POLLD LIKE SARDINES IN A CRUSHD TIN BOX - ILM Artist Poll #56 - RADIOHEAD

1. Rank your top 20 Radiohead tracks. There’s a list of songs by Radiohead on Wikipedia which I’ve pasted below, it’s looks pretty comprehensive to me but I’ve added the live piano version of Like Spinning Plates.

Normal scoring: 1:40, 2:36, 3:33, 4:30, 5:28, 6:26, 7:25, 8:24, 9:23, 10:22, 11:21, 12:20, 13:19, 14:18, 15:17, 16:16, 17:15, 18:14, 19:13, 20:12

2. Albums: rank your top five Radiohead albums/EPs.

Send your ballots to me at nathanwoolls AT gmail.com.

Deadline is midnight UK time on Sunday September 7th 2014.

The songs:

(Nice Dream)
15 Step
2 + 2 = 5
4 Minute Warning
A Punchup at a Wedding
A Reminder
A Wolf at the Door
Airbag
All I Need
Anyone Can Play Guitar
Backdrifts
Banana Co.
Bangers + Mash
Bishop's Robes
Black Star
Bloom
Blow Out
Bodysnatchers
Bones
Bullet Proof..I Wish I Was
Climbing Up the Walls
Codex
Coke Babies
Creep
Cut a Hole
Cuttooth
Dollars and Cents
Down Is the New Up
Electioneering
Everything in Its Right Place
Exit Music (For a Film)
Faithless, the Wonder Boy
Fake Plastic Trees
Fast-Track
Faust Arp
Feral
Fitter Happier
Fog
Follow Me Around
Full Stop
Gagging Order
Give Up the Ghost
Go Slowly
Go to Sleep
Harry Patch (In Memory Of)
High and Dry
House of Cards
How Can You Be Sure?
How Do You?
How I Made My Millions
How to Disappear Completely
Hunting Bears
I Am a Wicked Child
I Am Citizen Insane
I Can't
I Froze Up
I Might Be Wrong
I Promise
I Want None of This
I Will
Identikit
Idioteque
In Limbo
India Rubber
Inside My Head
Jigsaw Falling into Place
Just
Karma Police
Kid A
Killer Cars
Kinetic
Knives Out
Last Flowers
Let Down
Lewis (Mistreated)
Life in a Glasshouse
Lift
Like Spinning Plates
Like Spinning Plates (live piano version)
Little by Little
Lotus Flower
Lozenge of Love
Lucky
Lull
Lurgee
Man O' War (Big Boots)
Maquiladora
Meeting in the Aisle
Melatonin
Million Dollar Question
MK 1
MK 2
Molasses
Morning Bell
Morning Bell/Amnesiac
Morning Mr Magpie
Motion Picture Soundtrack
My Iron Lung
Myxomatosis
No Surprises
Nothing Touches Me
Nude
Open The Floodgates
Optimistic
Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box
Palo Alto
Paperbag Writer
Paranoid Android
Pearly*
Permanent Daylight
Phillipa Chicken
Planet Telex
Polyethylene (Parts 1 & 2)
Pop Is Dead
Prove Yourself
Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors
Punchdrunk Lovesick Singalong
Pyramid Song
Reckoner
Ripcord
Sail to the Moon
Scatterbrain
Separator
Sit Down. Stand Up
Skirting on the Surface
Spooks
Staircase
Stop Whispering
Street Spirit (Fade Out)
Stupid Car
Subterranean Homesick Alien
Sulk
Supercollider
Talk Show Host
The Amazing Sounds of Orgy
The Bends
The Butcher
The Daily Mail
The Gloaming
The National Anthem
The Present Tense
The Tourist
The Trickster
There There
These Are My Twisted Words
Thinking About You
Trans-Atlantic Drawl
Treefingers
True Love Waits
Up on the Ladder
Vegetable
Videotape
We Suck Young Blood
Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
Where Bluebirds Fly
Where I End and You Begin
Worrywort
Yes I Am
You
You and Whose Army?
You Never Wash Up After Yourself

the bends in any order you like, creep, fin

pretty sure that nothing from The Bends (or Creep) will make my ballot.

Cutting to 20 won't be too hard, but ranking is going to impossible. I have four or five that absolutely have to be my #1.

pretty sure that nothing from The Bends (or Creep) will make my ballot.

― charlie h, Sunday, August 24, 2014 8:04 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

This will be interesting. I don't care about anything post-Kid A, so I'm curious to see how the results will look.

Been looking up a few of the songs I didn't recognize from that list - "Identikit" (which has no studio version so far, I don't think?) is a cool tune.

Yeah there's a few unreleased songs on that list but they have been played live quite a few times so people may want to vote for them.

never heard "worrywort" before today. tune.

19/20 of the tracks on my ballot are probably gonna be boringly predictable, so allow me to rep for this OK Computer-era b-side/EP track:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21TmsT1qsPo

absolutely gobsmacked this hasn't been done before

think my policy nowadays is 'hate Radiohead, like (some of) their music'

don't think I should contribute

it's been a while so i guess i'll have to listen to everything again. it'll be nice to listen to kid a/amnesiac again but i'm not looking forward to the prospect of, say, the in rainbows bonus disc.

actually i'll be interested to see how i feel about some of the albums because my dislike of in rainbows seems to constantly intensify despite not listening to it for years.

might be worth voting in this to do 'in rainbows' down, yeah

think my policy nowadays is 'hate Radiohead, like (some of) their music'

don't think I should contribute

― imago, Sunday, August 24, 2014 10:49 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah that's kind of feel and i'm definitely voting, getting my perspective on the group, standing up for the songs that i think could use it.

I'm pedaling backwards, starting my listening with The King of Limbs. Hmmm...yeah, this is definitely just as dull as I remember.

people who think TKOL is dull but unquestioningly rep for In Rainbows basically defy my comprehension

tempted to send a ballot with just "Faust Arp"

I stand by having no use for studio TKOL, but digging the From the Basement recordings quite a bit

this will be fun, have no idea how to cut it to just 20 tracks.

i'm curious if any thom yorke/jonny greenwood solo tracks would make the cut if they were included

probably not, i guess. i've always been a big fan of the bodysong soundtrack, but it's tough to vote for one standout song from it that makes sense in isolation

rip phil selway

Through together a quick ballot without any relistening - quite tough to get it down to 20 tracks, and the ordering felt pretty random, but feel like the top half of the songs ballot chose itself pretty easily.

Threw together, even.

Why only 20 votes? I feel like I'm murdering my own children.

At least 10 of the songs I don't want to leave off are b-sides but pragmatically speaking they are the ones that have the least chance of making it.

Staircase, Worrywort, Fog, 4 minute warning, Talk Show Host, A Reminder.... this is too hard.

Why only 20 votes? I feel like I'm murdering my own children.

― Moka, Sunday, August 24, 2014 3:15 PM (9 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

are there any Radiohead songs about murdering your own children? there's gotta be, like, at least 6, right? subpoll?

