Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool

Just tweeted: "Our album will be released digitally on May 8th."

And the email I just got says physical versions will be out June 17.

No title or any other info, though.

I was half expecting them to release it track by track over several weeks.

seems like this album is going to focus on Jonny's orchestrations
― ufo, Friday, May 6, 2016 10:06 AM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this is what i was hoping for

On first listen, I really like 'Daydreaming'. Very In Rainbows. This is what Radiohead are good at these days.

Underwhelming for me, a bit wispy and structureless. Certainly some pretty sections.

those snoring noises at the end... they turn into a backwards voice. what's it saying?

whoa i really loved that

those snoring noises at the end... they turn into a backwards voice. what's it saying?

I was asking myself the same thing. I guess "Burn the Pitchfork" will do another "deconstructing RH" article soon. Did anyone notice the director of the video btw?

those snoring noises at the end... they turn into a backwards voice. what's it saying?

― TARANTINO! (dog latin), Friday, 6 May 2016 16:24 (7 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

It's sounds a bit like "warm by the fire", I don't know whether I've just tied it into what's happening at that point in the video

I really like Daydreaming anyway

I hope he's saying 'fremme neppa vennette'

I'm excited about this album based on these two songs. It's good stuff.

And there was me thinking I wouldn't be excited by a new Radiohead album again.

Prefer that they concentrate on doing 'just good songs' this time round rather than sweating over being cutting edge, which is what this sounds like so far.

The first RH video to be released on a Friday?

Video meets the vibe of Anderson's own "Punch-Drunk Love".

Daydreaming is nice and now I'm optimistic this one will be better than The King of Limbs (which wasn't that bad)

I'm glad they seem to be focusing on the orchestral arrangements, it's a sensible direction for them to go in - a new focus for them but yeah, not worrying about being cutting edge or anything.

those snoring noises at the end... they turn into a backwards voice. what's it saying?

― TARANTINO! (dog latin), Friday, 6 May 2016 16:24 (7 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

It's sounds a bit like "warm by the fire", I don't know whether I've just tied it into what's happening at that point in the video

I'm working on ProTools at home today so I just grabbed the clip and flipped it, results are inconclusive

Releasing an album on a Monday like the good lord intended.

love Daydreaming, love it so much. if we re polled them, it would be in my top 10.

Disc: 1
The Hoosiers - Worried About Ray
Groove Armada - Song 4 Mutya (Out of Control)
Scouting For Girls - She's So Lovely
Mark Ronson featuring Daniel Merriweather - Stop Me
Blur - Tender
Lily Allen - LDN
Corinne Bailey Rae - Like A Star
Alanis Morissette - Crazy (James Michael Mix)
The Zutons - Why Won't You Give Me Your Love?
The View - Wasted Little DJ's
The Thrills - One Horse Town
Mumm-ra - She's Got You High
Starsailor - Silence Is Easy
The Clash - Should I Stay Or Should I Go
Badly Drawn Boy - Something To Talk About
R.E.M - What's The Frequency, Kenneth?
Editors - Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors
Paolo Nutini - Jenny Don't Be Hasty
Damien Rice - Cannonball
Peter, Bjorn And John (featuring Victoria Bergsman) - Young Folks
Disc: 2
Newton Faulkner - Dream Catch Me
The Fray - Over My Head (Cable Car)
Coldplay - Yellow
Jack Peñate - Torn On The Platform
KT Tunstall - Other Side Of The World
Manic Street Preachers featuring Nina Persson - Your Love Alone Is Not Enough
Kings Of Leon - On Call
John Mayer - Your Body Is A Wonderland
Jeff Buckley - Everybody Here Wants You
Aqualung - Pressure Suit
Embrace – Ashes
The Magic Numbers - Love Me Like You
Stereophonics - Dakota
Lou Reed - Walk On The Wild Side
Primal Scream - Rocks
The Pigeon Detectives - Take Her Back
The Holloways - Generator
Reverend & The Makers - Heavyweight Champion Of The World
Travis - Why Does It Always Rain On Me?
Gorillaz - Dare

:)

This sounds like the first, orchestral version of Arpeggi with a little Neil Young. If all the album is going to be filled with this gorgeously odd arrangements this will probably be better than In Rainbows.

There were rumours about them being joined by a string quartet this tour. I'd pay good money to hear 'pyramid song' and 'how to dissapear completely' with strings A small orchestra joining them would be great live, it could give some interesting variations on their old songs too if they use them the whole concert, imagine the last minutes of National Anthem or Paranoid Android live with a string section joining them!

I haven't heard any of the new material yet, mainly because Radiohead are an albums band and I want to hear the new album completely fresh without knowing any of the cuts on it beforehand.

i like Daydreaming a lot but i wonder if the whole album will be nothing-y vocal melodies with beautiful orchestration?

http://static.stereogum.com/uploads/2016/05/Radiohead-2016-640x226.jpg

Shit, is Phil a fucking vampire!?

Kinda unfair that they made Phil's head bigger than the others

Coz looking hawt in the disheveled look, the others could use a little trimming to look less like hermits. Phil is indeed a vampire.

