Kid A: A Mini-review, of sorts... part 2
So, last time, I ended with Optimistic. Now the remainder of the tracks, followed by my big-picture
take on Kid A.
In Limbo: The sort of song I could almost imagine Redline writing on an incredibly good day.
Impressive feel for the riff, the 6/4 changing to 8/4 when the verse comes in, that time signature
shift whacking me in the side of my head like a baseball bat. And then another whack moving back to the
"chorus" bit... this goes on throughout the song. A song which gets better each time I hear it.
Idioteque: One of those songs which I listen to and say, "This sounds nothing like a Radiohead
song," and then discover that it really does, and that's what makes it work so well. Example of the
perfect note: when the chorus comes in and the lyrics first hit "Here I'm alive, Everything all of the
time," it's the subtle harmony behind that one then that makes it perfect. Lyrics are typically
literate, harrowing, and brilliant.
Morning Bell: Interesting 5/4 signature. A good song, but for some reason, much like The
National Anthem, this hasn't yet grabbed me. A good, slightly creepy ending.
Motion Picture Soundtrack: This is a very good song which I would have arranged very differently.
Perhaps it's the lush, flowing harp and strings, perhaps it's the tones of the organ. I don't know....
It is one of the two songs on the album which I sometimes skip. Much like Melatonin on the Airbag -
How am I Driving? EP. I think I'd've mainly stuck with just an acoustic guitar with this one...
Overall: Kid A seems to be a bit like the next step world after OK Computer. OK Computer is the spirit-crushing
present, and this is a glimpse of the future. OK Computer was incisive, cutting to the heart of a
soulless suburbia, the horrible existence of materialism. And it was vivid. It was expressionistic.
In a way, it is Joy Divisions' Atrocity Exhibition, "This is the way, step inside..." and Kid A is
a mysterious time in the future, in a sense a musical prophetic interlude. When we get to the future,
we'll see some of these disjointed images, and find them familiar for the first time. Perhaps
somewhat like the biblical Revelation, where we recognize the prophetic descriptions of monstrous
locusts and flying beasts as war helicopters. OK Computer looks like the here-and-now. Kid A looks
like tomorrow.
Damn, did I forget to post anything about wallpapers when I promised on 4 October? Ugh. Well, to cover
up that mistake, I've removed that durned reference on the 4 October archive page. But then, this'll
show up on the 6 October archive page. Ah, well.
