In Rainbows, as a title, implies a sense of comfort and delightfulness. Symbolically, rainbows are more likely to be associated with kittens and warm blankets than the grim and glum circumstances Radiohead is known for soundtracking. There's a slight, if expected, twist at play. The band is more than familiar with the unpleasant moods associated with colors like red, green, and blue -- all of which, of course, are colors within a rainbow -- all of which are present, and even mentioned, during the album. On a couple levels, then, In Rainbows is not any less fitting as a Radiohead album title than "Myxomatosis" is as a Radiohead song title. Despite references to "going off the rails," hitting "the bottom," getting "picked over by the worms," being "dead from the neck up," and feeling "trapped" (twice), along with Radiohead Wordplay Deluxe Home Edition pieces like "comatose" and "nightmare" -- in the same song! double score! -- the one aspect of the album that becomes increasingly perceptible with each listen is how romantic it feels, albeit in the way that one might find the bioport scenes in David Cronenberg's eXistenZ to be extremely hot and somewhat unsettling. Surprisingly, some of the album's lyrics are even more personal/universal and straightforward than anything on The Eraser, the album made by Thom Yorke and Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich. "I'm an animal trapped in your hot car," from "All I Need," has to be one of the saddest, most open-hearted metaphors used to express unrequited love. "House of Cards" begins with "I don't want to be your friend/I just want to be your lover/No matter how it ends/No matter how it starts," and the one with the worms includes "I'd be crazy not to follow/Follow where you lead/Your eyes/They turn me." This effective weaving of disparate elements -- lyrical expressions commonly associated with the band, mixed in with ones suited for everyday love ballads -- goes for the music as well. The album is very song-oriented, with each track constantly moving forward and developing, yet there are abstract electronic layers and studio-as-instrument elements to prevent it from sounding like a regression. In Rainbows will hopefully be remembered as Radiohead's most stimulating synthesis of accessible songs and abstract sounds, rather than their first pick-your-price download.
My last review came upon completing my fourth spin of the album. It was akin to the start of a mystery novel, where you literally have no idea where the book is going. You are introduced to interesting characters (the songs, of course) which initially seem pretty good. However it is not until near the end where the answers are presented. I reckon I'm at the denoument of the storyline by now. I ...
More >
While I firmly sit in the "Radiohead can do no wrong" category, their new video for House of Cards is absolutely stunning. I'm sure most of us have seen the ad that seems to be plastered everywhere around the internet, including right here at HearYa. Radiohead breaks ground once again by "filming" the entire video without [...]~~
More >
This track was number 11 on the set list at Outside Lands this past Friday, and I thought it was played quite well along with the other songs off In Rainbows such as Reckoner, 15 Step and Videotape. Despite the two sound cuts in the third and fifth song of the show, Radiohead managed to keep the crowd pleased while maintaining a steady presence throughout. The visual aspect of their 2 hour s...
More >
Photos courtesy of Riaz. If you find a picture of someone reading a newspaper magazine during the Kings of Leon set, that would be him. Please send the link my way! I risked nearly failing a very important certification exam today, because I devoted all of Saturday to seeing Radiohead and Sunday to recovering from Radiohead. Since I passed (barely), I am going to think that Radiohead he...
More >
ALL POINTS WEST DAY 1: GRIZZLY BEARBrooklyn-based Grizzly Bear was a treat onstage. All members contribute vocals (which is a rarity these days) to craft ethereal rock grooves- light, atmospheric, and harmony-friendly. Ed Droste lead singer of Grizzly Bear during a tender momentChris Taylor riffingDaniel Rossen introspectiveANDREW BIRDAndrew Bird brought two other musicians to help him with hi...
More >
--- - |- Photos by Kathryn Yu; Above: RadioheadLike a newborn kid sister to Coachella, the inaugural All Points West Music & Arts Festival took its first steps this past weekend at Jersey City, New Jersey's Liberty State Park-- just across the way from Manhattan. Festgoers were treated to alien sculptures and other artsy diversions scattered across the park, a bit of rain, and yes, quite a col...
More >
--- - |- Photos by Kirstie Shanley Welcome to our coverage of Lollapalooza 2008, which will continue through the weekend and conclude Monday. Check back for daily reports from Joshua Klein, Amy Phillips, Matthew Solarski, and Scott Plagenhoef. For Joshua Klein's coverage, click here: FridayFor Amy Phillips' coverage, click here: FridayFor Matthew Solarski's coverage, click here: Friday Radi...
