Like eating ice cream after a lovely dinner.
February 18, 2013 12:30 PM Subscribe
AMOK [auto playing music], the debut album from "supergroup" Atoms for Peace (Thom Yorke and Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich (who did an AMA earlier today), with Flea, Joey Waronker, and Mauro Refosco), is streaming in its entirety ahead of its official release next week.
The inside of thom Yorkes head must be a scary place
posted by empath at 12:47 PM on February 18, 2013
posted by empath at 12:47 PM on February 18, 2013
Funny, I thought he'd already released under that name. Double checking and he used it as a track name on The Eraser, which is an album that I probably like more than a lot of recent Radiohead.
He should do a big Gorillaz style project with Aphex Twin or something.
posted by Artw at 12:47 PM on February 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
He should do a big Gorillaz style project with Aphex Twin or something.
posted by Artw at 12:47 PM on February 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
with Aphex Twin or something
✓ Kid A
posted by obscurator at 1:15 PM on February 18, 2013 [2 favorites]
✓ Kid A
posted by obscurator at 1:15 PM on February 18, 2013 [2 favorites]
I was hooked after 5 seconds. I love certain tracks off of The Eraser (the "glitchier" ones), and this combines the overall groove/songwriting/humanness of The Eraser with the glitchiness and out-there-itude of TKoL. I think it's the best of both, and competes with the best Radiohead albums.
posted by supercres at 1:40 PM on February 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by supercres at 1:40 PM on February 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
Kid A is more like an intersection with the early-'00s Berlin IDM/Morr Music scene. Not exactly Windowlicker.
posted by mykescipark at 1:40 PM on February 18, 2013
posted by mykescipark at 1:40 PM on February 18, 2013
Great so far
posted by Pruitt-Igoe at 2:30 PM on February 18, 2013
posted by Pruitt-Igoe at 2:30 PM on February 18, 2013
Oh man, I've been waiting so long for this, I'm now afraid to listen.
posted by nevercalm at 2:42 PM on February 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by nevercalm at 2:42 PM on February 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
You have nothing to worry about. Really good album.
posted by Pruitt-Igoe at 3:20 PM on February 18, 2013
posted by Pruitt-Igoe at 3:20 PM on February 18, 2013
How forward-thinking can it be if it hasn't changed much in 13 years, Thom?
I mean, I doubt you've achieved music's Ultimate Final Form right? So how come most of these songs would have sounded at home right next to tracks on Amnesiac?
Now mind you I am not at all suggesting that all music needs to be bleeding edge and blindingly new, but that's the role Thom has taken and yet his stuff has charted less growth from 2000 to 2013 than it did from 1993-1995.
Also most of these songs aren't terribly dissimilar to each other.
So why do I bother listening/posting?
I was a huge fan for over a decade and frankly I think this is the problem embedded in calculation versus inspiration.
posted by Senor Cardgage at 4:33 PM on February 18, 2013 [2 favorites]
I mean, I doubt you've achieved music's Ultimate Final Form right? So how come most of these songs would have sounded at home right next to tracks on Amnesiac?
Now mind you I am not at all suggesting that all music needs to be bleeding edge and blindingly new, but that's the role Thom has taken and yet his stuff has charted less growth from 2000 to 2013 than it did from 1993-1995.
Also most of these songs aren't terribly dissimilar to each other.
So why do I bother listening/posting?
I was a huge fan for over a decade and frankly I think this is the problem embedded in calculation versus inspiration.
posted by Senor Cardgage at 4:33 PM on February 18, 2013 [2 favorites]
I dunno. It seems like the tendencies towards Amnesiac-type songs have matured, so he's not doing weird stuff for its own sake anymore. It serves the song rather than the song serving the noises.
(Don't get me wrong; I love the noises. But here they're in harmony, so to speak, with the songwriting and riffs. And there are some dang good riffs, guitar and bass. Colin Greenwood is great, a perfectly solid bass player to go along with Jonny and Thom's antics, but man... To see Flea performing with Radiohead. That would be something.)
posted by supercres at 4:42 PM on February 18, 2013
(Don't get me wrong; I love the noises. But here they're in harmony, so to speak, with the songwriting and riffs. And there are some dang good riffs, guitar and bass. Colin Greenwood is great, a perfectly solid bass player to go along with Jonny and Thom's antics, but man... To see Flea performing with Radiohead. That would be something.)
posted by supercres at 4:42 PM on February 18, 2013
To see Flea performing with Radiohead. That would be something.
Watching him and Thom (and the rest) do Radiohead songs at Coachella was a thing of beauty.
posted by fishmasta at 4:48 PM on February 18, 2013
Watching him and Thom (and the rest) do Radiohead songs at Coachella was a thing of beauty.
posted by fishmasta at 4:48 PM on February 18, 2013
That Coachella performance was fiery and vital. I really wished some of that would make it to the record but this just feels like yet another batch of songs where Thom confuses "cold", "Kraut" and "synth" with evidence of pushing the form forward.
posted by Senor Cardgage at 4:58 PM on February 18, 2013
posted by Senor Cardgage at 4:58 PM on February 18, 2013
Jonny Greenwood's scores have been the only really interesting Radiohead-related music in like a decade. Thom and the group have been creatively stagnating since Hail to the Thief - a stellar song here and there, but giving off the overall feeling that their time (when they seemed like the only working band that mattered) has come and gone. They should go into hiding and release an album 13 years from now, MBV style.
posted by naju at 5:24 PM on February 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by naju at 5:24 PM on February 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
Stream seems to be borked now. Every track is coming up with a 404 error.
posted by Popular Ethics at 6:22 PM on February 18, 2013
posted by Popular Ethics at 6:22 PM on February 18, 2013
cargo cult?
posted by panaceanot at 2:46 AM on February 19, 2013
posted by panaceanot at 2:46 AM on February 19, 2013
Jonny Greenwood's scores have been the only really interesting Radiohead-related music in like a decade.
