AWmusic

We’ve got an exciting contest to offer today. Our era’s best band has had their albums reissued by by Capitol records. So we’ve got a special contest, we’re giving away all 3 special collector editions of Radiohead‘s Kid A, Amnesiac and Hail to the Thief.

I could talk forever about Radiohead, and these albums come at the stage of where the band started experimenting much more. I could go on forever (to stop myself here) so here are the contest rules:
1. US residents only (apologies to our Canadian contingent)
2. Enter by commenting on this post.
3. Must include a valid e-mail address.
4. Winner selected by random draw and will be contacted by email.
5. Winner receives the Collectors Edition of Kid A, Amnesiac and Hail To The Thief for a total of 6 CDs.
6. Contest ends, September 18th.

In case you are unsure of the tracklistings:

Kid A (Collectors Edition) – 2CD
Disc One
1. Everything In Its Right Place
2. Kid A
3. The National Anthem
4. How To Disappear Completely
5. Treefingers
6. Optimistic
7. In Limbo
8. Idioteque
9. Morning Bell
10. Motion Picture Soundtrack
Disc Two
BBC Radio One Evening Session [11/15/00]
1. Everything In Its Right Place
2. How To Disappear Completely
3. Idioteque
4. The National Anthem
Lamacq Live In Concert: Victoria Park, Warrington, England [10/2/00]
5. Optimistic
Canal+ Studios [4/28/01]
6. Morning Bell
7. The National Anthem
8. How To Disappear Completely
9. In Limbo
10. Idioteque
11. Everything In Its Right Place
12. Motion Picture Soundtrack
I Might Be Wrong – Live Recordings
13. True Love Waits (Live)

Amnesiac (Collectors Edition) – 2CD
Disc One
1. Packt Like Sardines In A Crushd Tin Box
2. Pyramid Song
3. Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors
4. You And Whose Army?
5. I Might Be Wrong
6. Knives Out
7. Morning Bell/Amnesiac
8. Dollars And Cents
9. Hunting Bears
10. Like Spinning Plates
11. Life In A Glasshouse
Disc Two
Pyramid Song
1. The Amazing Sounds Of Orgy
2. Trans-atlantic Drawl
3. Fast-track
4. Kinetic
Knives Out
5. Worrywort
6. Fog
7. Cuttooth
8. Life In A Glasshouse (Full Length Version)
Canal+ Studios [4/28/01]
9. You And Whose Army?
10. Packt Like Sardines In A Crushd Tin Box
11. Dollars And Cents
12. I Might Be Wrong
13. Knives Out
14. Pyramid Song
I Might Be Wrong – Live Recordings
15. Like Spinning Plates (Live)

Hail To The Thief (Collectors Edition) – 2CD
Disc One
1. 2 + 2 = 5
2. Sit Down. Stand Up.
3. Sail To The Moon
4. Backdrifts
5. Go To Sleep
6. Where I End And You Begin
7. We Suck Young Blood
8. The Gloaming
9. There There
10. I Will
11. A Punchup At A Wedding
12. Myxomatosis
13. Scatterbrain
14. A Wolf At The Door
Disc Two
There There
1. Paperbag Writer
2. Where Bluebirds Fly
Go To Sleep
3. I Am Citizen Insane
4. Fog (Again) – Live
5. Gagging Order
6. I Am A Wicked Child
2+2=5
7. Remyxomatosis (Cristian Vogel RMX)
8. There There (First Demo)
9. Skttrbrain (Four Tet RMX)
10. I Will (Los Angeles Version)
Jo Whiley Show [5/28/03]
11. Sail To The Moon
Com Lag
12. 2+2=5 [Live At Earls Court, London, 11/26/03]
Zane Lowe [12/8/03]
13. Go To Sleep

Some Radiohead media:
Video for House of Cards:

Some mp3s:
No Surprises by Radiohead
Creep by Radiohead
High and Dry by Radiohead

Jaydiohead – No Karma
Jaydiohead – Change Order

I’ve stayed away from Radiohead news for the past few weeks. I am a Radiohead fan but I’m not the biggest (though some of our writers are huge fans) and I’ve written some lukewarm reviews (see In Rainbows which I just couldn’t get for the longest time – I think I finally turned a corner). Anyway for the past few weeks the internet was going crazy over a song “These Are My Twisted Words” that leaked on some sort of website. And then was some sort of EP coming today called Wall Of Ice (looking like a hoax now). The internet is filled with a post-now and don’t wait and see basis and it really got out of control (and fucking annoying). So this Wall of Ice thing got a lot of steam (and another blogger steamed).

So what we have from Radiohead is a free song and some artwork you can download here (they also put up a link to a torrent).

The song to me is a good though “typical” Radiohead track. It’s good on all levels, Yorke’s is as he always is, while musically they add many effects sonically to make it a stand out track. From some fun bass lines in the background to computer sound effects and ethereal guitar work, I feel like this song is supposed to climax.

