The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, June 27, 2001, Page 7, Image 7
t:iic (Ramccock
Radiohead's latest:
dark deconstrunction
by Tug Baker
The Gamecock
“Amnesiac”
ARTIST: Radiohead
SINGLE: “Pyramid Song”
OVERALL: A dark deconstruction of
rock as we know it
☆☆☆☆ of ☆☆☆☆☆
One of the most-anticipated
albums of the year, Radiohead’s
Amnesiac follows closely on the
heels of the group’s October 2000
release, Kid A, stylistically and
chronologically. All the tracks on
Amnesiac were recorded at the same
time as Kid A but “didn’t fit” with
the sparse, techno-influenced
deconstruction of rock of the earlier
release.
It’s quite true that Amnesiac
comes from a different place than
Kid A — and it’s a
darK place, indeed.
While America
was befuddled by
Kid A’s lack of
guitars, drums and
all other things that
comprise a rock
album, which were
replaced by drum
machines and
synthesizers, burope had seen this
kind of thing before. Sounding more
like Air than Aphex Twin,
Radiohead’s latest is a jazz
influenced trip through the dark
comers of the mind.
The opener of the album, “Packt
like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box,”
is reminiscent of Kid A with its drum
machine-driven beat; however, the
trace of jazz is already apparent in
the off-beat rhythms in the
background that sound like someone
beating on a tin can.
“Pyramid Song” is, ironically, the
first U.S. single for the album, ironic
because it’s quite possibly the most
terribly beautiful song about death
and suicide in a long time. Thom
Yorke croons, over a lazy piano, “I
jumped in a river, and what do 1 see?
Black-eyed angels swam with me.”
Here we get the first hint of how the
drums, not drum machines, make the
jazzy feel of Amnesiac come alive.
“Pulk/pull Revolving Doors” is
an unfortunate trip back to Kid A
with drum beats and electronically
warbled vocals. “You and Whose
Army?” provides direct contrast to it,
providing light guitar and lovely
harmonies under Yorke’s eerie voice.
The song that “rocks the most”
on Amnesiac is “I Might Be Wrong.”
A rolling guitar riff provides the
driving force behind this song of
self-blame and doubt.
“Knives Out” gives the most
sense of an ensemble rock band. The
lyrics (“So knives out, catch the
mouse, smush his head, put it in your
mouth”) seem to be combinations of
playground songs and horrifying
imagery.
A different interpretation ot tvid
A’s “Morning Bell,” “Morning Bell
Amnesiac” has more intelligible
lyrics and is a great improvement on
its predecessor.
“Dollars and Cents” starts with a
slow, steady mixture of
bass, strings, drums and
vocals and turns into a
cacophony of creepy
rock bliss. It’s followed
by an instrumental guitar
solo “Hunting Bears.”
As if trying to
redefine the term
“techno” that was given
to Kid A, “Like Spinning
Plates buzzes instead or beats.
The final piece, “Life in a Glass
House,” is easily Amnesiac’s best
song. With help from jazz artist
Humphrey Lyttelton, Radiohead has
created their own “Eleanor Rigby.”
The jazz evolution is complete with
this track, and so is the listener’s
long dark road.
On the inside album cover is the
inscription, “The Decline and Fall of
the Roman Empire: Vol. II.”
Radiohead, to the confusion of
reporters, claimed their critically
acclaimed OK Computer was about
the fall of the Roman Empire. So is
Amnesiac really a sister album to
Kid A, or is it the answer to all the
questions provided by OK
Computer?
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