Tuesday, August 18, 2009

These are my twisted words...

Radiohead - (In Memory of) Harry Patch/These Are My Twisted Words (track review)

Radiohead seems to have taken a liking to releasing songs individually (and usually free of charge) and over the internet. The always inventive Radiohead certainly have used the internet to their advantage in the ongoing war between the recording industry and the digital world (pirated or otherwise). Their 2007 release, In Rainbows, let fans decide how much they wanted to pay for it, even if it was nothing (I myself paid $5 for it; a reasonable price in my opinion). Supposedly, they made more money off of that as far as sales go than all their previous albums, which all sold pretty well for an 'alternative' band.

Over the summer, Radiohead has put out a couple of songs for more or less nothing. The first entitled "(In Memory Of) Harry Patch" (a tribute to the last surviving World War I veteran of the same name who recently died) was sold for a mere 1 pound, with all proceeds donated to the British Legion. The other, a song entitled "These Are My Twisted Words" was leaked on August 12, but officially released by the band on the 17th free of charge. According to stereokill.net, Radiohead have been hard at work on a new album since around May, although further speculation has stated that the band may be releasing more EPs as opposed to full albums.

Regardless of what direction Radiohead takes as far as releases go, they certainly have no shortage of good material, as these two new songs indicate. I'm always waiting to hear a Radiohead song that will leave me cold or disappoint me to the point where I lose interest, but save for a couple of average tracks on Amnesiac and the more electronic songs on Hail to the Thief, their output from OK Computer on has always floored me. These two new tracks certainly are not disappointing. "Harry Patch" is layered in rich, beautiful orchestration which is funereal without being somber, and also contains a sublime vocal delivery by Thom Yorke. It's reminiscent of "Motion Picture Soundtrack," but in the case of Harry Patch, this song could be played during his biopic's ending credits (if one is ever made on him, that is). "These Are My Twisted Words" is composed primarily of a hypnotic guitar riff and Neu!-influenced drumming that creates a very trance-esque mood through its 5-and-a-half minutes.

Radiohead has done it again! Whenever they are working new material, it finds a way to leak out one way or another, whether it be by an eager fan recording a live show where they premiere a slew of new songs or the band previewing some new material. And I, being the curious and eager fan, always spend hours listening to whatever new sounds Radiohead is dabbling in. Very few bands this day in age have that affect on me, and very few bands can have the same momentum as Radiohead. Aside from a few songs that were simply OK (no pun intended) on some of their albums starting with The Bends, the band has been pretty much on a creative kick that has not soured or gone stale for almost 15 years. And they always have me craving more...

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