More >
--- - |- Not to be outdone by his brother Jonny's soundtrack work on There Will Be Blood and Bodysong, Radiohead's Colin Greenwood has stepped to the plate to lay some sounds on a soundtrack of his own. The elder Greenwood helped perform the music for Alex Karpovsky's birding flick Woodpecker, according to the MySpace page of that music's composer, James Lavino [via At Ease]. Other musical con...
More >
I just can't get enough of the new Radiohead video. Made with lasers, it presents a beautiful view of what our world looks like on a different wavelength. I find myself flip-flopping between succumbing to the match of imagery and music, and wondering how much of it is accident. The way the image breaks up around the edge of Thom Yorke's head; what look like interference patterns on his face; th...
More >
Another one of my more recent favorite songs just was turned into a video. This time, it's House of Cards, from Radiohead's latest, In Rainbows. It's pretty cool, they're using some neat 3-D imagery there...House of Cards - RadioheadHype - Buy - Look~~
More >
!http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3272/2567072315_fe28962b30.jpg?v=0!(Drinking outside a pub in the sun before the gig, two blond guys roller-blade past, holding hands.) Richie: Very San Francisco.Me: They have to be American, don’t they? Irish gays stay indoors and drink themselves to death.Richie: Want another pint?Me: What are you trying to say?(On train to the gig, we see a Miller poster.)Me:.
More >
I stood on the grass of the amphitheater surrounded by a group of unusually tall friends, taking steps backward on the hill hoping to catch the first sight of Thom Yorke and Radiohead. It was my first Radiohead concert, not by choice, but because circumstances have always prevented me from seeing them live. And let's face it, they don't tour the States regularly. The Liars were definitely a gr...
More >
I hesitate to say that I can die happy now, because that would mean that my life has peaked relatively early, but Radiohead can officially do no wrong in my book.If you have not seen them live, please get on that. It is an experience not to be missed, especially on this tour. The LED lights they use are a bunch of rods that fall across the entire stage and colors are reflected in them from hu...
More >
Having missed the download deadline of Radiohead's latest album, I had to wait until January 1 to pick it up. Well, it feels good to have my favorite rock band as my first musical purchase of 2008 and I've been listening to it for a week. Here's my review:Let me start off by saying once again that Radiohead is my favorite "rock" (the genre that most easily fits them) band. To me, they are tr...
More >
Radiohead, In Rainbows7 out of 10It was a Friday night in March when we first met. I was a senior in a Los Angeles high school and irresponsibly was high on my priority list. At seven that evening, after an intense study session, my best friend at the time and I decided to shotgun a road-trip to Santa Cruz in northern California. This tidal wave of spontaneity conveniently crashed over us the d...
More >
Happy Halloween! The wonderful day where everyone tries to be something they're not. How's that different from every other day? Make-up. This Halloween I'm dressing up as a responsible citizen that is ready to vote vote vote! How's about you? mp3: Radiohead - Reckoner (Spoolwork Remix) mp3: Cut Copy - Far Away (Ring Trick Mix) mp3: Friendly Fires [...]
More >
--- - |- Photo by Kirstie ShanleyOh Radiohead, will your innovations ever cease? One minute you're dropping an album and a ground-breaking pay-what-you-want pricing scheme on us totally out of nowhere, the next minute you're blowing us away with one hell of a light show, and now you're adding two whole dates to your 2008 tour. Two dates! In Japan, no less!Yes, Radiohead's previously announced ...
More >
--- - |- Making of: Radiohead - House of Cards ~~- Radiohead
More >
Another one of my more recent favorite songs just was turned into a video. This time, it's House of Cards, from Radiohead's latest, In Rainbows. It's pretty cool, they're using some neat 3-D imagery there...House of Cards - RadioheadHype - Buy - Look~~
More >
Pitchfork's managed to diss Hail to the Thief, In Rainbows, A Ghost is Born AND Sky Blue Sky in the last couple days of Lolla coverage, which is just absurd even considering P4k's general unwarranted, incomprehensible post-Yankee Hotel Foxtrot backlash.Somebody tell me that dudes were awesome.Update: Judging by the rad new song Wilco played, the show must've incinerated faces and lobotomized mo...