Fog will def be on my ballot

"Cut the kids in half" (morning bell)

Looking forward to this one

Why only 20 votes? I feel like I'm murdering my own children.

― Moka, Sunday, August 24, 2014 3:15 PM (9 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

are there any Radiohead songs about murdering your own children? there's gotta be, like, at least 6, right? subpoll?

― birdman junior dad (some dude),

I think only Fog and Morning Bell can qualify, but they're more about divorce and child neglect than murder.

I voted for a few b-sides, hoping others will too...

I definitely will; some of the OKC b-sides are among their best work.

I'm voting for How I Made My Millions, which remains one of the best unrealesed tracks I've heard.

There's Wolf At The Door and I Will, but I think those are more other people murdering your children.

I'm going to have to vote in this, aren't I, to stop all these people who ~don't even liiiiike~ Radiohead from fucking this up?

people who think TKOL is dull but unquestioningly rep for In Rainbows basically defy my comprehension

This is pretty much my opinion. Why is it incomprehensible? The two albums are pretty different.

Having just re-listened to both, yeah, they're definitely different. But they also strike me as being the same degree of meh: on IR, their approach to the standard guitar-bass-drums instrumentation shows a complete lack of character, while on TKOL said lack of character/personality is applied to electronics. And on both, Yorke stays in his comfort zone and can't/won't challenge himself (or his/their audience).

Working my way through at the moment. 'Knives Out' is possibly the most miserable song ever.

That's one of my favourites, will probably be in my top 10.

The Captain Of Her Heart is my obvious #1, but I'll have to go back and listen to the rest to fill my ballot.

good time for this poll, the end of summer and all that.

...Coming after a band who famously covered "Surfin' Bird"

did Lift ever come out proper?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3-4fK8h8ig

Shit, this is going to be hard.

Lift never got a release, no.

MaudAddam, my first thought was that Palo Alto was going to be the only non-album track to place in my list - and then I saw your post. Awesome. That song is massive!

Amnesiac was the jump-the-shark moment for me

or Hail to the Thief maybe, Amnesiac had "Pyramid Song" at least

don't think i'll be re-listening to anything for the purposes of this poll, because these days i'm kinda permanently all Radiohead-ed out, but i'm still super excited about voting in this and suspect it'll be a fairly painless process given that i've already heard all the music and can recall how pretty much all of it sounds.

most of the way through pablo honey, god this drum sound is so bad, it's driving me mental. also thom yorke just talked about playing with himself and it was very uncomfortable.
creep will probably sneak into my ballot, i was suprised how much i still enjoyed it (maybe being surrounded by awful post-grunge and post-u2 helped)

also is anything on the bonus disc of pablo honey worth listening to
i think i already know the answer but i thought i should ask

*bonus disc of the collectors edition that is

bonus disc has (versions of) 3 songs I voted for that aren't on pablo honey, so I hope so. Not sure I've listened to any of those songs for at least 5 years though, so I could be wrong. It also has a bunch of stuff I wouldn't want to sit through.

In Rainbows is the only one I ever listen to these days. Played it a couple of times just this week.

Amnesiac was the jump-the-shark moment for me

or Hail to the Thief maybe, Amnesiac had "Pyramid Song" at least

― nova, Monday, August 25, 2014 4:01 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

no, HTTT was the final glorious 'throw everything we've got at the wall' moment of generosity & excitement

FYI

Radiohead - Kid A / Amnesiac Poll
The Radiohead Albums Poll

best version of Fog, with our Thom in good fooling at the beginning

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWucA7e-LRg

Trying to push the number of OKC-era songs on my ballot below nine. That's when Radiohead were great though. :/

Reckon I'll have none from PH, 1 from The Bends and it'll be pretty evenly divided from thereon out.

By the way, Supercollider:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iFS22yyXj8

Right now I'm looking at 5 Bends, 7 OK Computer (feeling very boring here, but this is the album on the basis of which I call myself a fan), 4 Kid A, 1 I Might Be Wrong, 1 In Rainbows, 2 b-sides.

0 Creep

I predict Creep will place, but fairly low.

I am v v tempted to vote for nothing, nothing at all off OK Computer, just to be contrarian.

If I can be arsed to participate by the cutoff point my votes are going to be heavily biased towards OK Computer, HTTT and In Rainbows since they're the only ones are actually any good most of the way through (imo). TKOL was so dull I don't think I've actually listened to this band since.

Can we vote for From the Basement versions? I'm not that into the album version of Bloom, for example, but love the FTB reading.

I really like that version of "Morning Mr. Magpie". It's a lot more explicitly indebted to Talking Heads.

I only have one OKC track on my ballot, and I think only 3 post-OKC.

Oh shit I almist missed this. Cant wait!

I've only been able to cut one song from OK Computer so far. It might be my favorite album of all time.
I'm still working on it tho.

Ballot sent, ranking fairly arbitrary. Decided against including any alternate versions of songs.

HTTT has some clunkers--a few too many wispy ballads--but overall that record holds up real well. The first song rocks my proverbial socks off once it gets going.

that is the album i have listened to recently and you are right Hail to the Thief holds up really well. it is just too long is my only complaint.

Could lose We Suck Young Blood and Myxamotosis and would be fine.

There's a Thom compiled alternate tracklisting floating about the web that omits Backdrifts and Punch Up, two of my faves on it!

I Will was the one I couldn't get through.

I liked "We Suck Young Blood". Felt very audacious and cool that such a big band would release a track recalling a Brecht/Weill piece on an album in 2003. OTOH, that album was were I sort of got off the bus. I did purchase the next two (and The Eraser) out of duty I guess. I still haven't actually opened TKOL.

Could lose We Suck Young Blood and Myxamotosis and would be fine.

There's a Thom compiled alternate tracklisting floating about the web that omits Backdrifts and Punch Up, two of my faves on it!

― the joke should be over once the kid is eaten. (chap), martes 26 de agosto de 2014 2:35 (24 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

What!? Myxomatosis is the best song in that album!

Felt very audacious and cool that such a big band would release a track recalling a Brecht/Weill piece on an album in 2003.

And a Charles Mingus piece:

http://youtu.be/O9BqdhhFUsc

I got off the bus with HTTT too. It just felt so average. There was no tension in their music anymore.

No tension in There There is quite a statement.

Practically every song on HTTT is defined by tension

Sensing Ok Computer is going to take a beating here.

HTTT is definitely too long, Thom Yorke himself once made a post somewhere with his revised version that trims a great part of it. I posted this on the playing god thread and noone really cared about it but I'll repost it here either way.

PLAYING GOD: Hail to the Thief

Actually Thom Yorke himself once played god with this one and posted an alternate tracklist to it in the band's blog. Here's his version:

there there
the gloaming
sail to the moon
sit down. stand up
go to sleep
whereiendandubegin
scatterbrain
2+2=5
myxomatosis
a wolf at the door

He solves two of the album's main problems. It's length is one of them. The album really benefits from cutting a couple of songs off of it and specially if one of the songs is 'We Suck Young Blood'. That's the second one.

