Radiohead - All I Need

I'm an animal

Trapped in your hot car

You know that feeling when you're in love like you want to just stand on top of a mountain and yell for all the world to hear and know? That's how I feel about Radiohead. There is just this indescribable feeling I get when listening to them. The only thing I can associate it with is being in love, which is weird--maybe? [shrugs] And this is why Radiohead is officially the first artist to appear TWICE on this blog! (See: first)

"All I Need" is absolutely and totally eargasmic. Every second of it is pure ecstasy to me and I only love them even more when I listen to it. I am truly In Rainbows. The lyrics are one of my favourite parts about the song. Thom Yorke begins the song describing a desperate seemingly unrequited love for another. But then he sings, "I only stick with you because there are no others." This makes the listener wonder if he really is in love. To me, it only further shows the desperation and "need" he has for the beloved.

Favourite Part: When the piano enters and the drums pick up. Ah ... bliss.

Radiohead used this song for a music video on MTV aimed at rasing awareness on human exploitation and trafficking. Maybe not what you had in mind for this song, but check it out anyway:

DJ Shadow - Mutual Slump

Do you feel like Darth Vader?

DJ Shadow is a hip-hop DJ/producer. His debut album, Endtroducing... contains obvious influences of hip-hop, while transcending any clear genre-related boundaries. In "layman's terms," it's a mix of everything. He clearly has an amazing ability in "diggin' through the crates" to find the most obscure samples possible. In fact, the entire album is made from sampling other works. Although I selected "Mutual Slump," I cannot emphasize how much I recommend listening to Endtroducing... in its entirety. This is definitely one of those albums all music fans should hear, and love, during their lifetime. The sad part is, he hasn't released an album anywhere near as good since then. I suppose it is the nature of DJs to spend more time making live appearances and producing for other artists than releasing their own material. But it sure as Hell is frustrating to fans of this album.

He has, however, done some great production work for such artists as UNKLE. "Rabbit in Your Headlights" is a good one and features Thom Yorke on vocals. He also has some sweet music videos for "Organ Donor" off Endtroducing... and "Six Days" off The Private Press.

Radiohead - Street Spirit (Fade Out)

Be a world child, form a circle

Before we all go under

I just want to start off by saying that this was not an easy task. Radiohead is one of my favorite artists and probably the band that really opened the doors for me into the world of "rock." Prior to that, my favorite band was the Red Hot Chili Peppers (and really, who doesn't like RHCP?) and my taste in rock was pretty random and mostly comprised of whatever I heard on the radio or bands whose music videos I'd always see while watching TV as a child (The Box, anyone?). I still remember sitting in my brother's room and hearing my very first Radiohead song--"Idioteque." Up until that point (10th grade), I'd heard nothing like it and was immediately blown away.

Thus, the difficult part was actually picking which song to recommend. The song I ended up choosing is an older one off their 2nd album--The Bends. "Street Spirit," was one of my favorite obsessions in high school. It's one of the most hauntingly beautiful songs I've ever heard. According to the lead singer, Thom Yorke, "'Street Spirit' has no resolve. It is the dark tunnel without the light at the end. It represents all tragic emotion that is so hurtful that the sound of that melody is its only definition." He goes on to say:

"Our fans are braver than I to let that song penetrate them, or maybe they don't realise what they're listening to. They don't realise that Street Spirit is about staring the fucking devil right in the eyes, and knowing, no matter what the hell you do, he'll get the last laugh. And it's real, and true. The devil really will get the last laugh in all cases without exception, and if I let myself think about that too long, I'd crack."

In August I was fortunate enough to catch Radiohead's last show for their North American tour. The concert was at the Santa Barbara Bowl, a relatively intimate setting in a residential neighborhood. Although there was at least a handful of songs missing from their setlist that I would've loved to hear, I was in awe of their performance. What I loved most was that even though each song had album quality sound to it, the songs didn't sound exactly like they do on their albums. The entire concert was webcasted live.The most amusing, and probably my favourite part other than the quality, was the way Thom would gyrate during the songs he was only singing in (see: video).

The most disappointing part of the concert was that they failed to play "Street Spirit," what is typically known to be a given on their setlist. I'm guessing Thom couldn't handle it anymore:

"I can't believe we have fans that can deal emotionally with that song. That's why I'm convinced that they don't know what it's about. It's why we play it towards the end of our sets. It drains me, and it shakes me, and hurts like hell every time I play it, looking out at thousands of people cheering and smiling, oblivious to the tragedy of its meaning, like when you're going to have your dog put down and it's wagging its tail on the way there. That's what they all look like, and it breaks my heart."

In conclusion, Thom is a little bitch. But I love him nonetheless.