Thom is starting to look like Beth Gibbons with facial hair.

leagues ahead of King of Limbs. really can't wait. this rules

I love to daydream, but daydreaming does nothing for me

This sounds like the first, orchestral version of Arpeggi with a little Neil Young. If all the album is going to be filled with this gorgeously odd arrangements this will probably be better than In Rainbows.

There were rumours about them being joined by a string quartet this tour. I'd pay good money to hear 'pyramid song' and 'how to dissapear completely' with strings A small orchestra joining them would be great live, it could give some interesting variations on their old songs too if they use them the whole concert, imagine the last minutes of National Anthem or Paranoid Android live with a string section joining them!

― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Friday, May 6, 2016 12:16 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

hell yes

"daydreaming" reminds me a little of some caribou songs (toward the end especially) where there's some buildup and ambient elements but never fully goes into catharsis with drums and hella loudness.

Apparently backwards message is "half of my life'

http://vocaroo.com/i/s18NczYOIA0P

Idk sound like some exorcist movie shit.

I tried pitching it up also, which didn't make it any clearer but it did reveal other voice samples (probably saying the same thing) that were even lower, it just made it all more difficult to hear however.

http://vocaroo.com/i/s0jI8TWUzHsI

ugh please don't compare thus to Caribou, even if it is true. Some things are better left unsaid. Now I come to think about it, the whole problem with TKOL was that it sounded like the product of Thom sitting around listening to tons of funkless, meandering post-IDM.

Heaven forbid that one should compare Radiohead to a much loved and acclaimed artist that they've taken on tour, commissioned remixes from, and stated as an influence.

I was wondering if there is anybody here who is just fully into all of Radiohead's direction post HTTT?

Why does Cheerful Thom Yorke look like a registered sex offender, guyz?

i........really like this latest song

muuuuch better than burn the witch

:D

Why does Cheerful Thom Yorke look like a registered sex offender, guyz?

― David Goey (King Boy Pato), Saturday, 7 May 2016 10:44 (55 minutes ago)

tbf hes got a way to go before he gets to this

https://twitter.com/metpoliceuk/status/728565825033129984

i like Daydreaming a lot but i wonder if the whole album will be nothing-y vocal melodies with beautiful orchestration?

― sam jax sax jam (Jordan), Friday, May 6, 2016 1:36 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I'd enjoy this, and I'd also enjoy them trying to be "cutting edge," but I'll be disappointed if it's an OKC retread. I like "Daydreaming" but not so much "Burn The Witch," which reminds me why I don't like mopey, pretentious pre- Kid A Radiohead

Ha, I find Daydreaming more mopey and pretentious than Burn the Witch

I have a feeling it won't be anything like OK Computer. I don't think Radiohead could be themselves circa 1997 even if they tried. They've spent so much time moving away from that record that I think they've forgotten how to be that band. It just wouldn't come naturally to them now.

this is good

Both of the singles sound really good to me, I could hear "Daydreaming" as an opener and "Burn the Witch" as 2nd track.

defintely see the Caribou vibe in "Daydreaming", also recalls the sort of Klangfarbenmelodie'd arpeggio going on in "The Rip" by Portishead.. though it feels troubled

hoping for more IDM (percussive) elements, but something with more impact than the general vibe of TKoL

I like everything they've done since HTTT. The only two records by them which I'd personally rate below 7.0 are Amnesiac and HTTT actually.

every time i listen to amnesiac i can't believe "fog" and "cuttooth" aren't on it

"cuttooth" is prob my favorite radiohead song of all time

this is exactly the right time for them to lean hard into their neil young and strings obsession and come up with something significant and detailed that makes their back catalogue look more and more like lightweight artrock.

with TKOL, while an interesting capsule experiment, they've always reacted against the last thing they did. have the feeling now they wouldn't spend the time working they did and return this confidently if they arent sitting on something that is going to (re)define them as a band in 2016.

not long to find out. hope i'm right.

It's been roughly the same gap between releases as between In Rainbows and The King of Limbs though, hasn't it?

Relistened to the whole Kid A / Amnesiac / b-sides era this morning. Just a remarkably fertile period.

I like "Fog" and "Cuttooth" a lot but to me they don't quite fit either album's vibe

also I was hoping these were still up and they are

^^^^ those are the reason i'm a music writer lol

Those got published once a week for a while, yes? I seem to remember waiting breathlessly for each post.

Yeah, it's incredible how that period turned out to be so fertile given how problematic the sessions were.

By the way, I love the fact that this is apparently coming out tomorrow and nobody has any idea what the title is... or is it self-titled, or what?

the rumor is it's called dawn chorus but that's just the name of the company they registered last year

I really hope it isn't, if only so I won't have to endure a million hacks calling it their "pastoral" album

it may well have been, but i get the impression that this record has a much stronger weight of expectation for some reason. the 5/6-piece gamely exploring the confines of a rock band must surely be a dry well to them as well as us now. they have never ever been a band for any shred of self-confident braggadocio, but the faint strains of it in their maneuvers now i reckon bode well. dare i say, even exciting?

and of course they arent going to name it until the whole package is ready. even back when they released the title "amnesiac", the press wrung their hands over how it would never escape the shadow of the similarly titled Green Day album. imagine the outpourings that would happen today. bet you $10 that dawn chorus is just cheeky misdirection. theyre not that careless.