More >
I am seeing Radiohead in five days. Five freaking days. But, I'm also seeing Grizzly Bear and that brings me no small amount of joy in itself. This will be the first time I've seen the Brooklyn harmony experts, and I'm psyched to say the least. There new record is shaping up to be pretty wonderful if the Letterman appearances are any indication, and let's not forget about Daniel's Jo Jo coveri...
More >
What's better than that feeling you get when you find a forgetten five dollar bill in your back pocket? News that Radiohead are in the studio - for a week now - working on the follow-up to 2007's In Rainbows with longtime producer Nigel Godrich.Bassist Colin Greenwood described the initial studio session as "very noisy and chaotic and really fun" in an interview with BBC 6 Music. But before you...
More >
Last night Radiohead closed out their U.S. summer tour behind In Rainbows at the Santa Barbara Bowl. "We've bad a blast, generally," frontman Thom Yorke said of the itinerary. He also dedicated OK Computer's "Paranoid Android" to anyone who had surgery, saying "You're going to die soon. It's all going south." The entire performance was Web cast via Radiohead's Web site last night. Naturally, I ...
More >
Radiohead have done it again. This time the band that's changing the industry made an innovative way back onto the Billboard Hot 100, where their latest In Rainbows single "Nude" is currently 37. (According to Billboard "Nude" is the band's first appearance on this chart since "High & Dry" in 1996.)About a week and a half ago "Radiohead decided to hold a fan remix contest":http://mog.com/Charl...
More >
No surprise here really. After flanking his mug on billboards for this year's Grammy awards Thom Yorke and the rest of Radiohead have been confirmed as performers for the awards show. Radiohead is up for Album of the Year for In Rainbows, plus four other nominations. According to Billboard this will be the first time Radiohead have played live on U.S. TV in nine years.Other performers include P...
More >
It's been a year and five days since Radiohead released In Rainbows as a name-your-own-price download. In that year the band and its publishing company Warner Chappell, which oversaw the novel release, have kept mum about its success. But today we are getting a little closer to finding out how much cha-ching Radiohead banked from the whole gimmick as details were revealed on the topic during th...
More >
ALL POINTS WEST DAY 1: GRIZZLY BEARBrooklyn-based Grizzly Bear was a treat onstage. All members contribute vocals (which is a rarity these days) to craft ethereal rock grooves- light, atmospheric, and harmony-friendly. Ed Droste lead singer of Grizzly Bear during a tender momentChris Taylor riffingDaniel Rossen introspectiveANDREW BIRDAndrew Bird brought two other musicians to help him with hi...
More >
The crowd was packed in like sardines at Radiohead's surprise last minute and FREE gig at London's 93 Feet East Club. The free show, originally scheduled for Rough Trade East record shop, was moved to the adjoining 93 Feet East location due to crowd control and police orders.The setlist for last evening's performance included tracks mostly off In Rainbows, but the band did manage to fit some c...
More >
!http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3272/2567072315_fe28962b30.jpg?v=0!(Drinking outside a pub in the sun before the gig, two blond guys roller-blade past, holding hands.) Richie: Very San Francisco.Me: They have to be American, don’t they? Irish gays stay indoors and drink themselves to death.Richie: Want another pint?Me: What are you trying to say?(On train to the gig, we see a Miller poster.)Me:.
More >
Each year the Mercury Prize goes out to the best album in the United Kingdom and Ireland. This year people are saying, "What? No Duffy or Coldplay?" Big names always show up on the list, like this year's nominees Radiohead and Led Zeppelin moaner Robert Plant (for his collaboration with bluegrass siren Alison Krauss). Some of the other twelve not so known artists also show up like folk sing...
More >
| Title | Lyrics | Buy |
|---|---|---|
| 1 15 Step |
|
|
| 2 Bodysnatchers |
|
|
| 3 Nude |
|
|
| 4 Weird Fishes/Arpeggi |
|
|
| 5 All I Need |
|
|
| 6 Faust Arp |
|
|
| 7 Reckoner |
|
|
| 8 House of Cards |
|
|
| 9 Jigsaw Falling into Place |
|
|
| 10 Videotape |
|
|
Click to purchase…
© 2006-2009 Mog Inc. All Rights Reserved
 "In Rainbows")