I have a couple problems with his alt tracklist, though: A) He rearranged the tracklist in a way that you lose the opening one-two punch of '2+2=5' and 'sit down' which is one of my favorite moments in the album. B) He removed 'Backdrifts' which is one of the few fun, light moments in the album and a personal favorite of mine. I also kind of hate 'go to sleep' except for Johnny's solo at the end of it but I'm always bored by the time it arrives. I'd much rather have the b-side 'I am a wicked child' as a substitute, it kind of has the same country-rock feel only more kraut. It's not very remarkable but it gets the job done. Also love 'the gloaming' so throwing it in there to balance some of the removals on the bottom half. You can easily take them out if you want for a 10 track album. Here's my take then:

1. 2+2=5
2. Sit Down Stand Up
3. Sail to the Moon
4. Backdrifts
5. I Am A Wicked Child
6. Where I End and You Begin
7. Gagging Order
8. The Gloaming
9. There There
10. Myxomatosis
11. Scatterbrain
12. A Wolf at the Door

― Moka, Wednesday, June 19, 2013

So, yeah, the track order feels wrong to me but I pretty much agree with Thom's 10 track HTTT.

I'd be willing to lose 'Gagging Order' from my alt tracklist for Punch Up since it seems to be a popular one among some of the album's fans. I think it meanders too much but I don't hate it.

made it through all their pre-OKC stuff and have a solid list of 9 that i feel good about, but i know what's coming and i'm getting the feeling only 1 or 2 are going to remain in the end. i'm sure it'll feel pretty ordinary cutting 'talk show host' so i hope it sneaks in.

tempted to send a ballot with just "Faust Arp"

― Euler, Sunday, August 24, 2014 5:26 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

He removed 'Backdrifts' which is one of the few fun, light moments in the album and a personal favorite of mine.

I love Backdrifts, but it doesn't sound fun & light to me, more stark & nervy! Go To Sleep (which I also like, but not as much) is much more jolly.

yeah i was gonna say that whole section is the dark and broody bit for me.

brooding, not broody.

and i don't like the 'double opener' on HTTT very much; just feels disjointed.

Both good songs in their own right, but they are too structurally similar to belong right next to each other imo.

wow.... just going down this list is giving me MAJOR nostalgia pangs. Really feels like I'm polling the work of two entirely different bands though. How am I supposed to compare 'Faithless the Wonder Boy' to 'Give Up the Ghost' for example?

it would have been better to open the second side of HTTT with Sit Down Stand Up.

No tension in There There is quite a statement.

― Van Horn Street, Monday, August 25, 2014 10:42 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

That might be my favorite song on the record, but not by much; that album sounds like a band doing an impression of Radiohead. In a way it reminds me of Richard Pryor's post-burn material: everything seems to be in place, and you want to like it, but there's some small element missing -- timing, maybe -- and it feels like the center is empty.

yeah it really dips in the middle for me, that album. i like many of the songs taken on their own but i never felt like it sat together so well, especially when an album like OK Computer is such a masterful example of sequencing.

I suppose HTTT is good on its own terms, roughly equal with TKOL, but for some reason it's an album I'm never able to hear except as a disappointment. I don't load TKOL with that same baggage.

I don't get the sense there's any kind of consensus, so I'm genuinely curious as to what's going to be up there

I am gonna vote for the whole of HTTT (minus We Suck Young Blood and Punchup At A Wedding because Thom OTM) and this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5JWH3dXYis

Seriously, I do get the hate for Pablo Honey, but this probably still one of my top 10 Radiohead tracks, 21+ years later or whatever.

I don't get the sense there's any kind of consensus, so I'm genuinely curious as to what's going to be up there

― Turtleneck Work Solutions (Nasty, Brutish & Short)

Yep. Though I've a hunch either Pyramid Song or Paranoid Android will be no 1.

I love Blow Out (similar chord formation to 'house of cards'?) and am fond of a number of songs on PH. Actually looking at my long-list of selections I think a good chunk of my choices will be pre-Kid A B-sides I used to have on a bootleg called Oxford's Angels and have neglected for a long time.

I think There There is in with a good chance of being top three.

"We Suck Young Blood" was the leaked song that made me buy Hail to the Thief the day it was released and is one of my favorite songs on the album.

yeah i feel that maybe a somewhat redone 'blow out' wouldn't sound too out of place on the last couple of albums

Reckoner maybe top 5?

I've told this story a million times but I'll tell it again: I was working in a record shop when Creep came out, and the video was constantly on the video screens. And my impression of them at the time was just "oh, third wave shoegazer grunge wannabees, whatever" until I put the promo album on, and heard Blow Out for the first time. I have been a fan ever since. That really was the song that convinced me they were more than just a one-hit wonder, and I do still hear echos what they would become in those jazzy chords.

i think i'm def going to vote for that one. just thinking about it is making me want to relive the indie nights at Hatfield Forum (they were pretty awful, but still)

i'm hoping someone else will join me in my quest to get either Fog or Permanent Daylight into the results

I like 'A Reminder' - such a slight piece.

Rock poll's got me wanting 100 votes for every poll now.

i think airbag will be #1
because how could you not vote for airbag?
it's not possible.

I am not voting for Airbag.

well there goes my theory then

I'm voting for it, but it won't make my top 10.

But then, "Fitter, Happier" will make my top 10, so don't listen to me.

Literally every single one of Airbag's B-sides is better than Airbag.

I love Airbag, it was about fourth on my list.

There are not many songs more thrilling than Airbag. It pulls me in (and into the album) every single time.

I like Airbag. There are 20+ other Radiohead songs I like more though.

the rest of Airbag/How am I Driving does very little for me. the tracks are either awkwardly sitting in between the bends and okc (well apart from polyethylene which sits there quite nicely) or else they're just kinda halfbaked.

lull will probably be the only okc b-side to make my ballot.

As long as we're repping for Pablo Honey cuts, allow me to point out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rag8gqdOBJ4

There are not many songs more thrilling than Airbag. It pulls me in (and into the album) every single time.

When I had OK Computer in heavy rotation, I started skipping "Airbag" after about two weeks and probably haven't heard it more than a handful of times since.

The jingle bells ruin Airbag in my opinion.

i often find myself doubting ok computer and am compelled to re-listen and re-evaluate. and everytime i do this, the drums kick in on airbag and i feel like a heathen for ever doubting it.

but then the album peters out with the last couple of tracks and i'm doomed to repeat this process forever

I'll often skip to SHA, which is (spoiler alert) the number one Radiohead song, and end up listening from there, but Airbag is indispensable.

The jingle bells ruin Airbag in my opinion.

― alanbatman (abanana)

Nah, I think they work.

Yeah love those bells.

9 ballots in and a few songs are showing themselves as frontrunners.

