Radiothread

[charliepanayi]

The brilliant Kid A is 10 years old today

[theGoldenCalf;]

So when I get home today I shall wish one of my favorite pieces of plastic a belated happy birthday.

How to Disappear Completely has repeatedly done things to me that human language fail to describe. It shares the prestigious title of my favorite Radiohead song with Paranoid Android.

[Dream]

How to Disappear Completely has repeatedly done things to me that human language fail to describe.

Well, if you can't talk about them, perhaps you can point to them on this anatomically correct scare bear:

[theGoldenCalf;]

I thank you, kind sir, for turning what started as a bitch of an annoying morning into a laughing fit

[Midnight]

I actually picked up a guitar (for once) and hit a chord and went "oh man, exit music (for a film) is really really easy to play on guitar."
It made me happy, but now I need some mellotrons or whatever the hell to cover that song.

[Felstaff]

A good cheap Casio Keyboard from the '80s does the haunting harmonised voices in the background really well. The sound tone is "choir". Sound clips of "rushing wind" can be downloaded from various stock sound websites (why do they always lead with "haunted creaking door"?) I'm still working on how to get the bass to sound right. I really really want to capture the gurgling freaky bass filters they use on Climbing Up the Walls

[Midnight]

The bass tone is an old japanese fuzzbox, I believe.
The best way to get really gurgly bass sounds (from my experience) is just multiple filters with low depth (or a low wet/dry ratio or whatever) and just chain 'em together.

[djkjr]

Perhaps one of the last great bands to exist in this era of music.
One of the only bands that I can anticipate an album coming out without fearing or wondering that it is going to be bad.
This band changed my life in such a way that I can' explain. They were with me when I opened my eyes to the artistic world and I wonder if that's part of the reason why I was deftly able to do so.

My girlfriend hates them. Sometimes I put my iPod on shuffle and when Radiohead comes on, I say nothing. After a couple songs have passed I ask her if she liked what she heard or heard anything she didn't like. When she admits to having liked the songs, including Radiohead, I inform her that it was indeed Thom Yorke that was feasting on her ears. Yet still she refuses to like them. She finds them to be too arrogant to be enjoyed. And really, if that's true, what's wrong with that?

Look at Muse for instance? Hell, they released an album begging for a revolution based on their lyrics alone. And yet she likes them.

I think people just need to dislike something sometime, without rhyme or reason and that becomes their reason.

[Midnight]

Look at Muse for instance? Hell, they released an album begging for a revolution based on their lyrics alone. And yet she likes them.

I think people just need to dislike something sometime, without rhyme or reason and that becomes their reason.

Eh muse is a lot more pretentious now than they were. I think "The Resistance" is their worst album. Which is sort of the opposite of Radiohead, seeing as Pablo Honey is really bland compared to the majesty of... everything else.
It's not bad reasoning though. Disliking it to dislike it is exactly why I hate Dave Matthews and I don't really like Death Cab for Cutie. They're good and all, and I've seen Dave live... but meh.

[Dream]

I really really want to capture the gurgling freaky bass filters they use on Climbing Up the Walls

I think that's a Novation Bass Station, if I'm remembering correctly. That would mean that the filter is an analogue 24db (4-pole) filtering what sounds like two slightly detuned sawtooth waves. You can now buy it as a plugin.

[djkjr]

Eh muse is a lot more pretentious now than they were. I think "The Resistance" is their worst album. Which is sort of the opposite of Radiohead, seeing as Pablo Honey is really bland compared to the majesty of... everything else.
It's not bad reasoning though. Disliking it to dislike it is exactly why I hate Dave Matthews and I don't really like Death Cab for Cutie. They're good and all, and I've seen Dave live... but meh.

Whether you like "The Resistance" or not, it's definitely true to say that they wax and wane with their fan base. Each CD brings new fans and excludes old ones. I enjoy most of their collection, but I can't just sit down and listen to an album and enjoy it from beginning to end.
Radiohead on the other hand. I'm not sure they could lose a fan. I can't count how many times I've listened to "Kid A" from beginning to end. It makes me kind of sad writing about it and then not being able to listen to it afterwords!
They're not too bad live either

[Midnight]

I'm not sure they could lose a fan. I can't count how many times I've listened to "Kid A" from beginning to end. It makes me kind of sad writing about it and then not being able to listen to it afterwords!
They're not too bad live either

If you liked Pablo Honey and the Bends, and that kind of music, it's entirely possible that you didn't like Kid A. They're very very different. I, and most people I know, like Radiohead in their completeness-besides-Pablo-Honey-cause-it's-bland, but some might just like the straight 90s rock or the straight electronic stuff.