I'd say this release has a weight of expectation about it because The King of Limbs got a mixed reception and people are seeing if they can still pull a release out of the bag that stands equal with the better albums in their discography, or whether they're on some irreversible downhill slide.

I'm sure 'The Dawn Chorus' is one of the names of the new tracks, or so I remember reading?

Daydreaming itself sounds like it's channelling that whole late 80s ambient post-prog thing - somewhere between the middle section of Hounds of Love and Spirit of Eden and maybe some Peter Gabriel that I've never heard. I'd be surprised if the whole album was like that.

the middle section of Hounds of Love and Spirit of Eden and maybe some Peter Gabriel

If you are secretly street teaming for the new Radiohead, sir, you just got me to buy the deluxe edition

The more I listen to "Burn The Witch," however, the more I think I dislike it. I also dislike the lyrics: we're still making floating / burning witch metaphors, really?

But I am really loving "Daydreaming" and sorta want to go to a movie theater just to maybe catch the video on the big screen

lol @ radiohead releasing an album of presumably intense and introspective art-rock while literally everyone in the uk is having a picnic

Two more hours. Get hyped! Don't know if this is fake but apparently if you own an Amazon echo the title, tracklist and 15 sec samples are available right now. 'A MOON SHAPED POOL' is supposed to be the title... don't love the name but hey True Love Waits!

https://m.imgur.com/a/uIAmh

I'm not the world's biggest Radiohead fan but I love that we can still all get excited about the same thing happening at the same time every once in a while

(Beyonce doesn't count)

why not

Yeah, why not.

*refreshes refreshes refreshes*

lol wow yeah they legit recorded "true love waits" for this. wacky

this is out...on Google Play

https://play.google.com/store/music/album/Radiohead_A_Moon_Shaped_Pool?id=B57cafi5cj2vwsy6a7e2a3ylyxm&hl=en_GB

Seems it's official, still think the track order will change since it's arranged alphabetically. So, mods should probably rename this thread?

Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool (2016)

it's kinda surprising something would slip up like this.

also surprising that Burn the Witch is the opener (and weird that it's alphabetical like that), and wow, True Love Waits. apparently The Numbers is Silent Spring?

I highly doubt that's the actual order

Yeah The Numbers is Silent Spring. Dissapointed Skirting on the Surface got left out it was one of my favorites of the new ones. Still not sold on Identikit the chorus 'broken hearts make it rain' from live versions was very awkward imho. The rest of the song has some interesting moments but that chorus Idk... Starts and ends very abruptly let's see what they did with it in the studio.

lol wow yeah they legit recorded "true love waits" for this. wacky

I find their refusal to let old songs die endearing

now where's Lift

cool album cover

lol Google Play took it down

Oh it's off Google Play now... You could even buy it and download a sec ago.

Lift was actually part of the sessions, I thought it would definitely make it this time around. Maybe a b-side?

It would fit with the orchestration-heavy theme, I would think.

lol wow yeah they legit recorded "true love waits" for this. wacky

I find their refusal to let old songs die endearing

now where's Lift

― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.)

yeah just wait until they put out "i promise" on a studio record

Prefer Dawn Chorus as title but whatever

why not

― HYPERLINK TO RAP GENIUS (BradNelson), Sunday, May 8, 2016 12:30 PM (32 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah, why not.

― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Sunday, May 8, 2016 12:36 PM (26 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

at the risk of what certainly has the potential to be a very unfortunate derail, because not everyone is a poptimist consumed with celebrity culture and vacuous pop music?

Anyway, new album discussion!

Did anyone manage to download it before it disappeared?

vacuous pop music

Ding! I knew this would be the answer, but I just wanted you to type it for the record.

Right, I'm a cliche. Look at me in my Foo Fighters t-shirt hating Taylor Swift and wishing people still wrote "real songs, maaan." You got me

I'm listening to it now, the tracklist seems to be the correct order - Decks Dark segues into Desert Island Disk

Hahahaha

Tracklist I saw was alphabetical. Surely that can't be right

I thought this title would make good anagrams but the best I can come up with is Shampoo'n a Poodle

this album has a weirdly laid back sensibility for them so far

apparently the alphabetical tracklist is correct lol

So where is it? I was looking here but obviously wrong place: https://store-us.wasteheadquarters.com/

19 more minutes till the official release.

xp Google Play accidentally launched it early, then took it back down.