As long as we're repping for Pablo Honey cuts, allow me to point out literally the worst song on the album

Ok "You" is pretty bad too. I would say that almost every song on it has at least a faint echo of what they would go on to do, even if it's just of the "street spirit" coldplay's second cousin type rubbish. But "How Do You" just sounds like horrible splintery 90s guitars and adolescent yelping.

btw if High And Dry reaches the countdown I reserve the right to call y'all earless

I love High and Dry. That (by way of the music video) was definitely my first exposure to Radiohead. I was 11 or so. I remember because, not long later, at my cousin's house, I found his copy of The Bends, and really wanted to hear that song again. The CD actually in the case was Downward Spiral, so instead my virgin ears got to hear that God is dead and no one cares.

High and Dry more like coldplay's first cousin, sibling even.

sibling? it is coldplay's stone-cold benighted parent

and yet it's still better than every single song Coldplay did, largely by dint of having a competent rhythm section and a singer capable of singing

well yeah

jeez I'm gonna have to vote aren't I. ok, thinking cap on

even if it's just of the "street spirit" coldplay's second cousin type rubbish

oof, extremely harsh (on street spirit obviously, not the pablo honey rubbish)

just sent my ballot. oddly enough, i found it more difficult to rank the albums than the tracks. the ballot for the tracks is always kind of weird because they're not a true ranking of my favorites since i want to give more points to tracks that i think belong in the rundown but are unlikely to get many votes. so it ends up being a hodgepodge of a true ranking and a strategic vote.

albums are just my faves in order, though, and i'm still not sure about what i really think. i know that i like amnesiac more than hail to the thief, even though there are more songs on HTTT that made my ballot than amnesiac. amnesiac just flows better as an album for some reason (perhaps those talking about the need to cut the worst songs off of HTTT have a point, although no one can agree on what the worst songs are (personally i'd cut scatterbrain, backdrifts, sail to the moon, and replace the studio version of gloaming with a more recent live version, which kicks ass)).

i also think that the king of limbs deserves a spot. i think that, like HTTT, it will be more appreciated as time goes on. i think i got a little high once and wrote one of my worst posts ever (and that's saying a lot), but the From the Basement version of the TKOL songs really altered my opinion. i still prefer the basement versions (i described the studio versions, shittily, as "like an airbrushed senior yearbook photo of your friend where his acne is removed from the image using photoshop, where the live performance is like a candid Instagram shot of the same guy hanging out in your kitchen"), but now i hear control and maturity in TKOL where i only heard dullness before. i dunno. i had a similar progression over time with sonic youth's later albums.

are ppl bothering with the live album?

putting together a list, going through stuff I've not heard for years & quite charmed by nonsense like india rubber

'True Love Waits' will presumably pick up a vote or two.

I'd rather we waited another ten years or so to do this poll, as The Bends and OKC both still seem locked in a very specific time for me, both personally and 'objectively', so it's hard to listen to them as the me of 2014. More distance and I think I'll be able to put together a ballot.

might do a troll ballot that's just 'Pop is Dead' at #1 tho

The Bends came out, like, 20 years ago! How much longer do you want us to wait? Until everybody involved is dead?

I meant IMBW as an album. seems repetitious to put it in. I definitely found it weird re-listening to radiohead initially but I think I'm over it now

maybe what I'm really saying is that I can't listen to Radiohead properly because they make me feel old, so if we just wait till I'm young again then we'll be good to go

True Love Waits is one of their best song IMO

generally radiohead's live stuff stays close to the studio version (and the I Might be Wrong live disc documents that) so it's not something i listen to frequently. there are some songs, though, that are better live imo. unprompted, here's my list:

i might be wrong (the live version benefits from the faster tempo)
everything in its right place (the last song of the set/encore version with the extended ending)
the gloaming (i don't know why they didn't include the live version on the HTTT collector's edition bonus disc. it gets a subtle rearrangement that immensely improves it)
idioteque (some versions, at least, particularly the 2000/2001 era when they occasionally used an alternate electronic snare sound that POPPED)
and as mentioned earlier, pretty much all of TKOL is better live

Kid A is really interesting live, taken out of the crèche and given some real some acoustic space.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2MOCH_SIDE

i had a similar progression over time with sonic youth's later albums.

yeah, there's a comfort and confidence to both that i find appealing, they became more modestly themselves, the songs are more lived-in. don't feel the need to revisit much pre-HTTT radiohead for this reason and feel the inventiveness of the kid a/amnesiac era is overstated. KoL was a season's running album for me; it's the perfect length for it. "in bloom" will be in my top 10, it's a stunner imo.

a stunner about the planet dying ;_;

generally radiohead's live stuff stays close to the studio version (and the I Might be Wrong live disc documents that) so it's not something i listen to frequently. there are some songs, though, that are better live imo. unprompted, here's my list:

i might be wrong (the live version benefits from the faster tempo)
everything in its right place (the last song of the set/encore version with the extended ending)
the gloaming (i don't know why they didn't include the live version on the HTTT collector's edition bonus disc. it gets a subtle rearrangement that immensely improves it)
idioteque (some versions, at least, particularly the 2000/2001 era when they occasionally used an alternate electronic snare sound that POPPED)
and as mentioned earlier, pretty much all of TKOL is better live

― Karl Malone, Tuesday, August 26, 2014 4:00 PM (23 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

That was something I found disappointing about their shows; they stuck so close to the studio arrangements that the songs didn't get a chance to really lift off. But those examples (although I never saw them do any TKOL or HTTT stuff, as I last saw them in 2001) are otm. I'd add "National Anthem" to the list, but yeah, "Everything" and "Idiotheque" were brilliant live.

That said, I Might Be Wrong was a huge disappointment. The mix/recording sounded awful, not even as good as the 2000/2001 MTV concert broadcasts (or, for that matter, their 2000 SNL appearance).

the i might be wrong release was kinda baffling. only 8 songs, only one song that was unreleased (true love waits, a song i never really liked but i suppose its inclusion satisfied the longstanding pleas of lots of radiohead fans at the time), a mix that was worse than several widely available bootlegs at the time, etc. in retrospect i guess it just fulfilled part of their contract with EMI/Capitol and presumably they didn't spend more than an hour thinking about it

They should release their FTB sessions as a live double album at one point. They sound 100x times better than the IMBW album and they're actually worth hearing as the KoL ones sound like a whole different beast live.

i'm not sure how much clarity there is on this, but did Clive Deamer (the portishead/radiohead second drummer) join up with them after TKOL had been recorded, or before? and is he purely a tour musician or is he now part of the songwriting process?

20 tracks seems overkill to me, but I'll do it.

listening to "Airbag" for the first time in a long time; this is a decent song but I remembered why I always skipped it (I was and remain obsessed with Paranoid Android)

I missed the National Anthem off my ballot. Dang.

I listen to the Easy Star All stars version of OKc more these days than the original.
Also had trouble ranking the albums whereas picking songs was fairly easy.

'let down' might win this

Nah I don't like it.

Although I like the easy star version loads which is weird.

National Anthem and Karma Police are two tracks I never want to hear again. Too many high school bands covered KP.

