats on..
hope you are enjoying listening to the download of In Rainbows.
its a relief to us all that finally its out there.
its been a mad couple of weeks.. as i'm sure you can imagine...

"I love pop music to death..... Most great composers rely on folk music. I rely on pop music.
I'm not saying I'm a great composer or that pop music is folk music. There's a whole endless thing going on out there.
You make your little pond but if your pond isn't connected to the river, which isn't connected to an ocean,
it's just going to dry up. It's just a little piss pool. I've lived too long to be happy in a pond."

I found this in WIRE magazine over a pint in the pub last night.. its Robert Wyatt
Thom
posted by jokeefe 10 October | 15:04
Alex Petridis gave it a rave in the Telegraph, so far...

Sorry, I meant the Guardian... there's a thread collecting the reviews/interviews/media coverage at Revolving Doors.
posted by jokeefe 10 October | 15:07
Jon Hicks (UK designer of, amongst other things, the Firefox and Thunderbird logos) has a thread on his site where people are posting their own cover art for the download.
posted by TheDonF 10 October | 17:04
I found this in WIRE magazine over a pint in the pub last night.. its Robert Wyatt

There isn't a better explanation for why I prefer Britain to the states than this: even Thom has a local (in which no one bothers him and he can have a quiet pint whilst he peruses old issues of Wired).

There's an unwritten rule here: if a celebrity happens to live in your village, leave them the fuck alone and let them get on with it.

Brits are too proud to admit that anyone is better than them, even if said anyone is famous and happens to occupy the same pub as them. I submit that there is no better place to be a celebrity than rural Britain (Oxfordshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire).
posted by chuckdarwin 10 October | 17:59
Listened to it this afternoon on Airtran Flight 35 to Chicago-Midway. I had a window seat, right over the wing. The engine noise mixed quite nicely. It is certainly the best since Kid A. Subsequent listenings might place it even higher in my opinion.
posted by grabbingsand 10 October | 19:46
According to || Your morning giggle

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