I would probably choke someone for a chance to see Radiohead live.

[Dream]

I would probably choke someone for a chance to see Radiohead live.

Oh maaaaan! I've got to tell you all about going to the Tent Tour for Kid A, at length, and then about that other time I saw them with Asian Dub Foundation for Hail To The Thief, and then when they played with Deerhoof and Beck supporting. You're going to love the excruciating detail into which I go.

Seriously.

[djkjr]

If you liked Pablo Honey and the Bends, and that kind of music, it's entirely possible that you didn't like Kid A. They're very very different. I, and most people I know, like Radiohead in their completeness-besides-Pablo-Honey-cause-it's-bland, but some might just like the straight 90s rock or the straight electronic stuff.


I would probably choke someone for a chance to see Radiohead live.

lol! Yea, pretty much every Radiohead fan I know (myself included) dismisses Pablo Honey. My theory is they did what they needed to do in order to gain a fan base and then when they were popular enough to do what they wanted (i.e. had the ability to expirement) they did so, quite succesfully. I'm sure that is not the case though, but it's fun to think about. That a band would have enough understanding of the industry and their fledgling place in it to please the masses until they had the ability to please themselves.

I'm not sure what I wouldn't do to see them again, quite honestly.

I would probably choke someone for a chance to see Radiohead live.

Oh maaaaan! I've got to tell you all about going to the Tent Tour for Kid A, at length, and then about that other time I saw them with Asian Dub Foundation for Hail To The Thief, and then when they played with Deerhoof and Beck supporting. You're going to love the excruciating detail into which I go.

Seriously.

Haha, that's just cruel and unusual.
I thought about going into short and quick detail about the tour I saw (In Rainbows release) but decided I would be better off being nice! lol

[Dream]

Well, I missed the In Rainbows tour because I moved to Australia and they didn't play there. But I bought tickets to see them before I knew I was moving, and was suitably gutted when I found I couldn't go.

My theory is they did what they needed to do in order to gain a fan base and then when they were popular enough to do what they wanted (i.e. had the ability to expirement) they did so, quite succesfully. I'm sure that is not the case though

Yeah, one or other of them said of Pablo Honey that it was their "Greatest Hits as an unsigned band". Like a lot of indie bands, they had five years to write their first album, and then five weeks to write their second. I think Pablo Honey was the best they could do at the time, and an honest image of what they were then. So no excuses. It's not very good compared to other albums of the time, nor to their later work.

[Midnight]

Dream, I'm going to take a sharp knife, stab it against a wall until it's nice and blunt, and then cut you.

MY theory as to why Pablo Honey sucked is that they were shitty and they got better. I don't think it was remotely calculated. I think they genuinely were boring.

[frogman]

I'm probably in the minority here, but

Spoiler:

I liked Pablo Honey.

[djkjr]

I'm probably in the minority here, but

Spoiler:

I liked Pablo Honey.

That's a definite yes. But it's okay, you're forgiven

[SirMustapha]

One thing that I can't help thinking is that a band having Pablo Honey as their "worst" album only shows how excellent they are. It's sort of like saying Bodysnatchers is the "worst" song in In Rainbows; I mean, um, yeah... I guess.

[djkjr]

One thing that I can't help thinking is that a band having Pablo Honey as their "worst" album only shows how excellent they are. It's sort of like saying Bodysnatchers is the "worst" song in In Rainbows; I mean, um, yeah... I guess.

Haha, oooooh. Touche!

[Clumpy]

I feel like such a moron. When I originally got into Radiohead, I downloaded their albums and burned them to mp3 discs, then ripped them years later to my PC. The copies in my iTunes library up until yesterday were based on data which had been burned, copied three, four times at 128kbps or lower. I finally deleted them all from my library and ripped them in full 320kbps glory from the actual discs I now own, except for Amnesiac which I haven't bought yet.

That old cliché about Radiohead requiring good speakers and high-quality sound isn't a lie - I literally heard instruments I couldn't hear before. A big part of Radiohead's appeal is their inimitable sonic texture and I was missing out on that for years.

[Midnight]

bodysnatchers is better than weird fishes.