Planet Telex (Hexidecimal Dub) is ridiculously great. Unfortunately something like three people have ever heard it. Even the song labelled that way on the "Towering Above the Rest" bootleg is actually just another copy of Planet Telex (Hexidecimal Mix).

Identikit is a tune.

Although I like the easy star version loads which is weird.

― Scary Darey (dog latin)

Yeah the Easy Stars version of Let Down is great! Totally sounds like a really good lost Toots classic. Other cuts off Radiodread I really enjoy are Airbag and Electioneering.

Yeah Def sounds like a toots song. Is it him guesting? Can't remember. Always find it's the tracks I like least off the original that I enjoy most on the easy star version.

Voting from yet unreleased songs feels wrong to me, there's so much to choose from... why waste a vote on Identikit or such when we haven't heard them properly yet. Videotape and Like Spinning Plates live are wildly different from the release versions. Maybe you love Identikit now but when it gets released you might hate it. It applies on the inverse as well.

Planet Telex (Hexidecimal Dub) is ridiculously great. Unfortunately something like three people have ever heard it. Even the song labelled that way on the "Towering Above the Rest" bootleg is actually just another copy of Planet Telex (Hexidecimal Mix).

― rushomancy

whoa! where can I find it? A quick search throws the Hexidecimal mix (which I love madly) but nothing about the dub version which is weird for a band as big as Radiohead. There's even some talk about the dub version in here but noone has heard it either:
http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/radiohead-planet-telex-hexidecimal-dub-does-this-actually-exist.158082/

There's an hexidecimal dub version on grooveshark but it seems to sound just like the Hexidecimal mix. Are you sure it's a different mix?

can't see anything of King Of Limbs making the Top 20. it's pretty terrible iirc although i haven't given it a listen in ages.

I doubt it too but 'Separator' is a great song

oh man I fucking <3 the Planet Telex Hexadecimal Mix

ok, i've got 20 songs ready. the hardest bit was deciding which b-sides i liked the most, and whether or not they seriously pulled their weight alongside the better album tracks. but i think i'm pretty happy with my list as far as the present point in time goes. they're the kind of band where i kinda fluctuate between preferring the softer, more finespun material and the more abstract, off-kilter stuff. my ballot strikes an even balance of both.

OK, wow. It's amazing to me that one can be semi-obsessed with a band for 20+ years and still find lost gems. I've got a ton of B-sides and "lost" stuff but I hadn't heard Planet Telex Hexadecimal Mix before. Wow, I love when Jonny gets all dubby.

There's an hexidecimal dub version on grooveshark but it seems to sound just like the Hexidecimal mix. Are you sure it's a different mix?

― Moka, Wednesday, 27 August 2014 08:05 (2 days ago)

seemingly does

http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/radiohead-planet-telex-hexidecimal-dub-does-this-actually-exist.158082/

cant find a copy but....ysi.....etc

My list is definitely going to be slanted to the more rock-oriented tracks

this is it xp

if 20 yr old commercially unavailable tracks are too close to the copyright wind then admins pls delete......

www.f iledro pper.c om/hd_2

combination of lol 90s breaks and dreamy synth motif is a little reminiscient of those early boards of canada tapes that are floating about on the internet

Haha OMG spacey 90s dub synths and early Boards of Canada tapes, you have just described my ultimate dream Radiohead remix.

Like, I can't even remember the last time I was this excited about downloading something, and I'm only a minute and a half into it.

OK, it's Hexadecimal Mix, but without the vocals (well, duh, because that is what a Dub is) - which is, well... Radiohead songs without Thom on them are kinda like hot fudge sundaes without the sauce?

In theory the Hexidecimal Dub is 8 minutes long and it sounds different from the hexidecimal mix.

Rushomancy has supposedly heard it I was waiting for him to clear things up.

the track is more a curiosity than anything else

'ridiculously great' is just a little hyperbolic but there is a pattern where people get inordinately attached to obscurities by these sort of artists whose work is mostly so thoroughly gone over

the original hexidecimal mix is excellent

cuttooth is another fine minor track

if i were to vote it would probably be 8/10s of kid a, 'there there' and then b sides or ep tracks

ok, here's a shitty yt encode of hexidecimal dub: http://youtu.be/DvSI1Egqf2E

Well, that does sound significantly different from the Hexidecimal mix (this one does sound like it has a Boards of Canada synth going on) and I already checked and it's the one that nakhchivan shared upthread.

I have to agree with Shugazi, though. A Radiohead mix without Yorke's vocals isn't that fun. Great track, though.

the lfo planet telex remix is so much less than it ought to be

Well, Radiohead are kind of an unremixeable/uncoverable band. I haven't heard a remix or cover that improves on their original.

I dunno; I really liked some of the TKOL remixes. That remix disc was my "way in" to the album (though I never really hated it the way that a lot of people round here seem to have).

ballot sent

I bought The Bends after I heard Liberty X cover 'High and Dry' (Y). But yeah not many particularly good or interesting covers come to mind. Some people liked that stuff Brad Mehldau did.

there's also

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCm6fbtPUMM

tho is it actually legit? Hardly sounds like JD at all

surprised myself by participating in this

ballot's fucked up as hell

I dunno, he sounds exactly like JD to me. It's definitely in the Mountain Goats spirit.

if anyone's like "i don't want to vote for anything from the kol era bc i don't like that album boooo" consider revisiting "staircase," a song that cooks

this is, against all odds, actually interesting:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmfZXZronW8

tMG cover is from a wfmu session in 2000. it's legit.

http://www.themountaingoats.net/cgi-bin/songs.cgi?ACTION=show_set&SHOWID=48

I haven't heard a remix or cover that improves on their original.

This strikes me as being the one exception:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmXfm4pPHuw

Uh...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmXfm4pPHuw

Literally as soon as I sent my ballot I got a song I didn't include stuck in my head and regretted it.

i grew up on radiohead. i've heard the bends and ok computer 100 times each. i'll probably never in my life experience emotions as intense as when i listened to radiohead in middle school.

all these songs are fossils to me and some of them i roll my eyes at because radiohead were not very good at image or aesthetic. i weighted lyrics a lot more heavily than i thought i would in making my ballot

Wish I'd voted for How Can You Be Sure. It's a throwaway b side but I get it stuck in my head all the time.

Philip Selway on the future of Radiohead

(posting this mainly as an excuse to bump this thread)

^ listeners also voted for their favourite album, proved that 6music listeners no less boringly conventional & backward than any other station's listeners.

Thanks for posting that Zero 7 remix Doug, it's pretty magical.

prefer the fila brazilia meself:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJszxrG_sH4

Until this poll, I'd completely forgotten about In Rainbows and probably hadn't heard any of those tracks for 5 or 6 years.

The remixes that do work for me are the ones that change the mood of the originals completely, TKOL remixes, the CUTW ones and that Mayer cover are all good because they feel like completely different songs. I wouldn't choose them over the originals, though.