Huh. In Rainbows is actually up there with my favorite Radiohead records, vying with Kid A for spot number 2, behind OK. The record is a blend of utterly gorgeous and interesting harmonies, lush orchestrations, complex meter - all that good radiohead stuff, mixed with a return to some of the pop and rock that is really Thom's forte.
Your favorite band sucks etc etc etc.
I think the arguments about progress and moving forward, et al., are just red herrings. I mean, everyone said the same type of shit about Stravinsky after the Rite, Shostakovich after the 5th, and on and on. There is a constant tension with great and visionary artists between the appearance of formal progress and the desire to be expressive. At some point in an artist's career, it becomes a situation they simply cannot win, no matter what they do. Everyone has different expectations as to what your evolution should be. Most artists stop producing good music altogether a la Phil Collins or Paul McCartney. But Thom Yorke is still making great fucking music.
In a lot of ways, King of Limbs and this record, obviously quite related, make perfect sense if you view Radiohead's oeuvre in a geist-esque way. They manage to blend a lot of the more experimental sounds from things like Amnesiac with more pop-like construction. Thom Yorke loves pop, and he's great at it, so there are, ahem, no surprises there.
What's interesting about this record is it really lays bare a lot of what the other band members offer, and brings to the fore how all of them are really critical to the Radiohead sound. Thom's vocals and songwriting certainly shine through, and the whole thing "sounds" like Radiohead - the mix, the beats, etc., because of Nigel. And you sort of get the impression that Flea is in a way imitating Colin, or perhaps the music just lends itself to that type of bass, because it's Thom and Nigel, and certainly the bass has that less melodic, pluckier, almost ska-ish Flea-ness about it. But the record lacks some of the really interesting harmony and rocking that Jonny and Ed bring. While the rhythm is great, it doesn't have some of the drive that Phil brings.
That said, it's still a great record. It isn't a radiohead record, and that's the point. It's utterly danceable, yet still has that morose, soaring quality that makes everything Thom Yorke does so awesome. I dunno, for me, at the end of the day, this is still really good music.
posted by Lutoslawski at 9:55 AM on February 19, 2013 [2 favorites]
Huh. In Rainbows is actually up there with my favorite Radiohead records, vying with Kid A for spot number 2, behind OK. The record is a blend of utterly gorgeous and interesting harmonies, lush orchestrations, complex meter - all that good radiohead stuff, mixed with a return to some of the pop and rock that is really Thom's forte.
Your favorite band sucks etc etc etc.
I think the arguments about progress and moving forward, et al., are just red herrings. I mean, everyone said the same type of shit about Stravinsky after the Rite, Shostakovich after the 5th, and on and on. There is a constant tension with great and visionary artists between the appearance of formal progress and the desire to be expressive. At some point in an artist's career, it becomes a situation they simply cannot win, no matter what they do. Everyone has different expectations as to what your evolution should be. Most artists stop producing good music altogether a la Phil Collins or Paul McCartney. But Thom Yorke is still making great fucking music.
In a lot of ways, King of Limbs and this record, obviously quite related, make perfect sense if you view Radiohead's oeuvre in a geist-esque way. They manage to blend a lot of the more experimental sounds from things like Amnesiac with more pop-like construction. Thom Yorke loves pop, and he's great at it, so there are, ahem, no surprises there.
What's interesting about this record is it really lays bare a lot of what the other band members offer, and brings to the fore how all of them are really critical to the Radiohead sound. Thom's vocals and songwriting certainly shine through, and the whole thing "sounds" like Radiohead - the mix, the beats, etc., because of Nigel. And you sort of get the impression that Flea is in a way imitating Colin, or perhaps the music just lends itself to that type of bass, because it's Thom and Nigel, and certainly the bass has that less melodic, pluckier, almost ska-ish Flea-ness about it. But the record lacks some of the really interesting harmony and rocking that Jonny and Ed bring. While the rhythm is great, it doesn't have some of the drive that Phil brings.
That said, it's still a great record. It isn't a radiohead record, and that's the point. It's utterly danceable, yet still has that morose, soaring quality that makes everything Thom Yorke does so awesome. I dunno, for me, at the end of the day, this is still really good music.
posted by Lutoslawski at 9:55 AM on February 19, 2013 [2 favorites]
I'd love to be a fly on the wall to find out what the people involved really think about this. Are the members of Radiohead a little tired of indulging the electronic angle, so they're happy to have him go explore it with a different band? Is there some reason Yorke feels he can't explore this within Radiohead, especially considering how they've sampled and sequenced and used machines in their work before? Is Radiohead on the decline for whatever reason (just time is usually enough) and this is what it takes to keep his interest?
posted by secretseasons at 6:33 PM on March 9, 2013
posted by secretseasons at 6:33 PM on March 9, 2013
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I think I liked The Eraser better, though.
posted by Windigo at 12:32 PM on February 18, 2013