I need to make my peace with the fact that I just wish every Radiohead song sounded like Autechre's "Second Scepe" + Greenwood guitars

Which radiohead song comes closest to that ideal?

and theeeeeeeere's the new DN

its on itunes now

its on radiohead.com now too

happy mother's day :)

2 extra tracks in september

looks like their website crashed

Eggs and the marketing board behind them

are you a blue?

http://www.amoonshapedpool.com/

re: alphabetization of tracklist

sounds like the result of a really frustrating process to determine the running order

or a Pet Shop Boys influence.

studio version of True Love Waits is disappointing, it's very minimal but not really in an interesting way like what they did with Videotape

The album title is crap, by the way... it has a really naff late '90s landfill indie vibe to it.

A moon shaped pool would just be a circle, right?

Radiohead - Circle

Maybe Thom thought of it during a nicotine tinged smoke inhalation break.

So, I purchased the vinyl, but was not given a download link. Do I have to wait until June to hear it?!

TRUE LOVE WAITS

Considered buying the CD but a) no free MP3s and b) $10 for shipping. FUUUUUCK YOUUUUU. I'll wait a month, get it from Amazon and probably get the MP3s then via their AutoRip service. In the meantime, I'll wait for it to turn up on Spotify.

So, I purchased the vinyl, but was not given a download link. Do I have to wait until June to hear it?!

― Austin

Bought vinyl and already received my digital download.

First impressions: The album is less orchestral heavy than I thought based on the first two tracks. Glass Eyes does use orchestral arrangements and it sounds gorgeous on first listen. Ful Stop and Identikit were definitely improved on the live version, they both sound less rockier, more psychedelic, Identikit guitars even sound balearic. They're my least favorite on first listen though... kinda wish I hadn't heard those live versions before I think they've tainted my enjoyment for them.

Oh and Numbers / Silent Spring and Present Tense are of course amazing. Best songs in here imho.

imo radiohead is a good band who makes good music

Halfway through, this feels like the opposite of TKOL to me so far - obsessively performed, meticulous and maximalist. No one will accuse them of having butchered or half-assed these songs.

Someone has already said as much that they've butchered 'True Love Waits'

I don't know, though... haven't heard the LP yet.

I also just read someone refer to this as "empty and minimal" so I guess there's no limit to the possible rongness

I'm surprised by how close Desert Island Disk, The Numbers and Present Tense are to Thom's solo renditions, since most of the King of Limbs era tracks he played solo beforehand had drastically different arrangements

It's a bit too tastefully done, so far.

What you gain on control, you lose on the spontaneity.

I loved King of Limbs but yes, sound-wise this is so lush and not claustrophobic at all which is something that they had a problem with in almost all of their recordings... the instrumentation for the arrangementalso s seems to be natural for the most part this time around... might be one of the most beautifully sounding albums I've heard since Samamidon's All Is Well.

I don't know if I'd call it maximalist, there something that feels sparse and minimal about it, I think it might be about he composition and not the actual sounds of it... but I think it works on its favor. With simpler compositions you get a chance for fuller arrangements to dominate the song.

Someone has already said as much that they've butchered 'True Love Waits'

i mean i already have the other one, bring on the butchering

It's something that the Samamidon album also has btw... very simple songs that are made excellent by Nico Muhly's incredible arrangements.

I don't get people who think they butchered TLW. I'd heard so many live covers and unimpressive versions with arrangements by souncloud/youtube users that I had lost faith Radiohead could ever do something interesting with it.

I like it but I also didn't mind what they did to "Videotape" and this feels v similar

on first listen I was most struck by "Ful Stop," "Decks Dark" and "Glass Eyes."

I wouldn't say 'butchered' but it's such a nice melody I wish they'd done more with. this version is pretty but not that interesting either.

i really like "desert island disk"

lol this is really in alphabetical order

putting them in a lineage with mindless self indulgence

I'm reading the word "interesting" a lot here... all I want to know is if it's any good!

it's interesting

xxpost:

First thought that sprang to my mind is "ah, they've heard Electric, then!"

I like Videotape but I think that one could have been better arranged. I think what they did with TLW is perfect, it's everything it should be... they've spent 20 years trying different ways to do it... I imagine one day in the future some of those rarities and demos will be released and we'll get like 50 different versions and arrangements of it.

On my second listen of the album now, this is very otherworldly... it's mostly mellow which could be a problem with some fans that love their punchier material but at some point in your life you've got to age with dignity. An album filled with rockers at this point in their career would be odd. Hopefully this isn't their last, it feels like a farewell.

man I would die if they ever just cracked open their vault and unleashed their demos, alternates, c-sides etc.

Re True Love Waits; has there ever been an example of a live/session version of a song that's been considered to have been improved upon by the official studio version?

good record

I like Desert Island Disk. I like the acoustic guitars on this album. I like the untreated pianos on this album. I like the hand held percussiony bells or chimes or those ittle tambouriney cymbals or whatever on this album. I have only listened to it once. I don't pay attention to Radiohead live stuff or b-sides. Just the LPs. This seems better on first listen than TKOL. It doesn't blow me away like In Rainbows did on first listen. The last song True Love Waits seems great.

In Rainbows was definitely more impressive on first listen for me too... again, I think the mellowness of this one kind of undermines its initial impact... on the other hand, it's way too early to tell but generally speaking mellow, layered records such as this one are the ones with the most replay value for me.