CUTW used to be one of my top three songs on OKC. Nowadays I might prefer to listen to the remixes but they are completely different songs, the original sounds influenced by Trip-hop - which is why I think Fila and Zero 7 remixes work- but it sounds chilling instead of chilled.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtujwGZYQa8

That said, this Punch Brothers cover of Packt like Sardines while not better is mildly interesting to look at if only to listen how they reproduced the whole song live with string instruments.

yeah that Fila Brazilia remix is ace.

having an internal conflict about whether i should really be putting 8 songs from kid a ahead of anything that came out after 2001.

i like the king of limbs quite a bit, and the other two have their moments, but listening to them side by side most of kid a is just better

Morning Bell is on a few ballots but nobody's specified which version, so I'm assuming they're all Kid A. If this isn't the case let me know so I can make the changes.

Yeah Kid A version for me. The one on Amnesiac is called Morning Bell/Amnsesiac, I imagine people would put that if they were choosing that one.

Yeah I imagine so too but thought it was worth checking.

they had a spell of recording v enervated versions of tracks that had been/were rocking live. not sure if this was a rock crisis deep in their souls or mb to do w/ the diminishing returns of rocking out. I thought I might be wrong worked on record but I remember being v disappointed when I head the studio there there having got used to the earlier version where jonny g coming in w/ that riff felt like a Big Moment. this trend peaked w/ reckoner/feeling pulled apart by horses where they couldn't be bothered at all w/ their big spangly jam band live tune & mutated it into something unrecognisable

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMsDpux7xcE

Finally past deadline hell. I'll shoot for finishing my ballot by Friday.

I also meant the Kid A version of Morning Bell

I'd be amazed if anyone did choose the Amnesiac version, it's such a dirge, and not in a good way.

a bunch of people really love it and I have no idea why

Amnesiac version isn't awful, but it sounds like an initial sketch/demo rather than a fully fleshed-out alternate arrangement. Would've been better as a b-side.

Oh god how am I possibly gonna throw a ballot together. Don't have time for a deep dive.

Maybe I'll just vote for Life in a Glasshouse twenty times.

25 ballots in so far.

kid a morning bell is so much groovier!

guess they wanted to tie the two records together but some of those amnesiac b-sides deserved major shine

I love Morning Bell/Amnesiac, it makes me feel all woozy/like I'm floating in space. I voted for the Kid A version though for fear of splitting the vote.

Thom's voice sounds better in the Morning Bell/Amnesiac version, more human... the kid A version is produced to sound more alien or something... also there's some nice chord changes and sounds on the final 'release me' and details '"Where'd You Park The Car?" bits but I always skip it. I hate how saturated it sounds.

I'd love to interchange vocals and the slight chord changes but keep the instrumentation of Kid A.

Yeah I'd have swapped in "Worrywort" or "Fog" instead tbh

Well, what a coincidence you say that, because I have also re-arrenged Amnesiac's tracklist to fit both of them there instead of Morning Bell!

Amnesiac

The Kid A / Amnesiac era has such amazing b-sides. You could argue Amnesiac was a b-side album and in parts it definitely feels like it. This one is in serious need of a rearrangement imho and the b-sides from the era definitely allow it.

There is actually a Stylus 'playing god' article about this album already! - http://stylusmagazine.com/articles/playing_god/radiohead-amnesiac.htm - and I agree with it for the most part. At the time thAT article was published Nude was still unreleased, and he picked a live version of Spinning Plates too. The live version of Spinning Plates would, in fact, been a much better addition than its final form but it feels a little bit like cheating picking up unreleased or live versions when playing god.

I actually love having the final 'playing god' playlist in my itunes and it breaks the mood completely to have a live track in there. Also he left out 'Fog' which is one of the best b-sides of the era next to Worrywort. So from that article I picked the same tracklist with two slight changes; 'fog' instead of 'nude' (which coincidentally share a similar mood so it doesn't ruin the flow) and I decided to remove Spinning Plates completely.

1. Packt Like Sardines in a Crushed Tin Box
2. Pyramid Song
3. You and Whose Army
4. I Might Be Wrong
5. Fog
6. Cutooth
7. Worrywort
8. The Amazing Sounds of Orgy
9. Kinetic
10. Life in a Glasshouse
― Moka, Wednesday, June 19, 2013 7:38 AM (1 year ago)

ok removing "Spinning Plates" but adding "Cuttooth" is obscene.

"cuttooth" ruuuuules

The original piano/non distorted version of Spinning Plates is beautiful. The amnesiac version only merits an "a-ha" moment by being constructed backwards and I'm sure Thom thought it was motherfucking brilliant and groundbreaking at the time, but really it isn't.

This is really fucking hard. So many great b-sides and stray tracks, but each album has at least four or five amazing songs (except the first one and the last one)

There should be a B-Side/non-album track side poll.

Moka offtm. Amnesiac Spinning Plates is super cool

Ok, Amnesiac has an 11 song tracklist right? Here you go Spinning Plates lovers.

1. Packt Like Sardines in a Crushed Tin Box
2. Pyramid Song
3. You and Whose Army
4. I Might Be Wrong
5. Fog
6. Cutooth
7. Worrywort
8. The Amazing Sounds of Orgy
9. Kinetic
10. Like Spinning Plates (the ugly amnesiac version not the live one)
11. Life in a Glasshouse

now that's a record! (i miss "dollars & cents" but understand i'm probably alone there)

I'm also willing to change Cutooth for Dollars and Cents. I like Cutooth but it sounds out of place in the album to be honest and Dollars and Cents sounds better in there even though it doesn't do anything for me.

ballot sent!

The biggest surprise for me was 'Let Down' not even making my top 20 anymore. My #1 is probably 50% because it's my favorite SNL performance ever.

Radio Radio?

no, Soul Man of course

(i miss "dollars & cents" but understand i'm probably alone there)

Nah, I love it! Way more interesting than I Might Be Wrong or You And Whose Army. Nearly made my ballot.

It made mine. I think.

whoever said upthread that the album with the highest ratio of good songs /= best album, is OTM.

My fave EP will probably end up being a remix one.

http://991.com/NewGallery/Radiohead-High--Dry-68725.jpg

Nah, I love it! Way more interesting than I Might Be Wrong or You And Whose Army. Nearly made my ballot.

Same here, it's my favourite thing on Amnesiac after the two singles. Love the bassline.

thought my boundless love for the vocal performance on 'A Wolf at the Door' was an anomaly. After looking through the old threads, I think it could actually do well here.

also, jonathan glazer is my favorite Radiohead music video director (side poll)

Wolf at the Door just missed out on my ballot.

also, jonathan glazer is my favorite Radiohead music video director (side poll)

If anyone wants to send me a best videos ballot I'll do it.

I'll probably submit a best videos ballot if others are doing it.

I am submitting one

Get them in, doesn't matter if you've already voted.

I also voted for A Wolf at the Door, one of only two HTTT tracks I voted for. Really should have given that one a few more re-listens, but I can't really imagine any other songs overtaking what I already had.

a wolf at the door might win my vote for most beloved radiohead song that i don't really care for one way or another. (reckoner is a close second probably - i actually like it quite a bit but know of some fans that absolutely adore it and i don't quite understand the attention it gets)

man I have had zero opportunity for focused listening but I guess I gotta get votin' anyway...

radiohead's music has aged much better than their music videos. the simplest concept videos still hold up, though!

