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Kid A, Radiohead Capital, October 2, 2000 Track Listing: 1. Everything in Its Right Place, 2. Kid A, 3. The National Anthem, 4. How to Disappear Completely, 5. Treefingers, 6. Optimistic, 7. In Limbo, 8. Idioteque, 9. Morning Bell, 10. Motion Picture Soundtrack Part I: Suits Dorothy is wearing a suit and sitting behind a big bad desk at some anonymous record company. She’s a CORPORATE WHORE. She opens up a package. It contains a few demos from a new album by Band X. She listens. Agitation builds. Dizzy with disgust. Drowning in her own ignorance. How exciting it is when artists abandon their safety nets—whatever it was that made them successful—and succumb entirely to the whim of inspiration. After all, who is the artist to stand in the way and edit inspiration in any way in order to fit certain expectations (even their own)? The artist is merely a vessel in charge of capturing and then channeling, with no translation required. True inspiration is best handled by delicate fingers. Neil Young was once sued by his own record company for making music that wasn’t “representative” of Neil Young. Thankfully, artist departures into brave new worlds are littered throughout the landscape of the history of art. One such departure was Radiohead’s blind leap of faith into a funky new world of rhythm-charged electronica, a backbone of the supersonic beats that led to the creation of Kid A. The first time I heard it, I wasn’t sure what to make of it, but that rush of not knowing where it was coming from was exciting. Thom Yorke was mumbling thoughts and phrases instead of belting out anthems. I couldn’t figure out what instruments were making the tripped out sounds. And in the confusion, everything was in its right place. The Saturday Night Live appearance only reaffirmed it. This brave new world was thrilling! All you had to do was follow. Straight to the poppy fields. Surrender Dorothy! Note: For Part II, see In Rainbows. |
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