Radiohead - The King Of Limbs
Radiohead have never been a band to use a map to chart their progress, or as a toll to see where they’re going but as Bloom starts, the electronic beeps and glitches put me in mind of Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors. This for me is where the similiarites end as drum ‘n’ bass jungle type drums come in and are relentless throughout, Thom’s words are hard to make out but he sounds like he is chanting and snippets of birdsong are heard towards the end of the track.
Morning Mr Magpie begins with Thom tellinng us “we’ve got some nerve coming here” over a sparse background, the track builds with a bassline which peaks and dips over some gentle background vocals before reverting to the electronic backing.
Little BY Little finds Thom sounding as if he is wandering through a desert, it has a middle eastern feeling with macaras providing percussion, then the vocals change as if Thom has found an oasis in the barren wasteland.
Lotus Flower seems to be the centre of the record and the only song with a conventional verse/chrous/verse structure, the track seems to snap into place underpinned by some heavy bass work.
After this, the album takes on if possible an even more sparse and sombre tone, Codexcould be the soundtrack to a sad baptism.
Give Up The Ghost opens with the bird song and gentle tapping and has the wind whistling right through it. Separator begins with hi hat crashes and finds Thom in a much happier place as if salvation has come at last.
For me this albums beauty is in its simplicity. I find a couple of the tracks are a let down because they are too sparse and sound more like snaspshots of work in progress and you’re left willing the tracks to build to a beautiful climax and take you somewhere else.
Overall a solid if slightly strange album whose closest cousin is Amnesiac
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