Yes I like their simple videos much better like Fake Plastic Trees, Karma Police, No Surprises and Nude.

paranoid android vid forever and ever

yeah, Moka nailed it with the list of simple vids, but I will always love the paranoid android video as well.

I hadn't seen the 'knives out' video before today. I'm not sure Gondry's style or narrative works so well with the darkness of that song.

blips were their crowning achievement

might submit a top five items of radiohead merchandise I bought from the waste site

They also did an IR music video contest with Aniboom and it produced some cool videos. Here's the reel of winners:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTOZcONhxDw

this is my favorite one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fu0UEPS7sQ

Really fun to listen back for this--I've given every record for the last 13 years a shot, but none has really had any of the magic of 1995-2001. In fact, I'd say 'Atoms for Peace' would easily rank as their fourth (or maybe third) best album, if it'd been released as a Radiohead record. No big surprises as I went through: 'OK Computer' is still their best by bounds, even though I don't listen to any "modern rock" or anything that really sounds like it at all; their b-sides are frequently the better of their album tracks ("Kinetic" and "Worrywort" both make my top 10, though no tracks from the parent albums do). They were a great band to love as a teenager and young 20s person, a great object of youthful "fan" zeal, chasing down import-only singles in the mid-90s. Getting to see them from a few feet in front of Thom Yorke at the BBC for the taping of 'Later with Jools Holland' in 2001 was the ideal way to see them--so I never tried again thereafter (I had to crouch down for the big crane-up camera move at the beginning of the show). Performed "True Love Waits" (with the keyboard part) in a high school talent show. I'll be curious to see if younger people hold their post-'Amnesiac' work in higher esteem--if it's just nostalgia that makes the earlier stuff seem so much stronger. . .

Worrywort in my top 10 as well!

'Go up to the mic'. Worrywort really seems to capture my social anxiety better than any other song I've heard.

which is to say it's quite mild and bleepy bloopy

I'll be curious to see if younger people hold their post-'Amnesiac' work in higher esteem--if it's just nostalgia that makes the earlier stuff seem so much stronger. . .

Sounds like I'm roughly your age (35), and I generally find their 00s work the most interesting. I didn't really engage with them properly till I was in my twenties though (obviously I was aware of them previously).

Give Up The Ghost is a pretty impressive song.

I find it a bit boring.

I'll be curious to see if younger people hold their post-'Amnesiac' work in higher esteem--if it's just nostalgia that makes the earlier stuff seem so much stronger. . .

Have to say I consider pre and post Kid A Radiohead almost as entirely different bands. Certainly Bends-era b-sides hold a fair bit of nostagic cache for me, but I'd be hard pushed to say one era was 'stronger' than the other. I guess it's a bit like having to choose between pre and post Pet Sounds Beach Boys - I like them for very different reasons.

I've no love for Pablo and very little for the Bends. I think I'd divide what I think of as good and bad radiohead just before Street Spirit (Fade Out)

Only one pre OK-C song in my ballot. Decent enough songs on The Bends, but they just don't excite me nearly as much as later stuff.

48ish hours left to vote! 37 ballots in so far, be great to get 40+

"Give Up The Ghost" miiight be the only post-2001 song on my ballot, so good

I'll be curious to see if younger people hold their post-'Amnesiac' work in higher esteem

Until this poll, I'd completely forgotten about In Rainbows and probably hadn't heard any of those tracks for 5 or 6 years.

I assumed In Rainbows was held in incredibly high esteem because I hear tracks from it in public at least once every two weeks.

That's probably just because I live in Phoenix, Arizona, where every "cool" bar/restaurant/coffeeshop decided that music history begins with Is This It? and ends with Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

Realized I never really listened to the official version of 'In Rainbows,' as the one I have is an edit/resequence I made. Listening to the proper version, I guess I still agree with the cuts/changes:

01. 15 Step
02. Bangers & Mash
03. Up On The Ladder
04. Nude
05. Weird Fishes/Apreggi
06. Videotape
07. Faust/Arp
08. Reckoner
09. Go Slowly
10. House of Cards
11. 4 Minute Warning

It's very much an album of two sides, this way, but I like the flow. And no tracks that start well and then turn into bland "rocking".

I'm a bit confused as to how you could've made an edit without ever having listened to the official version!

no tracks that start well and then turn into bland "rocking".

I guess you mean All I Need, Bodysnatchers and Jigsaw by this! I love the first two, but the latter is the weakest song on the album, maybe apart from the very dreary Videotape.

Bodysnatchers is top 5 radiohead

I've no idea what I am talking about, though

I listened to the official version, but not many times because the tracks I cut I found very dreary, doing that thing Radiohead started doing around 'Hail To the Thief' where they "groove" like they're Fela or Miles or Neu but without any actual groove.

The Atoms for Peace suggests that this is not Thom Yorke's fault, but the fault of the fact that the rest of Radiohead want to be a pop band, not a funk/Krautrock band. And even though I love the same sort of stuff Thom obviously loves, I feel bad for him because his real talent clearly lies in melodic-oriented song-form stuff.

you are trapped in a body that does not know how to groove with bodysnatchers.

the groove is groovy

I feel bad for him because his real talent clearly lies in melodic-oriented song-form stuff.

For me what makes Radiohead an extraordinary band is their ability to combine trad rock melodies and structures with good grooves and interesting textures. And they generally do it very well.

Though I'm sure Thom Yorke appreciates your sympathy.

Bodysnatchers is top 5 radiohead

It was in my top 5, I think

Sent!

Speaking as a 28 year old who saw them live twice: younger fans were there to hear songs from Hail to the Thief which made me sad because I had Ok Computer and Kid A in my highschool years and they had, well, Hail to the Thief.

Xxxxpost

If anybody's sent a ballot but not had some kind of response off me, I haven't received it so send it again.

Bunny Slopes - I don't think I've received yours yet.

I'm going to get a ballot together if all these eejits who think weekends are for working will leave me alone.

Solo Thom Yorke or collabs (Rabbit in the headlights) are not eligible right?

No they're not, sorry.

No prob, just checking. Want to vote in this.

As a 35 year old I like In Rainbows most.

That's my age and favourite also.

OkC is monolithic in how important it was to me when I was 17 but I've over listened to it now and I'd be more tempted to listen to a later one. I don't think aby one post OKC album is perfect but I could make a killer comp that would blow any of OKC out the water from these albums.

I've re-listened to In Rainbows a bit this week and maybe would have voted for more off it had I done so earlier

In Rainbows is their last record that mattered and i will vote for tracks from it.

i'm getting close, only have two albums to go through and listened to In Rainbows twice.

Is this rolling out Monday?