In a way my only disappoint is that the song ends and while it’s a great and interesting 5 minutes and 32 seconds, I feel like I want a little bit more. I’m impressed very impressed by the music and I guess the pitfalls include not much of Yorke in the picture and just not having a very good ending.

Rating: 4.25 out of 5
Still a very good song though.

These Are My Twisted Words by Radiohead

Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on your take, In Rainbows did not win best album at the 2009 Grammy awards. (The band did, however, perform a spirited version of “15 Step” with the USC Marching Band.) But more importantly, and well before all the Grammy hoop-la, in September of last year, after losing the Mercury Music Prize to Elbow, Collin Greenwood mentioned to BBC 6 Music that the band had returned from its world tour and headed straight into the studio to begin working on an eighth album. “We’re still talking about doing some stuff and we’re really excited about it,” he said. Some individuals on a Radiohead messageboard I frequent responded by hoping for a quick release of the following album to counteract the sour lingering taste of the last one.

What did you all think of In Rainbows? I agreed with the critics that it found the band treading water, and the two previous records had set high standards, perhaps unreachable, for all the ones following. “House of Cards” (for which they were nominated for Best Video at the Grammies) is a good song, with an innovative, trippy video to be sure, but nothing can truly match the strangeness or the splendour of a piece of music like “Everything Its Right Place,” or “How to Disappear Completely.” Nevertheless, “15 Step” did justice as an album opener and “Weird Fishes” found its way into my heart by endless waves of triplets, one arpeggio flowing over another, exhibiting the band’s formalist mastery without undue fanfair. My two favourites are still the quieter tracks, “Nude,” a gorgeous ballad with an atypical melodramatic finale, and “Videotape.”

Meanwhile, I found the lyrics on this album more personal than any of the others aside from maybe their first; it isn’t often that we find the author of such lines as “kicking squealing Gucci little piggie” writing “I don’t want to be your friend/I just want to be your lover.” So no, it was not a flawless work, especially not lyrically, and especially not
on “Jigsaw Falling into Place,” a truly boring musical moment on the album. But the question is, of course, where does one go after such a record, a mixed bag of beautiful moments and not-so-interesting ones?

Probably to oblivion or redemptive ground, the two most clearly visible paths. A mediocre record (the first road) at this stage of the game is almost expected. At an average age of 40+, the band has reached a level of inordinate success, and one might assume they’re slowing down. According to a New York Times article, they have eleven kids between the five of them and can’t dedicate as much time to the studio as they could during the Kid A years. So the fact some of us want another electronic masterpiece may just be wistful thinking . . . but I hear ours is an age of hope.

Radiohead – Nude
Radiohead – Videotape

Here’s my playlist for the movie. The soundtrack was pretty good and suited some of the cinematography. I did like the use of “Paper Planes” which was more about hustlin’ like the song says instead of just “getting high” like Pineapple Express used it for. Before I get carried away:
Born Out of The Hustle by Kites in Space
Paper Planes MIA
Blind by Hercules and Love Affair (for the blind singers)
Brother Watching by Shad
How I Made My Millions by Radiohead
Pressed In A Book by The Shins (for the Three Musketeers)
Let Love Be My Only Guide by The Bell

Now onto my review:
Slumdog Millionaire is a film that has its premise given away from the start. It asks a question whether or not Jamal Malik’s run at 20 million rupees on “Who wants to be a millionaire?’ is whether he is smart, if he cheated or if it was destiny. The movie’s plot is simple, Jamal Malik is accused of cheating and he is being questioned about how a “slumdog” could do better then lawyers, doctors and intellects in general.

A thinking man could likely extrapolate that Malik does quite well on the gameshow which serves as the backbone of the movie’s plot. The storyline isn’t the strongest as it can be painfully obvious that it could be one of those movie’s that end ups with the two love interests living “happily ever after and making a lot of babies” (the latter is implied). I’m not the type of person who looks for a movie that has an “aw” storyline (kind of ironic with the name of this site lol).

With that Slumdog Millionaire has been universally praised, why? Everything in between is done incredibly well. Sometimes a movie doesn’t need the greatest storyline to win you over. The movie gave off tense moments despite the outcome almost completely drawn out. Everything from the cinematography and to the direction was top notch. This movie is more proof that it’s not the quality of the story that counts but the quality of the storyteller that makes the world of difference.

Slumdog Millionaire I can see being universally liked by all types since it’s one of those feel good romantic dramas but it extends past that horrid drama with a stylish touch and fearless direction. It was at times light-hearted and funny and save for the last minute stopped being overly-cheesy. I think some of the gripes people have are the weaker storyline and the romance stinking up something great but it really just gives the movie some direction rather then being lost and all over the place.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5
It will likely be the top or top 2 movie of the year (waiting on The Wrestler).