CDOTD 1/30/2023

 Radiohead: OK Computer OKNOTOK 1997 2017 (XL)

Borrowed from library

There was a restaurant/bar/club in Shadyside on Copeland St called the Pittsburgh Deli Company. It was two stories, the food served downstairs and the club upstairs. I played there semi-regularly for a few years before they closed or changed management or whatever happened.

There was a jukebox upstairs. On what I think was an early Thoth Trio gig (though it could have been another trio), David Throckmorton fed some money into the jukebox before our show. The first song chose was Radiohead's "Airbag" from OK Computer. "Just listen to that phat [?] bass line when it comes in." And he was right. The line is unexpected but interesting, it propels the song.

I hadn't paid much attention to Radiohead. They were one of those so-called "alternative" bands I didn't care about, an ultimately meaningless term. Alternative to what, I would ask? When Nirvana knocked Michael Jackson and U2 off the top spot on the Billboard album charts, how were they alternative to anything? They were the mainstream.

Prior to that Deli Co. evening, the most I knew about Radiohead was some MTV VJ making a big deal about playing the "Paranoid Android" video, back when, you know, Music Television played music on the television. 

I thought the video was silly and didn't particularly like the song. I imagine I had probably heard "Creep" before then, I can't exactly recall.

Hearing Throck's choice, hearing his enthusiasm for the track, did impress me. The bass was a factor that made what could have been a mundane performance, more interesting. It was after that I found Kid A at the library, and was even more impressed with the breadth of expression in that album. I have at least been paying attention since.

Radiohead. I think they're a band which is more worshipped, and more maligned, than the music deserves. I've heard some concert clips where the majority of the audience sings the lyrics with the band. (Come on people, let the band do its job!) Some I know people will shake their heads "no no no" at the mere mention of the group. I don't find either entirely fair. 

There is a question of which Radiohead will show up at any given moment, any given song. The loud rock band? The post-folk songwriter band? The techno-driven ensemble? That's as exciting to me as it is frustrating. 

There's no secret to the names of the band members, that's well documented. What's not mentioned on most albums is who does what. There's a collective voice, or at least the appearance of one. All members are given equal credit for songs, which can't possibly be the reality behind the scenes. But it is admirable.

I've been listening to the second disc, which is a collection of single "B sides" (hardly a relevant term in the age of CDs and streaming) and a few unreleased songs. I've also been looking over the Wikipedia page for this issue, for some background information. 

I find nothing on it to be especially bad, and nothing as good as what I think their best tracks happen to be. It's all a bit middle of the road. "Meeting in the Aisle" is rather uninteresting, a spacey little instrumental that might have deserved a longer, more hypnotic performance. As in, the band Can might have something better with this, at least when they were at their best.

The second disc sounds pretty much like what it is, a collection of leftovers. Okay leftovers maybe, but for the most part they made the right choices for what to leave off the original album. And not that I was there or my opinion matters, but I would have urged them to leave off the last two tracks off the original issue. 

My complaint with most Radiohead albums as a whole is that the majority of them peter out at the end. The best songs are often front-loaded, and the weakest material at the conclusion. I think it's not only true for the original issue of OK Computer, but also Amnesiac, Hail to the Thief, In Rainbows, and The King of Limbs, the latter I found to be an especially weak album. I know some would disagree, just one man's opinion. 

There's a question as to whether A Moon Shaped Pool is their final album. If so, they ended on a high note. It is certainly one of their most consistent albums. They've been at it a long time with the same personnel, which itself is quite a feat. How long have any of us had the same job with the same people since 1991?