"ful stop" is amazing

Wow at Decks Dark on second listen! I was so excited I didn't even pay attention at the choral arrangements and twinkling pianos in the background the first time around. They've been trying to nail this kind of sound since forever. This record makes HTTT sound immensely dry in retrospective.

I can't stop! I need to get off the forums for at least a day, i'll just keep flooding the thread with inane opinions. See you tomorrow!.

I kind of wish I didn't live on the West Coast of the US. It is super sunny here and I have this new family of Black Phoebes that seem to be using my backyard as a training ground. And its so rare to see more than one Black Phoebe at a time, that seeing a new family hang out in a group is fascinating to me. I guess if i knew this album was so mellow I might have closed the curtains. Looking forward to a nighttime headphone listening session. Maybe Burn The Witch as an opener doesn't work that well, in that it doesn't seem to set the stage appropriately but just seems to be at the top because that's the only place it wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb.

pisces: i thought the studio version of "go to sleep" was better than the old live version!

and, i mean. airbag too, if you want to count that one.

tbh studio version of "true love waits" >>>>>

they nailed it

yeah on my 2nd listen I teared up at it a bit tbh

This album is DEEP.

Just in terms of sound, it's really layered and lush — probably the most they've been in those areas since OK Computer. But it's deadly slow for the most part, forcing you to really zoom in on those huge, thoughtful arrangements.

Still processing right now. It's not really an album for the instant gratification listener. Guaranteed I will miss certain things and intricacies until the sixth or seventh listen.

is there such a thing as an instant gratification listener listening to Radiohead?

especially in 2016?

it's sunny on the east coast too, i had to pause halfway through the album to take my kids to the playground and it wound up feeling like a nice intermission

i was sorta instantly gratified but that's bc this is what i wanted to hear from them, something that mostly gently ebbs and implies a greater darkness. imo this is much better than the king of limbs. i love that it's understated, that the arrangements sort of take over everything, that it just seems to resonate at a particular frequency for 50 minutes and then disintegrate. "burn the witch" is kind of a red herring?

yeah it only makes sense in the opening slot, I'm slightly proud of guessing it and "Daydreaming" as the opening one-two

...albeit in the wrong order I now realize, lol

If you pre-order the CD from them do you get a download?

If you pre-order the CD from them do you get a download?

No.

album is fantastic. i'm not one for quantifying or qualifying or rating their records but this is completely enjoyable.

download is available with the deluxe order (which I got because I'm a sucker) but it's also on apple music

The £60 special edition being the only physical version to mention an instant download seems like a tactic to direct people to that

The bastards.

The £60 special edition being the only physical version to mention an instant download seems like a tactic to direct people to that

A friend pointed out that ordering the ultra deluxe edition gets you free shipping, too, whereas shipping to the US for the CD alone (a single CD!) is $10.15, which is fucking madness.

Looking at mine and my flatmate's order receipts, it seems the CD and Vinyl are coming from XL records, whereas the Special Version is coming from Radiohead's fanclub. Seems like their age old antagonism with record labels hasn't quite abated entirely.

lol @ the lossless download costing way more than the mp3s and there being two priced tiers of wav, the labor theory of value really is dead eh lads

my own specific perversion compels me to want FLACs but at 24-bit prices i began to feel cheated of something to fondle, so i preordered the cd assuming that the outrageous shipping ask was just the hawaii curse (often you can't get them to fly whatever-it-is out here at all) but no i guess that's all the yanks? haha.

in the meantime have gone thru other channels. so soundscape, very texture.

the vinyl order comes to like $40 in the US; that's about half the cost of the deluxe and at least with the deluxe you kind of feel like you are getting your money's worth with the immediate download and the art book

Enormous Led Zep feels in The Numbers - feels like the orchestral entry in Stairway.
Can't help but feel they lost the tense clockwork feel of Identikit after the excellent versions on the last tour.

The Guardian and the New York Times already have reviews up. Sad!

sigh at "pastoral" already showing up in the opening graf of Pareles' NYT writeup

they have, consciously i guess, dropped off a lot of their standard tropes and instead applied what sounds like an incredible amount of attention to detail over strong material.

it's a healthy sign when a lot of these tracks sound like the ultimate configuration of them as a band. ful stop is what they were reaching for on Hail to the Thief but never quite pulled off. current obsession "tinker tailor..." where they've managed to cohere what they never quite managed on Amnesiac (plus it's some of the most chillingly beautiful yorkeian vox yet).

unfashionable as it is not to approach radiohead with levels of snark, theyve done exactly what they needed to and it feels rewarding to dip into. great job, gents.

the production on this is so prettyyyyyyyyyy

I just realized what "The Numbers" reminds me of: recent Motorpsycho!

im glad radiohead still likes to get krauty, this is a v krauty record to me

i repeat, the production on this record is pretty as fuck, it is the prettiest record theyve ever done.

i agree it's v pretty and krauty. full stop reminded me of the most recent beak album + thom

Yeah I'm p taken by the production. As tunes, "Ful Stop" and "Identikit" probably stand out most so far.

i'll say this, the treatment of the drums are different than anything theyve ever done. hard to put my finger on it, but it feels very relaxed (slow pace prolly), muted, not a lot of bangers in this regard.

