Key bit:
He made the exact same point with his actions during Radiohead's encore at All Points West. After a two-hour set, with the crowd screaming for more, Yorke retook the stage alone, sat at a grand piano, and played a quiet, minimalist nocturne. For five minutes. Before 20,000 people. The song, "Cymbal Rush," from his 2006 solo album The Eraser -- titled in an apparent gearhead reference to some sonic effect or software patch (probably between "Amp Fuzz" and "Element Isolator") -- amplified the sense that this man was so far up his own formalist ass we might as well have not even been there.I'm too outraged to comment. I was 6 years old when "Creep" came out. I was not impressed then, and I'm not impressed by it now.
This is nonsensical. The argument is: "Radiohead, you suck because you're awesome! Stop being popular and trying new things!" What?
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely. Reading this, it feels like someone describing an ex-lover. It oscillates helplessly between deifying and demonizing them. I also can't seem to understand what exactly he wants Radiohead to do. Eric, your right, he is trying to tell them to stop being so awesome and being innovative. With so many other worthy adversaries committing grave acts of musical heresy, why would you try to take on Radiohead?
ReplyDeletebtw, the above commenting Eric is actually another person named Eric.
ReplyDeleteA very knowledgable Eric, I must say.
ReplyDelete1. truth is an absolute defense to libel.
ReplyDelete2. Pablo Honey wasn't bad. The Bends was better. OK Computer was (arguably/according to numerous media outlets) the best album of the decade. Kid A is not that cool. Amnesiac is not that cool. Hail to the Thief is not that cool. In Rainbows is not that cool. Radiohead have not 1)surpassed themselves after OK Computer by making more mediocre/less listenable albums, and have not 2) continued to make groundbreaking, decade-defining records. A parallel can be found in Led Zeppelin, whose albums became more fraught with filler, and though more 'progressive' they were less listenable overall. Eventually, all that was left was the myth of the band to carry on the devoted fanbase, not the actual recorded output. Radiohead peaked over ten years ago, and the memory of the impact of OKC has carried them through the years, not their subsequent releases.
3. "blasphemy", as the article is characterized in the 'shit list', refers to acts against a divine entity. Radiohead is not such an entity. The quasi-religious fervor with which fans defend this band is ridiculous (in the literal sense), and mostly unwarranted.