That's right. None of you care. You're all careless. Or carefree, even. Like the sugarless chewing gum.

But here's what I think anyway. Song-by-song, just like all the nerds like it.

15 Step -- I read an interesting suggestion that this tune is about the band's deteriorating relationship with their record label (which lasted 15 years). Not sure if that's true. and yorke's lyrics have gotten almost purposely cryptic since OK Computer (at least I sorta know what he's talking about there). Anyway -- when I first started the album I said, out loud (even though no one was home except Sable) "Oh come on!" I still can't believe they are using digital drums. Fortunately, Phil's real, superior drums kick in eventually and end up all over the album. but this song is a sign that Yorke still has too much control over the music sometimes. His solo album was all digital everything and I feel like he should have gotten it out of his system by now. This track feels small -- like they recorded everything in a bathroom without that awesome bathroom echo. Despite my complaining, it's a decent track.

Bodysnatchers -- one of the best songs from their live gigs from last year and one of the best tracks on the album. It's fast. It's got fuzzy guitars. It's got Yorke shouting stuff. I wish the rest of the album had this much intensity. In fact, I was expecting it to (see: Reckoner).

Nude -- the biggest letdown. Not a bad song, but it's an old song (OK Computer era, if I recall) and there are countless live versions from back then and last year that are better than what's on display here. The live version had a xylophone. Here they let Yorke croon his falsetto instead. If the rest of the album weren't so falsetto-happy, it wouldn't be so bad. But this is a bland album version of a song that's essentially a junior "How to Disappear Completely" (from Kid A). Still, you can't hate a song with the lyric "You'll go to hell for what your dirty mind is thinking."

Weird Fishes/Arpeggi -- bad title. they should have just changed it to "Weird Fishes". It's a good song, though. It follows an aggressive arpeggio (get it???) throughout. Lyrics are silly, as to be expected at this stage of the game, but ultimately it's a decent track. Not nearly as fast as you'd want after the plodding "Nude" but what the hell.

All I Need -- did you ever expect Thom Yorke to sing "You're all that I need"? Well, maybe you did since he says a few lines later "Your all that I need / I only stick with you / because there are no others." This is a track I was convinced would end up as a b-side when they played it last year (yeah, i've heard all but 1 song from this album live).

Faust ARP -- another dumb title, but the song is interesting. Pretty much straight arpeggio (again! that ARP probably means arpeggio!) with vocals that leave Thom with no room to breath. The lyrics here also suggest a sunnier attitude from Yorke: "Wakey wakey / rise and shine / it's on again / off again / on again..." but, by the end we're back where we'd expect: "You've got a head full of feathers / you got melted to butter."

Reckoner -- a song that went through at least 2 versions during it's live life -- the first was a simple, rocking track with only a few words, most of said words being: "Reckoner -- pa pa pa!" It then became a more acoustic friendly track that didn't lose it's energy, but became more menacing: "Feeling pulled apart by horses...." there's also some great chanting vocals at the climax of the song. But not in this version -- we're still in plodding mopeville territory. Not that I don't mind it, but if you'd heard the menacing version, you'd wish that the album version just had another title. This is almost all falsetto, too.

House of Cards -- "I don't want to be your friend / I just want to be your lover." probably some of the worst lyrics from Yorke in a long time ("Prove Yourself" & "How do You" from Pablo Honey come to mind) this one has the happy family vibe except that its called "house of cards" and the cards, of course, "fall off the table / and get swept under". The metaphor is so tired. and Yorke says the title about 8 times in the song. the music is akin to elevator music -- silent chords with some background fast guitar picking. There are sound effect swells that recall "Nice Dream" from The Bends, but it's not enough to overcome the feeling of boredom created. There's a nice vocal melody. I can't figure out why this song made the album and 4 minute warning didn't (although 4 minute warning did make the bonus disc).

Jigsaw Falling into Place -- the other upbeat track that makes the middle of the album just one big jelly sandwich of mumbling gloom. This is the kind of fun radiohead stuff that really stands out. "What's the point of instruments / words are a sawed off shotgun" that's more like it. And yet, the song actually seems to be describing an encounter in a night club. strangers in the night. that kind of thing. is Yorke getting soft and all emo on us? maybe.

videotape -- another great live track that seems to simple when recorded. There's a great use of drums during the ending, but the song never falls apart in cacophony like on National Anthem nor does it fade out like on Motion Picture Soundtrack. The vocals are good, the piano marches, drunk, much like pyramid song. It's an okay closer, but considering the lack of energy on much of the album, it seems like one more example of what we've already heard. I think All I Need would have made a better closer, actually.

Anyway, that's all for now. I'll review the bonus disc for my own amusement when it arrives sometime in december (was there any doubt I'd drop 80$ on this?) That's 8 more songs. however, since there were 2 disappointing versions here, I may not be completely awed by their effort. The gag is that I've listened to In Rainbows over 20 times already (possibly over 30 once i update my iPod, thanks to a 3 hour car ride from Camden to Newark last week). But I think most of you understand what kind of fan I am of Radiohead. I find everything they do interesting, even when they let me down. I will say that I like Hail to the Thief more than In Rainbows, but mostly because the prior album's biggest problem was that it was too long (Scatterbrain, Sit Down Stand Up, We Suck Young Blood could have been cut). So, at least they included their best songs on that album. But I fear that the backlash at the length of that one caused them to get overly cautious here. 10 songs + an 8 song bonus disc? I suspect I'll be creating a 1 disc version much like when Amnesiac came out and 3 of the b-sides were better than 3 of the album tracks.....

