Tuesday, May 20, 2003
Hail To The Thief Pt. 2.
So where are Radiohead now? No-man’s land. Is Hail To The Thief a return to form? Yes, if only because Amnesiac was a poor refraction of Kid A. Is it more like OK Computer? It is more like OK Computer than Kid A is; but it still has more in common with Kid A than with The Bends. What did you expect? Garage rock? The shameless platitudes and U2isms of Coldplay? How foolish you have been. No need to be scared now.
Techno-fetishisation still abounds. ‘2+2=5’ is the most direct thing they’ve done in years; ‘The Gloaming’ the most abstract. There is a sense of purpose here that had been left outside the rehearsal room of the last two albums. They are better for it. Putting ghosts inside machines and making the repressive beautiful. Kid A now appears inspired. There are still no singles. ‘Where I End And You Begin’ replenishes itself organically while ‘Backdrifts’ eats itself and ‘Stand Up. Sit Down’ propels itself into the future-noir. This is no-man’s land because nobody else can. Magnificent.
5/20/2003 10:45:00 pm
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