PERSONAL.-
Radiohead.-
Colin Greenwood – Bass
Jonny Greenwood – Guitar, Piano
Ed O’Brien – Guitar
Phil Selway – Drums
Thom Yorke – Vocals
PARTE TECNICA.-
Nigel Godrich – Producer
Stanley Donwood – Artwork
Walter Becker – Guest on Ful Stop

Is this the Walter Becker I'm thinking of???

this is one of my favorite things theyve ever done. im a 'kid a' partisan. i have a kid amnesiac playlist thats my go-to radiohead stuff. this touches a completely different emotional center for me.

btw this true love waits is so much better than videotape.

xp

hahaha thats dope!

listening for the first time right now, 'The Numbers' just started. Still processing that 'True Love Waits' is on here. Unreal. love this record so far, so much better than TKOL. melancholic, reflective, grown up in a way...hard to explain. it really is a leap forward. so glad to have them back.

How would they tell Becker apart from Yorke?

lol

Is it just my imagination or does "decks dark" get a little funky in the last minute?

Tidal link, for anyone looking: tidal.com/album/60215409. Lossless, one might add.

"The Numbers" is some bongos and afro percussion away from a balearic edit. It's become probably my favorite one today.

Guy from Steely Dan is indeed in the record iirc

http://www.pergunnareriksson.se/images/WalterWatch.jpg

Anyone still ride for Two Against Nature?

Anyone still ride for Two Against Nature?

― afriendlypioneer, Sunday, May 8, 2016 8:25 PM (33 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

just scored a used copy of this last month, my gf and i are big fans of gaucho. put it on in the car, sounded a lot like gaucho, then half an hour passed and we both realized we forgot we were listening to it. muzak success?

Everything Must Go is sharper imo

sigh at "pastoral" already showing up in the opening graf of Pareles' NYT writeup

lol pareles being lazy? no way

I'm losing my mind that Walter Becker is on this record

wait don't let that be fake

Becker's last solo album >>> the last two Steely Dan albums

Becker's last solo album >>> the last two Steely Dan ten Radiohead albums

uhh radiohead and steely dan albums are complex and therefore cannot be ordered

Haven't heard this and won't neither but it's shit

cool

i'm finally getting a chance to listen right now! onto Decks Dark now

decks dark is siiiiiiick

So, I purchased the vinyl, but was not given a download link. Do I have to wait until June to hear it?!

― Austin, Sunday, May 8, 2016 11:11 AM (9 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Austin, did you get a download link? website seems to imply that you have to buy the fancyman vinyl/cd/Thom's cold in syringe package to get a download link.

i'm so happy they managed to make another record that sounds nothing like any of their other records

I did not receive a link, so yes, I've technically bought it twice.

**shrug**

It's a fantastic album that'll keep me entertained for a long time, so I really don't have take issue with it.

phil selway is a much better drummer than he used to be

Strings on The Numbers very Vannier. Lovely orchestrations on this. This sounds like J. Greenwood's baby all the way. And it's mixed beautifully. A+++ though I can't tell what the heck Thom Yorke is on about on any of the songs.

Fiddling with the image on the order site for the deluxe-book-edition of the album I am pretty sure the two extra tracks mentioned are Spectre and something called Ill Wind.
http://i.imgur.com/ijHoZH6.jpg

I got a download link and I didn't purchase the deluxe version. I think if you bought the physical version you're entitled to the digital files.

The thing I love about the True Love Waits arrangement is all the violins in the background very gently tapping their bows against the strings.

No download with the standard CD, according to the official store:

https://amsp.wasteheadquarters.com/products/cd

Spectre's disappeared off iTunes as a standalone single - I'm sure you used to be able to get it?

ha..

* (This is) a piece of a Radiohead ½ inch master tape from an actual recording session.
The tape degrades over time and becomes unplayable. We thought rather than it ending up as landfill we would cut it up and make it useful as a part of the special edition. A new life for some obsolete technology...
Each loop contains about ¾ of a second of audio - which could be from any era in the band's recording past going back to Kid A. You may have silence, you may have coloured leader tape, you may have a chorus... It's a crapshoot.
We have copies. Don't worry.

Not listened yet. I'd like the vinyl version.. Why can't I get a download before I get my record? I Don't want to buy it twice!

finally radiohead release the dad-rock album we all knew they had in them

If you think this is dadrock, then... fuck knows. I mean it's not abrasive dissonant FUCK YOU techno noise to alienate and horrify, but dadrock is Travis, Bread, Coldplay. This is not that, at all, even slightly. Yes, it's kind of absolutely identifiable as Radiohead and sounds exactly as you'd expect a Radiohead record to sound right now given everything that's gone before, but I don't think they could have done anything else after 30 years together.