I'm such a fucking geek.

Posted by vegetable at 11:08 PM | Permalink

This individual seeks an executive position. He will be available in
January 2009, and is willing to relocate.

RESUME

GEORGE W. BUSH

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20520
(Through all of this, those with whom he was/is associated never said or did anything.)

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:

Law Enforcement:
I was arrested in Kennebunkport, Maine, in 1976 for driving under the influence of alcohol. I pled guilty, paid a fine, and had my driver's license suspended for 30 days. My Texas driving record has been "lost" and is not available.

Military:
I joined the Texas Air National Guard and went AWOL. I refused to take a drug test or answer any questions about my drug use. By joining the Texas Air National Guard, I was able to avoid combat duty in Vietnam.

College:
I graduated from Yale University with a low C average. I was a cheerleader.

PAST WORK EXPERIENCE:
I ran for U.S. Congress and lost. I began my career in the oil business in Midland, Texas, in 1975. I bought an oil company, but couldn't find any oil in Texas. The company went bankrupt shortly after I sold all my stock. I bought the Texas Rangers baseball team in a sweetheart deal that took land using taxpayer money. With the help of my father and our friends in the oil industry (including Enron CEO Ken Lay), I was elected governor of Texas.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS GOVERNOR OF TEXAS:

I changed Texas pollution laws to favor power and oil
companies, making Texas the most polluted state in the Union. During my tenure, Houston replaced Los Angeles as the most smog-ridden city in America.

I cut taxes and bankrupted the Texas treasury to the tune of billions in borrowed money.

I set the record for the most executions by any governor in American history

With the help of my brother, the governor of Florida, and my father's appointments to the Supreme Court, I became President after losing by over 500,000 votes.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS PRESIDENT:

I am the first President in U.S. history to enter office with a criminal record.

I invaded and occupied two countries at a continuing cost of over one billion dollars per week.

I spent the U.S. surplus and effectively bankrupted the U.S. Treasury.

I shattered the record for the largest annual deficit in U.S. history.

I set an economic record for most private bankruptcies filed in any 12-month period.

I set the all-time record for most foreclosures in a 12-month period.

I set the all-time record for the biggest drop in the history of the U.S. stock market. In my first year in office, over 2 million Americans lost their jobs and that trend continues every month.

I'm proud that the members of my cabinet are the richest of any administration in U.S. history. My "poorest millionaire," Condoleeza Rice, has a Chevron oil tanker named after her.

I set the record for most campaign fund-raising trips by a U.S. President.

I am the all-time U.S. and world record-holder for receiving the most corporate campaign donations.

My largest lifetime campaign contributor, and one of my best friends, Kenneth Lay, presided over the largest corporate bankruptcy fraud in U.S. History, Enron.

My political party used Enron private jets and corporate attorneys to assure my success with the U.S. Supreme Court during my election decision.

I have protected my friends at Enron and Halliburton against investigation or prosecution. More time and money was spent investigating the Monica Lewinsky affair than has been spent investigating one of th e biggest corporate rip-offs in history. I presided over the biggest energy crisis in U.S. history and refused to intervene when corruption involving the oil industry was revealed.

I presided over the highest gasoline prices in U.S. history.

I changed the U.S. policy to allow convicted criminals to be awarded government contracts.

I appointed more convicted criminals to my administration than any President in U.S. history.

I created the Ministry of Homeland Security, the largest bureaucracy in the history of the United States government.

I've broken more international treaties than any President in U.S. history.

I am the first President in U.S. history to have the United Nations remove the U.S. from the Human Rights Commission.

I withdrew the U.S. from the World Court of Law.

I refused to allow inspector's access to U.S. "prisoners of war" detainees and thereby have refused to abide by the Geneva Convention.

I am the first President in history to refuse United Nations election inspectors (during the 2002 U.S. election).

I set the record for fewest numbers of press conferences of any President since the advent of television.

I set the all-time record for most days on vacation in any one-year period. After taking off the entire month of August, I presided over the worst security failure in U.S. history.

I garnered the most sympathy ever for the U.S. after the World Trade Center attacks and less than a year later made theU.S. the most hated country in the world, the largest failure of diplomacy in world history.

I have set the all-time record for most people worldwide to simultaneously protest me in public venues (15 million people), shattering the record for protests against any person in the history of mankind.

I am the first President in U.S. history to order an unprovo ked, pre-emptive attack and the military occupation of a sovereign nation. I did so against the will of the United Nations, the majority of U.S.
citizens and the world community.

I have cut health care benefits for war veterans and support a cut in duty benefits for active duty troops and their families in wartime.

In my State of the Union Address, I lied about our reasons for attacking Iraq and then blamed the lies on our British friends.

I am the first President in history to have a majority of
Europeans (71%) view my presidency as the biggest threat to world peace and security.

I am supporting development of a nuclear "Tactical Bunker Buster,"a WMD.

I have so far failed to fulfill my pledge to bring Osama Bin Laden to justice.

RECORDS AND REFERENCES:

All records of my tenure as governor of Texas are now in my father's library, sealed and unavailable for public view.

All records of SEC investigations into my insider trading and my bankrupt companies are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view.

All records or minutes from meetings that I, or my Vice-President, attended regarding public energy policy are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public review.

Posted by Mike at 12:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Inland Empire offers more proof towards advancing a thesis proposed by Donnie Darko and Harvey: human adults dressed like bunny rabbits are really fucking creepy.

Also, David Lynch likes Beck? Who knew?

Posted by Victoria at 10:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)