Ethan's In Rainbows Review (Part 1?)

this might be part 1 in a 2 part series. I've only been listening to the record for a few days (well, obviously), maybe 4 times through so far. I read a Rolling Stone review that came out the 10th and it was kind of hilarious because the guy didn't really have anything to say besides "Its really good." He said something about how its classic Radiohead as if it was more of the same, which its not.

The thing that makes In Rainbows better than any other Radiohead record for me is that its relaxed. Its this unassuming "best record of the past XX years" that I really see standing the test of time, and I think this is the key to that. For me the biggest crock among the "best record of the past XX years" was the first Arcade Fire CD. That record hit you over the head with these grandiose (pompous) indie cliches. It was a right place at a right time thing with the vocal melodies maxed out and I never really got into it, or why we let Canadians be the next big rock band. As opposed to the English who are our brothers in rock and roll without being our little brothers.

So "In Rainbows" accomplishes everything the other Radiohead records do as far as being dark/beautiful and shows mastery of everything they've done from general chord progression/melody writing to meticulous dense electronics, and adds these extra elements, and it does it all without trying to hard.

At no point is this record ever like "here's the B section of this song" in the way Paranoid Android does (still a great song, this record is just better). Its much more natural, and the reason can only be because they have all gotten better as musicians and continue to get better playing with each other. Maybe the best example of this is the first track 15 Step. It was a funny feeling before I had heard this record at all, because although I had bought the download, I saved it for 10 PM that evening because there was a listening party at Vidhisha's place and I thought it would be cooler if it was my first time to hear it there. Needless to say I was nervous, as I am with every Radiohead album ("What if it's not amazing??") It was not only a relief but instantly awesome to get Idioteque version 2.0 and then have it evolve into something different a few times. First you get like a sort of Thom-does-soul melody line over it, which has never been heard before, then you get this chord progression that the first time through sounds like mostly major chords but when the same vocal melody comes back later (just once) with the pitched electronics it sounds heavily minor.

Track 2 Bodysnachers is a banger too. I think its actually by definition what a banger is for the British. It fucking rocks and any fears left over on a first listen are totally dispelled (..."what if this record only has one good song on it and the rest are just ok??" as if we forgot who we were dealing with.) The first time I heard this song I was worried that maybe it moved through the sections too fast, but thankfully I am a seasoned listener and had a feeling that one in particular would sound better after a few listens which it does.

Another thing I like about this record is the way it incorporates genres. Maybe I need to go back and listen to it more to jog my memory, but Hail To The Thief was really a Radiohead record in the sense that every track sounded like Radiohead. I remember being disappointed that they hadn't really tread new ground with that one although now it sounds like a stop in a procession where they were perfecting something specific (which a record is supposed to do). If they had made the same record again I think HTTT would have aged much less well and people would have thought of it as a great collection of songs, but the one where Radiohead quit making these great leaps forward. Now another thing worth mentioning becomes that these guys don't sound like they've made even close to their last great record. They are all pushing 40 but its a new paradigm where they could make new creative music until they are in their 70s, you know, why not. It's this completely sustainable model (just write great music every fucking record) and IMO the maturation of what it means to be a rock band.

But anyways, yes, In Rainbows incorporates genres in a way they haven't really done before by them, and I think that is a really modern way to approach making a record. Weird Fishes/Arpeggi has this drum and bass connection whose greatness is in its understatement. Obviously the Johnny Greenwood Dub Connection can be heard pretty strong on tracks like Nude and House of Cards, and really hits different aspects of the genre, too. Nude gives you the heavy bass and sparse drumming that sticks the vocals right out front and HoC gives you the 5 minute perpetual motion groove on what amounts to like 4 chords. Dub is incorporated, but in no way is it Radiohead doing "here's our dub track", its fully incorporated. The textural electronics on HoC is totally a dub application but in something that is pretty specifically stepped in more modern processes (reminded me of Broadcast some, actually.)

Its worth mentioning that the vocal delivery is just effortless this whole record.

Anyways, lets call that part 1 and see if part 2 materializes, maybe from another Casa Vista Blogger. There is something to be said for the way the record was released, and I love that everyone got to listen to it without this round of press screaming "me first! read what i have to say about the record before you actually listen to what the musicians are saying with the record!" I try and disconnect from that as much as possible, but its amazing that for really the first time the band releases their record in such a way that that they forced that on everyone.