Out of Rainbows

Presumably to make them feel better about themselves, folks have been asking for My Ego's opinion of the new Radiohead record, In Rainbows. First, lets address the nearly impossible set and setting with which to judge this record. While the 'out-of-nowhere' drop of the record earlier this month helped reduce some of the expected zeitgeist build-up of the ten-track mp3 download, there is little doubt that getting an unbiased listen is next to impossible. Besides, it seems any criticism of Radiohead is looked upon with utter disdain, scorn, and disbelief within the (lets call it "music-savvy") community. Open-minded, Radiohead fans are not.

Lets face it; Radiohead is without-a-doubt the most important band in the world--if the world you live in is one of constant fear of the Not-Yet, the "inevitable" End of Time as we know it. Of course, if your limited (unlike My Ego) construct of reality is so reductionist and limited as to think we're living the End. Wild fires in Malibu, Tsunamis, Katrina... the only difference between these calamities and those throughout history is the ability to capture them digitally, and cut them up into little tragic loops of despair and destruction that we can YouTube day and night. Not a generation goes by that doesn't believe they are seeing the End, and this truth will never change. Thinking we're the first and only is where the mistake lies. But more on the End in another post...

Or, if you're of the conscious-construct of Robert Nesta Marley, you may think something along the lines of "Have no fear for atomic energy/none of them can stop Time." My Ego akins this sentiment as a universal Truth, while "The infrastructure will collapse/Voltage spikes/Throw your keys in the bowl," is getting all a bit boring, don't you think? Whether we're here or not, Time will Ing. More on Ing in a future post...

Of course we have all sorts of references to love, desire, and even sexuality on In Rainbows, yet (and finally, a thesis?) there seems to be one (most) essential element lacking from the record: Melody.

Throughout musical history, from the East to the West, melody is the sign of Spirit in music; and what, after all, is Mus-ic, without Spirit/Melody. Really, how many of the In Rainbows tracks do you find yourself humming? Whistling while walking down the street?

Some tell My Ego this is because In Rainbows is a very 'complex' record, and it takes time to understand the rich layers and blah blah blah. Nothing, folks, is more complex than the simple. And Nothing more Beautiful than the Simplex. Woa wait a second, Ego. What's this about Spirit? What are you, some sort of religious fanatic? Yep. That's right. Religion and Spirituality are the same thing.

In fact, it seems that Thom has lost God. WHOA EGO, take it easy. God is a four letter word! For the faint of heart (meant quite literally), I'll use My Ego's alternate spelling, _0_.

Go ahead, I dare you to throw The Bends into your iPod, and have a good walk. In My Ego's never-humble opinion, The Bends is the Ultimate Radiohead record. Listen to those melodies; feel the attainment of the 'Simplex' and the cohesion of _0_ throughout. OK Computer, certainly one of the most incredible records ever recorded, certainly attains near _0_ levels, yet begins to strive for the complexity that eventually weaves its way through Kid A, Amnesiac, Theif, to the _0_-less experience that is In Rainbows.

Umm... Ego... isn't that entire paragraph just a subjective, opinionated rambling on what you enjoy, and therefore consider to be 'of' _0_.

I'm sorry, have you forgotten that this is My Ego?

mIe.