Radiohead 'Kid A'

How do you follow one of the biggest most highly acclaimed albums of the last 10 if not the last 20 years? Attempt a repeat performance (usually in vain)? Take far too many substances, retire to the country and return with a complete pile of poo? Or take a complete left turn, seek out strange new sonic pastures, in the process alienating a large proportion of your audience. Well if you have read anything about Kid A by now you will know that Radiohead have chosen the 3rd option. It was interesting that prior to hearing this album I had read a review in Mojo which, in a nutshell, described the Radiohead of Kid A as underachievers. I tend to treat reviews with caution especially after Charles Shaar Murray's rave review of Oasis's 'Be Here Now' in the same publication which, if CSM were to believed, was the best thing since Led Zep 4 or perhaps Abbey Road, oh really! Also I had heard 'Morning Bell' from this album which I wasn't keen on but which as it happens, despite being one of the few real 'songs' on the album, is one of my least favourite.

I am wandering a little here but in short Kid A is by no means an underachievement, neither is it a pale imitation of 'The Bends' or 'OK Computer'. Rather it is an album of novel and strange beauty, few conventional songs and extremely trippy (sorry but that's how it sounds to me) sonic soundscapes.

This is definitely not one for a track by track dissection, rather I shall describe some of the other music it reminds me of in various places. See what you think of this list; Terry Riley, Robert Wyatt, Soft Machine, early Gong, Massive Attack, Phish's 'Siket Disk', the Grateful Dead's Glastonbury Dark Star, Tangerine Dream and for some very strange reason that I can't fathom at all Kate Bush's 'Hounds of Love'.

Here's a quick description of a couple of tracks.

Track three, 'The National Anthem', underpinned by a bass line that is almost Joy Division, overlaid with pre 'Dark Side' Floyd / Gong sound collages, a strange almost non human vocal, brass that could have come from Soft Machine 'Third'. Check out the way the ride cymbal makes such an important contribution. Glorious!

Track four, 'Treefingers', a haunting harmonic soundscape, New Age music for real people.

Some of the tracks are hardly songs at all but explorations in sound. The full band appears very, very rarely if at all. However whereas such music can often be ragged and self indulgent, this appears fully realised and rendered with incredible sonic clarity and attention to detail. This, as they used to say, is a headphone album.

Heaven only knows what the masses who bought 'Bends' and 'OK' are going to make of this. Personally speaking I think it's mostly wonderful and infinitely preferable to any of their previous outings. Real progressive music. The most interesting album this year by far. In a tent (albeit not a 20th century one).

David Weston October 2000