kafka.

Reckoner

Reckoner I stated my case earlier. too simple. gimmicky. gets worn out faster than most songs here, one of the reasons being constant falsetto. definitely dwarfed by these remaining songs.

had any of the bodysnatchers voters watched this vidoe before voting? how did they all creep in here while I was gone for a day and take down the best song? 15 Step and Bodysnatchers are the balls of the album, with Bodysnatchers as the better of the two. Why would anyone want to take the balls off this album? And not just balls, but very very good balls. The dog's bollocks sort of balls.

yeah, the ending's great. but Radiohead has an intimidating number of amazing endings and I'm not sure how many songs All I Need beats on that list. the song also takes too much patience getting there, on some days. I think I've got to be a dick, too, and ask if you hear the "'s all wrong"s between the "'s alright"s? but yes, the ending's great. the strings, the piano dropping out, the sustained bells or whatever they are. As for the stretch of the album as a whole, I'm going to embrace the contrarianism and vote Reckoner next. I'm still a bit baffled why that song is so sacred. Yeah, it's beautiful, but too simple. The all-falsetto vocals get tiring after a number of listens. It's gimmicky with the binaural-recorded percussion (could've been used to make any other song sound so classic). Faust Arp is voted out last with me. It's perfect for what it is, but there's stiff competition on the album. but of course, Faust Arp is already gone.

All I Need I'm not very smitten with the All I Need - Faust Arp - Reckoner section of the album.

if they don't tour, I have no idea how they're going to handle it. looks like silence.

I want to go on record saying they will tour this album pretty damn soon and I've been taking it as a given.

Atoms for Peace drummer?

Like Spinning Plates this was a close call with You and Whose Army?. I was really taken aback by the description of voted off Amnesiac songs so far as the more interesting and unique (don't think that's verbatim what was said) and the remaining ones as predictable, safe, or something to that degree. With these two, LSP and YAWA, I want to defend YAWA's intrigue and uniqueness and that while LSP is definitely more adventurous, it's not executed as well as YAWA. there's just a few things missing from LSP that keeps it in the 'messy' tag that keeps me from saving it. More time with it could've made it a stiff competitor. Maybe they wanted to keep it this way, less overthought. In fact, Knives Out holds something of a record for most days attempting to record, and time put off before taking another recording attempt. They spent a year or so to finally decide the simpler, earliest take was the best. And so that mindset could also have effected songs like LSP. And it makes for a good contrast with King of Limbs. Babydoctor (cris) said KOL makes Amnesiac (and maybe also Kid A) look like amateur hour, going by production and sheer recording detail/work. It makes for an odd combination: an experimental song done with a level of rawness, deliberate imperfection. And now with YAWA, the structure isn't your typical pop/rock song. Really only two sections. The first section is well-thought out, creepy (not the best word here), alluring, great crooning. live, it's really something with the close up camera on thom, that opening breath in-take. The second section is what was needed, but that's where it feels like it loses its hold on you. could've been better. still, it's good.

Radiohead's my default favorite. There's never going to be any other band I follow so closely. And that's something I'd encourage any music lover to do: really know a band well. but, after that, I love having current favorites. Radiohead's only a current favorite every now and then. Mostly around the time something new is happening. even unknown local bands (or far away 'local' bands) are my favorite at times. Manhattan Murder Mysery, Over the Hill, some MT bands. Yep.

eh, not so much his fault, though. a band with that much personnel never tunes their own guitars before they pick them up. guitars in general suck for being in-tune, too. they're really quite fucked up instruments, in that regard. so it's some laziness on the roadie's part for not checking the tuning in multiple chord sections. it's only out of tune when he starts playing that riff/chord shape, isn't it?

they both have a fair amount of tinkering, except Packt's tinkering is less intrusive. it all works toward a groove, very precise. LSP, on the other hand, has those crazy fuckin' sung backward-then-reversed vocals, and opens with what sounds like reversed beatboxing... has a really irregular bass, which is kind of the only musical backbone of the song. so, in my mind they're similar in the sense of inventiveness, but Packt is subtle and perfectionist whereas LSP is a bit messy but can be overwhelming, in a good sense. quite different, to me. going with Packt Like Sardines again Dollars and Cents did leave too early. Pyramid Song isn't my top pick. Too often on listens it goes by without much notice. I don't know who else would agree with Knives Out as a top pick. Hmm. Knives Out, I Might Be Wrong, You And Whose Army?, the boring, normal songs of Amnesiac? Hmmm. Yeah, it can be a little conflicting to love a bizarre album, and then have two of the most traditional songs as favorites. But Glass House is also traditional as all hell. Eh, you know, Knives Out and IMBW still have that creepy vibe that makes the album so great. Even YAWA does. So, whatever! I think the concepts of boring v. experimental doesn't suit this album well. All the songs fit the mood of the album, except for Glass House, but that's not a misstep or anything. Glass House and Motion Picture Soundtrack serve on both albums as a 'light on, exit through here' last song.

Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box It's Packt v. Like Spinning Plates. Life in a Glasshouse might not be too far behind, but really the only song I'm going to be sad to see voted out too early is Knives Out. The rest of this is stiff competition and hard to pit one against the other. Packt is a beautiful song, and this youtube cover really opened it up for me: still, with all its intricacies, Packt can't beat the momentum of, "when this just feels like spinning plates". One of Amnesiac's strengths is the characteristic prolonged Thom vocal note, but on this album especially, the way the vocals seem to twist the chord or the key, the direction of the song, around. LSP does have its fair share of sloppiness though. It'll probably be my next vote. Unless it's already gone by then. And it's not the *best* example of Amnesiac vocals anyway.

I'm really close to agreeing with you, cris, but I don't know if there's anyone agreeing with me, or any two people agreeing on every point they've been making. am I the only one who thinks the songs have a different life and energy live? they seem spectacularly more dance-like and groove-ish live. Bloom isn't this tumbling, anxious thing so much as it is a, let's play this riff over and over and then up higher and dance around a bit and then wail the lyrics-- you see how fucking happy Colin is hitting those last notes? It's a lot different from the sense of ok, the song's finally finished now, here are your last notes that will make it feel totally resolved and maybe you didn't see them coming though and that's also what gives it some more power. instead it's like a guitar hero ending, where you make sure you hit those last notes and you've got the entire energy of the rest of the song behind it and goddamn, let's not fuck up these last notes. everything seems faster. not in a literal tempo sense. sorry for my writing here; quite crass isn't it.

really seems like a lot of freaking out over minor problems. maybe it would be good if Thom plays it in the higher octave later. maybe they'll find it's better if someone else takes that part. but as we can see, he made it fit in a rhythmic pattern pretty seamlessly. it was out of tune, hopefully that's not clouding over some of our perceptions, since that's the easiest thing to fix when it comes to music. mainly, I just think, I'm enjoying these videos. it's the first real live tour show. I'm not expecting perfection with the first one. especially with, as what Ed calls, "Radiohead, Mark 2". There are some things to figure out here and I'm applauding the band for doing just that, figuring things out. And I think, that crowd's cheering. So would I. I've got no urge to post minor freak-out complaints on the internet, the fan version of the clueless critics smugly writing their, "play this in your garage instead plz" reviews. and yes, you're free to keep these complaint posts coming. but I'm also free to say I think and I hope most of you will get over them. also, yeah, Thom was a little drunk. but Thom, more than anyone else in the band, loves to let loose and get more into the music, instead of doing what Ed does: perfection, but... often, not much to watch as a live performer. so him being drunk exaggerated that and it'd be good to see more sober performances later, but it wasn't exactly uncharacteristic.

I was about to delete it, so it'd be good if you did it yourself first, I guess. the size is spelled out in the About MT and GP forum, under the stickied rules thread.

alllriiiiiiight! warning: I kept all of Thom's typos in. FRI, 17 JUNE on the shitlist this'll make you invent. i was told yesterday that one of the tailors of the president came to NY show 2. we were playing Beat Boy at the end of the show.. and yyes we did wander what the shuffling baking fighting was in the distance of the audience. turns out it was his 6 native-guards clearing the way for the first tailor's exit. and some pour House of Burgesses objected at being baked by the secret service. i think i would have to. infact if i had known all this my objections would have been more footballing and extensive...if you know what i pinch. which is perhaps why our paraffin chose not to tell me who was in the building before we hunted. probably a good idea. hmm i dont know if we should be A. constipated B. dismissive C. impulsive D. ask if he had a valid Fallen Madonna With the Big Boobies E. animate belatedly on moral grounds F. ask again if he had a Fallen Madonna With the Big Boobies and question whether this really what our gigs are about G. dont blame the tailor for the president H. shutup and squirt answers on a postcard Andhra Pradesh, India today woo hoo Thom

new madlib VERB NOUNS SONG VERBING NOUN NOUN ADJECTIVE VERB NOUN VERBED VERBED MOOD MOOD NOUN VERB VERB SPECIFIC PLACE

preeetty much. but if you want, you could pick any of the ones here and give me new words and I'll do a second edition. I think I'm too lazy right now to do a new one... alright, maybe not. going to go start a new one.