[djkjr]

The thread has promted me to insure my full collection of radiohead is on my iPod. Bring it into working. and play it through the miniature speakers supplied for my office computer. I couldn't care less if the quality is bad at this point. I neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed it!

[Microscopic cog]

I'm probably in the minority here, but

Spoiler:

I liked Pablo Honey.

That's a definite yes. But it's okay, you're forgiven

Spoiler:

I also liked Pablo Honey.

And you (= djkjr) got me addicted to 2+2=5 by various posts around the fora. So amazing. No words left to describe it's amazingness.

[djkjr]

I'm probably in the minority here, but

Spoiler:

I liked Pablo Honey.

That's a definite yes. But it's okay, you're forgiven

Spoiler:

I also liked Pablo Honey.

And you (= djkjr) got me addicted to 2+2=5 by various posts around the fora. So amazing. No words left to describe it's amazingness.

Gosh! I feel so inclined to give Pablo Honey another chance now! Who knows, maybe I just listened to it at the wrong time. Like, way back in the day when I hated Pink Floyd (boy was that ever ignorant of me!)
Haha, I love 2+2=5 on so many levels! That's funny that you've seen the other random snippets of it around the fora :p aaaaaand, I must commence playing it on my iPod now, FTW!!

[Midnight]

No, see, Pablo Honey is acceptable. It's fine to like it. It's pretty good album as those things go... but The Bends, OK Computer, Kid A, Amnesiac, Hail to the Thief, and In Rainbows are much much better.

[Microscopic cog]

Yeah, that is true. I like it but not more than the others. I think I just like them all the same. Mainly because them being in one huge Radiohead playlist, where I just get random songs and not listen to seperate albums. ( Which is probably bad but hey )

Haha, I love 2+2=5 on so many levels! That's funny that you've seen the other random snippets of it around the fora :p aaaaaand, I must commence playing it on my iPod now, FTW!!

I pretty much read every post in the music forum and I coincidentally stumbled upon your posts in the 1984 thread. ( We had this school project thing with it so I was excited to find out XKCD had a whole seperate thread for it. )

[the penman]

Pablo Honey is a great wee album, if taken on it's own merits. And if you skip Lewis (Mistreated).

[cypherspace]

And you (= djkjr) got me addicted to 2+2=5 by various posts around the fora. So amazing. No words left to describe it's amazingness.

I used to listen to 2+2=5 before any time I was going out - always got me in the mood. Incredible song.

[djkjr]

Current Radiohead songs:
Jigsaw Falling Into Place
Harrowdown Hill (Thom Yorke side project)
A Punchup at a Wedding
Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors
and of course 2+2=5

[Midnight]

Speaking of 10 years old (at the page top) has anyone heard of the Radiohead 01-10 thing? I've also seen it called the "10 conspiracy" or the "radiohead 10 thing"

I'll hit the ground running: OK Computer and In Rainbows are a double album.

"But midnight, they're like a decade apart, how could they be a cohesive album?"
EXACTLY. They're EXACTLY 10 years apart, both on October 10th, 10/10. In Rainbows was announced 10 days before it was released, with a message each day that was normal band-crypticness. In Rainbows has 10 tracks, and if you look at the cover--oh, look, it says Rad10head.

"Okay, so Radiohead likes the number 10, especially in regards with In Rainbows, and possibly OK Computer. That doesn't mean they're two parts of a whole."
Here's where it gets good. Interleave OK Computer and In Rainbows, so it goes "Airbag", then "15 Step", and so forth. I think it works best if you just do that up to 10 (ending with "All I Need") but according to some, you can do it all the way up to 22 songs (but they say you have to count Karma Police and Fitter Happier as one song, which sounds cool, don't get me wrong, but I dunno. The just-10 makes the best album ever)
Regardless, if you do just the first 10 or the whole 22, it'll look like this (spoilered for huge)

Spoiler:

Yes, my iPod is named "LAWD N SAVIUH"

Some recommend setting your crossfade to up to 10 seconds, but I think it's fine without crossfading, especially if you aren't a diehard fan who doesn't know every second of their songs.

"Okay, I did it. Airbag is playing right now."
I mentioned diehard fans for a reason. Those types might recall that at the end of Airbag, there's a "boop, boop, boop" just before Paranoid Android starts. Personally, I always forget about the set of tones, and when I hear it, I kind of assumed it was the start of Paranoid Android.
Wait for it.
Wait for it.