It really ought to be "moon-shaped" though, right?

Nah, they're talking about a person named moon (Keith?) and how they influenced the game of billiards

lol

"He sure did. His influence can also be seen in modern ping-pong"

Ful Stop and The Numbers clear early highlights. This is probably the most texturally homogenous of their albums, individual songs are taking a while to coalesce out of the hazy lushness, but this is not necessarily a criticism when the textures are this rich.

While not "Dad rock", I could actually see my dad really enjoying this album, but that's mostly due to the fact that my dad's favorite album is Days of Future Passed by the Moody Blues.

I think rusho was joking about the walter becker "credit" joke

which is a joke aimed at the venn diagram of which I am the exact center lol

My dad loathes Radiohead so I can't describe it as dad rock.

my dad would enjoy a moon shaped pool, or at least a moon shaped hot tub

Man, this album. And I've only gotten through Identikit. I was hearing it wrong at first because the way they drop everything in makes it sound like the first upbeat is the 1, had to rewind it a couple times after that.

Love how the mix slowly morphs on 'Ful Stop', with the drums and vocals being sublimated at first and gradually coming into focus...

xpost - I think getting you to hear it wrong is the intention.

Oh I know, and I like it.

love this album

I'm just now getting around to listening to Daydreaming. I'll get to the album in due time.

I don't really have a place in my life for music like Daydreaming -- I'm 36 years old, and after a LOT of work and reflection I've managed to get to a point where I basically like my life and who I am, and I don't really need to listen to stuff that makes me purposelessly sad.

Joy at sadness: sadness at joy. Still as valid at 36 as it is any other time of life.

That's such a strange attitude to me. Do you not watch movies or read books that cause you to empathize with other people's emotions?

Not saying I avoid anything sad, but I find Radiohead so flatly and aimlessly sad.

I just have lost my patience for generalized ennui.

Daydreaming is kind of boring aside from the little sound effect flourishes in the background

i like daydreaming but it's not really a standout track for me - kind of surprised it was chosen as a single.

it'll be interesting to see alternate tracklistings that people make for this

Daydreaming is a sustained mood piece. It doesn't sound 'sad' to me. It's chilled out and reflective in the same way a lot of In Rainbows is, or How To Disappear Completely.

Daydreaming is a standout

How To Disappear Completely builds in intensity throughout its running time; Daydreaming, based on one listen, is extremely static for most of its run time with most of the interesting things happening in the background.

That's what I like about it!

Actually listening again, there are two distinct points of musical development in Daydreaming; the bit around 2:17 when the polyrhythms resolve into 6/8 (which then snaps back onto 3 against 2 for the verse) and the bit around 5:02 when the strings come back in on top of the repeated 6/8 theme and build a slightly bigger crescendo. Also I found it less boring the second time but that was partially because I skipped directly to the bits where I knew a change was coming, lol.

that's also what i like about it; the things that would typically move the most don't move much at all, so the arrangement/environment takes over

I like the way the strings emulate the snoring sound.

you should listen to the rest of the album DJP; daydreaming makes more sense in the context of the rest of it

Nice album, I think. Contemplative, very focused and tense.

Yeah it's not my favourite as an individual song, but it's a kind of announcement, or an opening up, after the relatively straightforward Burn the Witch.

xpost

Enormous Led Zep feels in The Numbers - feels like the orchestral entry in Stairway.

It was reminding me really strongly of some 70s rock song but I couldn't put my finger on which. Maybe it's just Zep? The strings are a little reminiscent of "Kashmir" too.

I was thinking full moon, but maybe they mean crescent moon? That would be cool, though tough for laps.

Guitar riff in the numbers is v neil young

I had assumed crescent moon. Otherwise, it would just be round.
xp

Oh, Neil Young makes sense. I was getting real flashbacks to Canadian classic rock radio.

Only listened to it once so far and am planning to do so again later. Was pretty good, great in parts. As ever sometimes they get a bit bland, and one track seemed to me like a retread of Optimistic with more strings. I forget which one.

the moon only has one shape so I am sure it is a spherical pool with craters.

along with the Jonny Greenwood point of reference, some of the big string swells recall Beck (Paper Tiger, Mutations etc.), as well as the general soft-edged, enveloping quality of the sound worlds.

i'm a dad fuck the world!!!!!!!!

digging this on first listen :)

There's no hyphen though, so maybe it is the moon that's shaping the pool, not a pool shaped like a moon.

so the moon shaped pool is the ocean then. we solved it.

Oh duh

Wouldn't "shaped by the moon" still require hyphenating "moon-shaped"? Sort of like "An artist-curated exhibition" or "an owner-operated business"

could it be like a half moon crescent or something

When my brother and I were kids we were baffled by the title "Like Water for Chocolate" and came up with a bunch of theories about what it meant, e.g. that it was part of an order -- "I'd like water, four chocolates, and a bowl of soup," or that it was a mishearing of a business name, "Lake Waterford Chocolates."

