Radiohead starts recording LP8

[Coastal Ute]

I know I've already said this, but I've just listened to Thom's solo sketches of the new songs so many times that I'm just really excited to get the finished product. I get the vibe that this will be their most chilled out album (even more than IR), but from what I've heard I just really have a good feeling about this album. It's not going to be OKC or Kid A (even the very best bands get no more than one or two records at this level), but I think it will very much be on the level of The Bends/HTTT/Amnesiac/In Rainbows, and at this point that's a pretty damn good standard to match. Let's revisit some of the songs I posted and the beginning and see what has happened since.

If this record is anywhere within the ball park of those first three you mentioned, I will be a very happy man. If this ends up being "In Rainbows number 2" I'll start collecting "Tiffany" vinyl again.

[MarkGrace]

If this record is anywhere within the ball park of those first three you mentioned, I will be a very happy man. If this ends up being "In Rainbows number 2" I'll start collecting "Tiffany" vinyl again.

Ouch! I love IR.

[Commando]

mm. yeah. What's wrong with In Rainbows? I definitely liked it more than HTTT and Amnesiac...

[MartyFunkhouser]

Beyond that, we know they're using the ondes martenot again somehwere (excited about that), and they recorded 2-3 songs with some jazz musicians/horn section (also very excited about that).

I just want to get this damn record.

Any word on the names of the jazz musicians?

[Coastal Ute]

Ouch! I love IR.

It's not that I don't like In Rainbows. I just don't love it. And I think I'm also projecting my feelings about some other bands and their follow up albums here as well. A lot of times I'll really get into a record by a band and then I'll get the next one and I'll think "Wow- what a bummer. This sounds just like the last one". I think Radiohead was really unique in that sense for a lot longer than most other bands. All of their albums sounded different! Look at the difference between The Bends and O.K. Computer or even Kid A. Whoa. Since HTTF I've felt like my beloved Radiohead has become a little redundant. That's just how I feel about it- it's not necessarily a fact.

From what I've heard from this new album, it appears that that probably won't be the case. One can only hope. Am I a Radiohead pessimist? Probably.

[MarkGrace]

Any word on the names of the jazz musicians?

A bunch of people you probably wouldn't recognize.

[Coastal Ute]

A bunch of people you probably wouldn't recognize.

Name 'em.

[MarkGrace]

Name 'em.

Oh I have no idea. I'm just saying they are probably sessions nobody's, not recognizable jazz musicians.

[MarkGrace]

It's not that I don't like In Rainbows. I just don't love it. And I think I'm also projecting my feelings about some other bands and their follow up albums here as well. A lot of times I'll really get into a record by a band and then I'll get the next one and I'll think "Wow- what a bummer. This sounds just like the last one". I think Radiohead was really unique in that sense for a lot longer than most other bands. All of their albums sounded different! Look at the difference between The Bends and O.K. Computer or even Kid A. Whoa. Since HTTF I've felt like my beloved Radiohead has become a little redundant. That's just how I feel about it- it's not necessarily a fact.

Really? I'll give you HTTT. I already mentioned this in my HTTT breakdown for BO, but it's the first record that plays like they couldn't make up their minds on the direction they wanted to go. In the end it feels like a summation of everything they had done to that point, but I think once they got that out of the way IR did feel like something new. The lyrics were personal in a way that Thom's writing had never been, and the songs were warm and, dare I say, romantic? I just really love the feel of the album, and that feeling for me is unlike anything else they had ever done (where much of the mood of HTTT did feel like stuff that had been covered).

From what I've heard from this new album, it appears that that probably won't be the case. One can only hope. Am I a Radiohead pessimist? Probably.

I'm pretty optimistic about this thing. I love the sketches we've heard so far, and I hear stuff released since In Rainbows like Twisted Words, Hearing Damage and All For the Best (ooh, maybe I should post that in the covers thread!), and think Thom is still really on top of his game. Then he puts out Feeling Pulled Apart By Horses and Hollow Earth and I think "oh shit, maybe he's lost it!" But I highly doubt those last two would have ever made an album anyway -- they were destined to be b-side stuff.

Both Ed and Phil have said that what they've done so far sounds quite different from IR, and they seem pretty pleased with the results. They've always been pretty good judges of their own work, so that also gives me some optimism.

[MartyFunkhouser]

Oh I have no idea. I'm just saying they are just sessions nobody's, not recognizable jazz musicians.

Plus, there is a good chance they are European and for as much as I love jazz, I can't say that I know that much about the European jazz scene.

[MartyFunkhouser]

IMO, In Rainbows is 2nd to Kid A. I do like OK Computer, but I don't find myself listening to it that often. When I want to listen to Radiohead it is almost always Kid A or In Rainbows.

[Coastal Ute]

IMO, In Rainbows is 2nd to Kid A. I do like OK Computer, but I don't find myself listening to it that often. When I want to listen to Radiohead it is almost always Kid A or In Rainbows.

Really? No O.K. Computer?

In Rainbows is a good album, but IMO O.K. is better.

[Moliere]

IMO, In Rainbows is 2nd to Kid A. I do like OK Computer, but I don't find myself listening to it that often. When I want to listen to Radiohead it is almost always Kid A or In Rainbows.

OK Computer is, IMO, the pinnacle of Radiohead music and it is in my top 5 favorite albums.

Kid A is great but not as good as OKC.

I love all the rest, but I tend to agree with Coastal on IR, which is a great listen but I put it with the Bends as far as how much I listen to/love it.

[Viking]

It's funny. I defend RH but I really don't get into the techno experiment. I hope the new stuff is more OK Computer, less Kid A (countdown to Mark Grace...5...4..3...2..)

[MarkGrace]

It's funny. I defend RH but I really don't get into the techno experiment. I hope the new stuff is more OK Computer, less Kid A (countdown to Mark Grace...5...4..3...2..)

You've been warned!

But seriously, you liked IR though, right? For the most part I think the heavy use of electronics will mostly get stripped away from Radiohead now. Thom's solo career seems to be his outlet for that now.