Radiohead - Airbag/How Am I Driving? [EP] [Limited Edition]
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Free Music Notes for Airbag/How Am I Driving? [EP] [Limited Edition]
Free Music Review: Snibe
Hit: 5 Stars
This is a wonderful EP--the new songs are not quite up to par with those on _OK Computer_, but they are all great. Especially noteworthy is the ethereal "Meeting in the Aisle", since its hypnotic cycling and lack of vocals is both a departure from earlier Radiohead endeavors and a taste of things to come (_Kid A_). As for the rest of the new material: "Pearly*" provides a nice din, with guitar work similar to "Maquiladora" (curiously, the guitars on "Maquiladora" sound fuller). The almost monotonous verse-chorus, replete with Thom doubling his own voice, brilliantly sets up the song up for its "release" at the end, reminiscent of "Exit Music (for a film)."
Distant, echoing voices introduce "A Reminder." The music gently arrives (the band sustains the placidity throughout the song), every sound coming in one at a time. Thom's voice eventually enters, meandering through the soporific textures, Phil's plodding drums keeping things on course. A beautiful song.
In "Polyethylene (Parts 1& 2)," both parts roughly parallel each other melody-wise. However, Thom abandons both his delicate acoustic work and gentle voice in the first part for swirling organ-sounds and mania-tinged desperation. Johnny's guitar evocatively moans with evocative Thom as the song comes to an end.
"Melatonin" is even more laid back than "A Reminder." The percussion is interesting, similar to "Kid A." The song almost sounds incomplete. Almost. Ah, the genius of Radiohead . . .
"Palo Alto" begins with a sheet of reverberated guitar noise that modulates itself into some very interesting tropic prolations. The song starts off rather domestically--it even sounds as if Thom is percolating some coffee while telling us about the "city of the future." Indeed, the only constant noise is the unobtrusive percolator, so there is plenty of aural space; but strident guitars crash in, filling in whatever room there was. After some very abrasive playing, the guitars pull back, leaving almost as quickly as they came (you can be sure they will be back); the bass enters with a pleasant melody, and the song once again floats into a barrage of distortion . . . "Palo Alto" is perhaps Radiohead's "heaviest" song. And a good one, too.
So, yes: I recommend _Airbag/How Am I Driving?_ to anyone who enjoyed _OK Computer_.
Free Music Review: Snibe
Hit: 5 Stars
This is a wonderful EP--the new songs are not quite up to par with those on _OK Computer_, but they are all great. Especially noteworthy is the ethereal "Meeting in the Aisle", since its hypnotic cycling and lack of vocals is both a departure from earlier Radiohead endeavors and a taste of things to come (_Kid A_). As for the rest of the new material: "Pearly*" provides a nice din, with guitar work similar to "Maquiladora" (curiously, the guitars on "Maquiladora" sound fuller). The almost monotonous verse-chorus, replete with Thom doubling his own voice, brilliantly sets up the song up for its "release" at the end, reminiscent of "Exit Music (for a film)."
Distant, echoing voices introduce "A Reminder." The music gently arrives (the band sustains the placidity throughout the song), every sound coming in one at a time. Thom's voice eventually enters, meandering through the soporific textures, Phil's plodding drums keeping things on course. A beautiful song.
In "Polyethylene (Parts 1& 2)," both parts roughly parallel each other melody-wise. However, Thom abandons both his delicate acoustic work and gentle voice in the first part for swirling organ-sounds and mania-tinged desperation. Johnny's guitar evocatively moans with evocative Thom as the song comes to an end.
"Melatonin" is even more laid back than "A Reminder." The percussion is interesting, similar to "Kid A." The song almost sounds incomplete. Almost. Ah, the genius of Radiohead . . .
"Palo Alto" begins with a sheet of reverberated guitar noise that modulates itself into some very interesting tropic prolations. The song starts off rather domestically--it even sounds as if Thom is percolating some coffee while telling us about the "city of the future." Indeed, the only constant noise is the unobtrusive percolator, so there is plenty of aural space; but strident guitars crash in, filling in whatever room there was. After some very abrasive playing, the guitars pull back, leaving almost as quickly as they came (you can be sure they will be back); the bass enters with a pleasant melody, and the song once again floats into a barrage of distortion . . . "Palo Alto" is perhaps Radiohead's "heaviest" song. And a good one, too.
So, yes: I recommend _Airbag/How Am I Driving?_ to anyone who enjoyed _OK Computer_.
Free Music Review: Some tracks R even better than some OK COMPUTER cuts!