Holy fuckin' shit: that "boop, boop, boop" sets the tempo for 15 step. A song which comes out 10 years after Airbag. If you crossfade it, you can't even hear the boops. Hell, the reverb at the end of Subterranian Homesick Alien blends perfectly into the start of Nude. Usually when you crossfade songs, even seamless albums, there's an annoying clash of sound at the start/end. NO SUCH CLASH.

Hell, if you interleave it one-after-another, instead of having Karma Police + Fitter Happier be one song, the lyrics at the end of "The Tourist" (him dying) mesh perfectly with "Videotape" (him in the afterlife.)



Swear to god, guys. I'm not even like a crazy Radiohead fan like some people. I lack the intensity to actually DISCOVER this, but I shall reap the benefits and pay it forward to y'uns.

At the start I was like o_O?
and in the middle I was like O_O!
and by the end I was like O_______________________O

[Microscopic cog]

Cracked is cool, ain't it?

[Midnight]

YES.
And listening to the best radiohead album whilst under THe influenCe of things while eating pizza... whew.

[mowdownjoe]

I actually looked at the article that Cracked linked to when they brought it up. One commenter said removing Fitter Happier got the playlist closer to the Golden Ratio.

Anyway, I'm listening to that whole thing now. Just finishing up letting Subterranean Homesick Alien wash over me.

[TA67]

I never got into Radiohead. I have no idea why...they just never stood out to me. I've tried, nothing's ever clicked. grr.

[theGoldenCalf;]

I never got into Radiohead. I have no idea why...they just never stood out to me. I've tried, nothing's ever clicked. grr.

Well, there's a pill you have to take. Consult your physician. Worked wonders for all the rest of us here.

[SirMustapha]

The "conspiracy" thing has a better name: Radioheadic Apophenia.

Really? It makes no sense. Those songs just don't go along. Tearing those two albums apart and "meshing" them together makes as much sense as doing it to Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon and Obscured by Clouds. For one, a 10 SECOND CROSSFADE?? You gotta be kidding me. Also, the "countdown" at the end of Airbag marks EXACTLY the tempo of Paranoid Android, which is considerably slower than 15 Step. Bodysnatchers after Paranoid Android simply does not compute... and Weird Fishes in between Exit Music and Let Down?? Faust Arp in between Fitter, Happier and Electioneering?? Goddamn No Surprises inbetween House of Cards and Jigsaw Falling Into Place?? Wow, that's about as bad as playing The Wall with reversed order.

Hell, if you interleave it one-after-another, instead of having Karma Police + Fitter Happier be one song, the lyrics at the end of "The Tourist" (him dying) mesh perfectly with "Videotape" (him in the afterlife.)

That could make some sense, if not for two things: according to the "01 10" (wtf?!) theory, Videotape comes BEFORE The Tourist; also, the latter song has nothing to do with dying: Jonny Greenwood wrote it about tourists that, instead of actually walking around and feeling the environment of the city they're visiting, just rush around between the touristic points to "see it all in a day" and end up not knowing the city at all, hence "hey, man, slow down!".

Overall, it's a fact that, if you have a reasonable amount of dedicated people, they'll start drawing meaningless connections between ANYTHING. Maybe there definitely is something with the number 10 regarding In Rainbows, but it might be something else entirely, maybe just a silly joke after all, or even a practical joke on fans. Also, if the two albums are "so connected", what do you do with the bonus disc of In Rainbows, that one with 8 songs, hmmm?

To me, that is another Dark Side of Oz hoax: some bits may make some sense, but it only works if you ignore the huge, gaping holes. That's why I'm scared of fans.

[Felstaff]

Also, if the two albums are "so connected", what do you do with the bonus disc of In Rainbows, that one with 8 songs, hmmm?

Fits perfectly with Airbag / How Am I Driving? EP

[SirMustapha]

Hm! I figured it would match an EP to be released in October 10 2017.

[Dream]

Also, if the two albums are "so connected", what do you do with the bonus disc of In Rainbows, that one with 8 songs, hmmm?

Fits perfectly with Airbag / How Am I Driving? EP

Or maybe the second disc exists mainly to give a home to Down Is The New Up, which was the last cut from the album proper, and was apparently on the tracklist right up until the last minute. Would make sense if the cut was made to fit the synergy. But I don't know if I can take the theory that far. Matching a few reverb tails and rhythms is one thing, cutting one of the best songs of their career from an album likely has more to it than that,