Yeah that's the plan. Albums and 50 - 41 on Monday, then 20 on Tuesday and Wednesday.

this still cracks me up re Harry Patch

In an interview with AOL's Spinner.com, Matthew Friedberger of The Fiery Furnaces criticized the song's release, saying of Radiohead: "Fuck you! You brand yourself by brazenly and arbitrarily associating yourself with things that you know people consider cool. That is bogus. That's a put-on. That's a branding technique, and Radiohead have their brand that they're popular and intelligent, so they have a song about Harry Patch."
The Fiery Furnace's publicist said that Friedberger confused Harry Patch, the war veteran, with Harry Partch, the microtonal composer. Indeed,
in the interview Friedberger mockingly asks "Is it 48 notes to the octave?" in reference to Partch's just intonation 43-tone scale. Friedberger defended his reference to the composer as deliberate "fooling around" rather than genuine confusion.

Voted!

I always say 'debilitating'instead of 'deliberating'

Argh wrong thread

12 hours to go, 46 ballots received.

pisces: the best thing about that was in response to that beck put out a 10 minute song about harry partch. (and it's pretty good, although it's not actually just intonated.)

Voted.

voted

haha is that true about Beck?? that's amazing if so.

voted. God that was really hard. new found love for Weird Fishes as a result.

does that live 'arpeggi' version with the orchestra count in this or only tangibly released songs/singles? cos if so i need to ass that. the album version on IR is such a turd by comparison.

tangible*

voted anyway fuck it yolo

new found love for Weird Fishes as a result.

It's amazing, so cinematic. The building layers, the sort of sparkly breakdown, then the dive into that deep dark coda. Took me a good 5 plus listens to get my head round it.

voted

That's 51 ballots, amazing turnout!

Yeah terrific, think I barely scraped 30 for the one I did.

Spent three days agonizing over making a shortlist but once I did, pulling together the ballot was surprisingly easy

ballot in

voted. ballot ended up surprisingly rocktastic.

Sent! Didn't have time to do all the necessary listening, so my ballot looks like something I would have drafted in 2003.

Nice. Who knows with all of these ballots!

I don't think it's gonna be a particular surprise or spoiler to say everything on my ballot spanned The Bends to Hail to the Thief

you missed their best album, imo.

I honestly don't understand the In Rainbows hate.

as an album, I find it to be incredibly boring

More like In RainBLOWS, amirite?

i was kind of pleased that it's the one album not on Spotify so i didn't even have the option of easily revisiting it along with the rest of their catalog. still voted for the one song off it that i liked, though.

as an album, I find it to be incredibly boring
― stacked as fuck & imposing (DJP), Sunday, September 7, 2014 8:07 PM (8 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I feel like RH have done those songs better on other albums, or Paul McCartney has (faust arp, obv). I like body snatchers and bangers and mash from the bsides disc a lot tho, on my ballot.

rdio has in rainbows up for free in US btw

DJP, do you like 'A Wolf at the Door '? It seems like it could almost be on In Rainbows to me. A perfect segue.

I do like "A Wolf at the Door", which is helped immensely by not being on a boring album

lol

In Rainbows has "15 Step," "Bodysnatchers," "Nude," "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi," "Reckoner" and "House of Cards." you guys are nuts!

Only two songs on IR I don't outright love are the last two.

reckoner sounds like a fuckin chili peppers song

also some of thom's worst vocals on that record tbh, just lazy meandering falsettos.

I disagree so hard but goddamn I lol'd

There are probably Philip Glass songs that sound more like RHCP

NAME EM

take thom's voice outta reckoner and start singing like scar tissue or something

Songs from liquid days obv glass' most rhcp record

i remember liking reckoner a lot when it came out but after going back and listening to it for this poll last week i gotta say m bison otm

but bodysnatchers is the best track on IR

yall im tellin you theres a reason thom is working with flea now
#ghostwriting

Flea is thom's muse

when flea did voiceover work for the wild thornberrys, he was just told to talk the way thom danced

Kedis is such a nanny

Thom won't keep you on a leash

lso some of thom's worst vocals on that record tbh, just lazy meandering falsettos.

i really like In Rainbows but there's definitely a trend with thom yorke's singing over the last few years where he's relying more and more on just humming and cooing in a falsetto as a replacement for actually singing words or doing something interesting. i'm sure some rh haterz would say he's ALWAYS done that, but it's grown more pronounced and frequent recently. i'm not sure where he started relying on it too much but i feel like it turned a corner in the in rainbows era?

I'm not a hater, but I'd say he turned that corner after The Bends, i.e. when things got really good

but when does he do it on OK Computer?

i feel like I might be the only person who voted for 'jigsaw falling into place' (though it was at #20).

one of two songs of in rainbows i quite like, and somehow it was the song that 'got me into' radiohead.

xp I feel like it's in 'let down' even if he's technically singing words

'bug in the ground' = 'bugginarouuhhahahahaound'

olly, I think you are special for appreaching jigsaw top 20. But I definitely like it. ooooooOOOh weeeee OOOOOH

Is it too late? I cant believe I let this slip my mind again

xxxxxp actually, there's a lot of aahhh-oooohs in Paranoid Android anyway.

so I'd say it started with the instrumental break of Paranoid Android

yeah that. i think thom's voice as an instrument prolly peaked at the bends, i mean he just fucking belts shit out and goes for it, i can see why ppl would be upset about him abandoning it because he had a rock n roll *voice* fw that's w, and i can imagine his years of touring and drinking in the 90s strained it. plus his tendencies for more "introverted" sounding music now have put a damper on those tendencies anyway. i dont mind the moan now, but he uses it so much in plac of an actual musical idea and it signifies nothing to me other than wet bathmat.

haha, 'Nude' was top 10 for me

Is it too late? I cant believe I let this slip my mind again

― a waxing interest in waning (Drugs A. Money), Monday, September 8, 2014 3:08 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I'm leaving for work soon so if you (or anyone else) can get a ballot in within the next six hours it'll be counted.

Awesome

Voted!

Ha, regarding Jigsaw - it was one of 4 songs fighting for my number 1 spot

63 ballots in now, is this a record?

haha, 'Nude' was top 10 for me

― post...aftermath (Sufjan Grafton), Monday, September 8, 2014 4:51 AM (6 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

YEah, it's definitely the standout on IR for me. Feels like these last few albums all have at least one world-beating song on them and about 3 which leave absolutely no impression on me whatsoever. It's prob why my tracks ballot and my albums ballot don't really sync up so well because my top ten tracks are skewed towards those few late great songs while the earlier albums win out.

63 ballots in now, is this a record?

― nate woolls, Monday, September 8, 2014 5:56 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Steely Dan poll got 77 ballots. but right now you're tied with Classic Rock, I also got 63 ballots for that one.

Bowie's still the record at 80.

arrrgggh, forgot about this. Sent mine over just now, in case you'll still take it.

Re: Flea etc Paperbag Writer is basically an Atoms For Peace Flea track, surely?

Results thread:

A POLL IN A CAGE ON ANTIBIOTICS - ILM Artist Poll #56 - RADIOHEAD - RESULTS THREAD