Hit: 5 Stars
Radiohead have put out an astonishing number of grade-A non-album tracks. They could be pooled together to make one incredible (double) album. This mini album contains some of their best ever in my view. Features some anguished and soaring vocals by T. Yorke."Airbag" is a bizarre yet stunningly gorgeous song loaded with shimmering guitar, a quirky funk beat and who-knows-what-all kinds of electronics. It portrays the rush you would feel having survived a major collision thanks to an airbag. Ostensibly a single in this format, it is also the brilliantly uplifting opening track on OK COMPUTER (widely held to be their masterpiece). *****
"Pearly" - Garage-y guitars plus some spacey ones define this sort of underground sounding tune drenched in anguish. ****1/2
"Meeting In The Aisle" - like the swimming mirage you see while looking down the dark corridor of a building towards a sunlit doorway. Totally spaced-out. *****
"A Reminder" - seems to disengage itself from the reality of a crowded room for some fleeting, deeply felt moment. One of their best. *****
"Polythylene (parts 1 &2)" - Part 1 is a melancholy intro picked on acoustic guitar and sung beautifully by Yorke. Part 2 is intensely dramatic. Seems to portray the hopeless inevitability of modern life spinning out of control. Even Yorke's vocals seem to waver out of control yet they still maintain his characteristic artistic perfection. *****
"Melatonin" - a sterile, almost sickly lullaby washed in synths as a rhythm section plugs along like a wind-up toy. ***
"Palo Alto" - Wildly brilliant Faustian (as in the band) guitar delivery plus a few crunching power chords blast away the grind from "a city of the future." One of their greatest, most off the hook guitar songs. *****
Radiohead-heads who collect their singles and EPs reap some of the greatest rewards!
An aside: The packaging is notable for its rather mocking "questionaire" and 2 short-short stories which are like desperate little slices from an unsatisfied life. In addition, the quote from Noam Chomsky's THE CHOMSKY READER reveals a great deal about the perspective behind some of Radiohead's observations about modern life.
Free Music Review: Half a CD for Half the Price of a CD
Hit: 5 Stars
This cd contains 7 tracks, including the same mix of Airbag as found on OK Computer and 6 other tracks collected from several cd singles. The 6 rarer tracks alone add up to over 20 minutes of music not on any of their full length albums."Palo Alto" could have easily fit in with The Bends (a great, relatively commercial rock song).
"Pearly" is another enjoyable guitar driven pop song that reminds me quite a bit of Lush circa their Spooky/Split period.
"Melatonin" is also a great song that is really heavy on synth, and sounds like one of Angelo (of David Lynch soundtrack fame) Badalamenti's more synth-driven songs (vs. his jazz or rock).
Part 1 of "Polyethylene" starts out like 1970s easy-listening rock, then gets harder with Part 2 where it winds up sounding more like 1970s glam rock. "A Reminder" could have fit well on OK Computer as one of its softer songs, but lacks any of the emotional impact of the album. Both songs are good, but not great.
"Meeting in the Aisle" is a spacey instrumental of little value.
So not counting Airbag, you get three great songs, two decent ones, and one throwaway. While this is not Radiohead at its best (even then, it is better than most bands), the music you do get is quite a good deal for an e.p., and that is why I'm giving this a not too enthusiastic 5 stars for its musical content. But the packaging itself elevates this collection to a strong 5 star rating. It is filled with 2 short stories, a surreal comic strip on the back cover, an excellent excerpt from Noam Chomsky (apparently included partly as a reaction against their near-deification after OK Computer was released, but great words of wisdom in any context), and satirical statistical charts and marketing quizes that could easily have been published in The Onion or Adbusters. There are other nice touches here and there (e.g., their ad for their website: "Why visit www.radiohead.com when you can go for a stroll in the sunshine instead?"). Not much in the way of great artwork, but very enjoyable reading.
Free Music Review: 5 Stars for the music... but the price is a bit too much
Hit: 5 Stars
First off, let me state that this is an extremely good EP. Every song on here is excellent and fun to listen to. They were left off OK Computer most likely because they didn't match with its serious, perfectionsistic atmosphere; more rocking, experimental, and generally catchy. I don't think any song here could really coexist with "Paranoid Android," "Climbing up the Walls," or any of the other solid, flawless classics on that album; they're really in a league of their own, sounding different than any of Radiohead's other stuff. "Polyethyline," "Pearly," and "Palo Alto" (yes, the three "P's") stand out as the best tracks, all of them excellent rockers, but this EP really flows together well, just like the full-length albums. That said, there are several flaws, one being that "Lull" was left off this CD despite it being one of the best songs recorded around this time. Another is the fact that this went out of circulation really fast, thus resulting in people paying ridiculous prices for this like thrity bucks or even higher. All the songs here are readily available on file transfer networks such as Lime Wire, so I'd advise downloading every song here (plus "Lull") and burning it onto a CD. Since this is no longer directly for sale, you don't have to worry about "stealing money from the band," and even if it was, Radiohead are still pretty open to the whole idea of file sharing when applied to live bootlegs and B-sides.