RADIOHEAD | AMNESIAC
Off of the heels of two revolutionary and groundbreaking albums Radiohead put together a coda point to it’s predecessor, Kid A from tracks recorded during the same sessions. The band had already become a highly respected act and could do no wrong. Amnesiac elegantly mixes electronic music, 20th century classical music, bass, and krautrock to create another important rung in the bands ladder.
The opening lyrics “After years of waiting…nothing came” creates a perplexing ironic sentiment in the listener as its clear Radiohead are still fully loaded with goodies to share. The band continue to make glorious blips and bleeps stolen from acts like Aphex Twin and interesting and palatable. The album blends multiple genres within one small sound space, sounding completely detached from the era of its release. Though Thom Yorke wanted to forgo melody on this album for more rhythm, they could never quite shake the melodic qualities embedded in their DNA.
“Pyramid Song” is a round in black key-based piano chords that send our souls off in a row boat to heaven. This is the definition of majestic. It’s one of the most pristine works the band has ever released, creating it’s own time signature (go ahead and try to count it out) the result being both haunting and mysterious, placing the band in an echelon of artists that are done with the concern of appealing to the masses, yet reminding fully accessible at the same time – the goal of the majority of bands. This album’s material was initially considered for a double album along with the Kid A content, but it’s a good thing they chose to separate the two as the combination of the entire complex would prove too dense.
“You And Whose Army” brings the group into the soft, warm doo-wop sound of the 1940’s inspired by The Ink Spots. Production techniques ran all the tracks through eggboxes to deaden the sound as Yorke threatens the government and sings “Come on if you think you can take us on.” “Knives Out”which took over a year to complete and stands out as the most straight forward track on the album, though if you listen close there are so many nuances in the guitar work its astonishing how Radiohead can still create whats essentially “alt-rock with” using any normal approach to chords.
“Dollars and Cents” flirts with jazz jams and Can-influenced musings. “Like Spinning Plates” was born after Yorke heard “I Will” (later released on Hail To The Thief) played backwards and was inspired write an entire composition on the reverse effect. The album ends with “Life In A Glass House”, a New Orleans funeral dirge that played around with band’s fetish for horns during this era of their work.
The album is foggy at times, uneasy but infectious and intriguing. Though they’re experimental, it never feels contrived or without attachment to deeper roots. The album is splattered with ambience and dream-like fever. Fans at the time were hoping for a return to their rock roots, but Amnesiac was something all together different, and still purely Radiohead. Paranoid, electronic, eclectic, and sublime. Impossible to pin down as anything but its own universe. It continued their path on one of the most intriguing bands in the world. Sure it can feel tense and disconnected at times, but as a whole it is very rewarding.
Coca-cola is a longstanding favourite drink of Thom Yorke’s and it captures the effervescent notes of the music’s sweet underbelly. Mixing it with espresso brings embers of richness and creates tension, while the vermouth effectively bridges all the albums familiar components together with accessibility. The rye whiskey creates the foundation for which this pyramid is built on.
