Ice Age Coming! Ice Age Coming!

Early on, when this blog was merely a fetus, the concept of The Transatlantic Support Group was a joke. Something Lauren said to Tom, or Tom said to Lauren...one of those. Anyways, part of the joke was that “Creep” by Radiohead would be blasted so loud that it could be heard across the pond.

Radiohead shocked the music world by announcing, less than a week prior, that they would digitally release their new album, The King of Limbs, this past Saturday. In honour of that release we agreed to each pick a Radiohead song and talk about it in our individual posts.

I’m not sure how I’ll pick a favourite - that might be hard. It’s kind of like deciding of all the funerals you’ve attended in your life, which was the least depressing. I kid (A) - I like Radiohead, I’m just not always in the mood for them.

They got a lot of flack for their more recent albums, with many stating that Radiohead stopped playing real instruments and just became an electronic band. I actually enjoy the later albums - they’re eclectic. I went through a phase where I was listening to Kid A and Amnesiac on repeat for months in high school. It’s for this reason that I’m selecting a song off of Kid A.

"Idioteque."

The lyrics to this song seem simplistic, but we all know that no Radiohead song is without some sort of convoluted message. The music definitely represents that electronic sound that some people do not enjoy (I am not one of those people). While this isn’t my absolute favourite by the band, it is one of their more upbeat, techno-type songs. And somedays I'm just not in the mood for their more depressing stuff.

When it comes to British music, Radiohead has always been able to dodge the popular genres. While Pablo Honey and The Bends almost had them slotted in the Brit Pop catagory, Radiohead said ‘No Thanks’ and wrote OK Computer. And we all know the rest (if you don’t, well I don’t have time to explain there transformation).

The only way that “Idioteque” is noticeably a Radiohead song is the distinct vocals of Thom Yorke. It’s Thom’s voice that allows the band to experiment and still be recognizable. He makes the song a Radiohead song. So, while it represents the band’s furthest departure from Rock and Roll, it still seems to fit in with the rest of the catalogue.

I can listen to “Fake Plastic Trees” and “Idioteque” back to back and not feel betrayed by the band. I saw the move towards electronic fusions as innovative - something that a lot of bands and musicians are doing now.

I would love to tell you that I’m listening to the new one as I type this, but I can’t get it to play in iTunes (yet). But I will hear it! It will happen!

Happy listening Tom!

Tired from the weekend. 

I have a bowler hat somewhere...I wish I knew where so I could have taken my embarrassing photo in the style of this video. I kinda love Thom Yorke a bit more because of this.