I don't think you need a hyphen because the idea of a "moon pool" is just stupid

and saying only that a pool is "shaped" is also stupid (I guess a pool on the moon would be cool, so I was wrong)

hot tub time machine 3: on the moon! would've been a good title

Ok I lied about knowing how hyphens work, but "the ocean" feels right.

then again, "shaped pool" may be Thom's name for all pools that are not infinity pools. maybe Thom saw his first pool that wasn't an infinity pool recently and thought it was gross. So he made Austin buy his album twice to stop this from happening again.

and Thom is saying "send all of these gross 'shaped pools' to the moon"

you can get different graphics on the vinyl liner of a pool (like i've seen em simulate tile etc) but it would be pretty cool to get a perfectly round pool then have the liner be a super HD photo of the moon so it would look just like the moon from above, just my thoughts

How cool would it be to have a pool with this on the bottom:

http://madmuseum.org/sites/default/files/2011/03/trip-to-teh-moon-1902_0.jpg

But yeah, ocean makes sense.

it's about skinny-dipping, you moon others in the pool, it is a sex album

or if you had walter becker printed at the bottom of the deep end of your pool. the true liner notes to the album. the true "vinyl liner" so to speak.

you could also put real hair where walter's hair and beard would be. the kids would have to search for diving sticks in the tangles of walter's hair how cool would that be?

I'm suddenly haunted by http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51xiiXuDexL.jpg

xxpost - eazy - good thought leading on vinyl pool graphics that would be very cool

Maybe it's about the really awesome swimming pool in Thom Yorke's back garden. Radiohead pool parties are legendary.

i'm a dad fuck the world!!!!!!!!

― rockpalast '82 (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, May 9, 2016 11:48 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

took me a few scans to reparse this to something other than "I'm going to dad-fuck the world!!!"

Signed up for a month of tidal for this, beyonce, and prince. I feel so manipulated. Listening to Beyonce first because this experience is sweet and sour but not at all moon shaped.

this album is sooo mellow. i like it. so where and when can i buy a digital copy of this? (i havent been reading this thread in case this has been mentioned already)

believe it is everywhere except spotify. link to radiohead store is on their twitter.

the radiohead store was really easy to use

it is still under construction, but there is a guestbook you can sign at the bottom

did i mess up by getting this on itunes

the guitar part on "Desert Island Disk" is totally Bert Jansch, love it

the tidal app shows circular album artwork that spins slowly as the music plays as if you've purchased a shit cd player from Sharper Image

spins at 3 rpm for some reason

a perfectly round pool would be awesome. I've never seen one. if a bunch of people were swimming laps, it would be like a figure 8 race car track, so exciting! and dangerous!

why wouldn't everyone just swim around the perimeter?

you're right, though, this is awesome
http://c.shld.net/rpx/i/s/i/spin/image/spin_prod_944764112?hei=245&wid=245&op_sharpen=1&qlt=85

like radiohead's kid a redefined rock music the swimmers would defy conventional notions of what a lap swimming is

swimming in a circle doing an Australian Crawl seems hard, I can't even think about Butterfly or Backstroke. Overground circular pools are awesome though, I used to enjoy having everyone just go around the edge trying to create the biggest whilpool we possibly could. it never worked as well as you wanted.

I picture a much bigger circular pool at least 50m in diameter. although an olympic sized circular pool at 100m would be blow my stupid mind.

oh wait, I have it all wrong. an olympic pool would be 50m diameter. while a standard pool I mostly swam in for HS swim meets was 25m.

don't mind me.

the guitar part on "Desert Island Disk" is totally Bert Jansch, love it

I wasn't sure which acoustic player it made me think of most. I even thought of acoustic Steve Howe a little. Jansch might work.

I still haven't heard this yet - the weather's been too nice and to be quite honest with you it doesn't feel like the optimum time of year to appreciate a new Radiohead album. I've been keeping up with opinions of it online though, and I've found myself being reminded on just how much fucking hard work it is to dig through a zillion over-inflated "best thing eva!"/Patrick Bateman type posts from Radiohead die-hards. This is happening much more elsewhere than here, thankfully, and seems to happen every time this band release a record. It's one of those things I keep forgetting about when Radiohead are dormant/working on something, but now the album's out and it's like "oh god, it's this shit again" ...

Also: 4.02 average on RYM already! I'm sure the record's good, but I don't expect it to be "best album of all time" type of stuff, and only a day after release!

It's probably the sunniest Radiohead album in fairness.

heart shaped moon pool box

Also: 4.02 average on RYM already! I'm sure the record's good, but I don't expect it to be "best album of all time" type of stuff, and only a day after release!

It'll sink.

There's always backlash.

There's now a lukewarm 60 on the Metacritic page.

it begins...

RYM scores always start high, probably because early voters are more likely to be fans.

I keep imagining this thread is called "Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Poll"

I've read more than a few folks say it sounds like a "final" record... does it honestly really give off that kind of vibe? I can't help but wonder how many more albums this band have left in 'em.

I get "fifth from final" record vibes from this

I get fart vibes from it

jk. on track one now...really good opener

*emulates your vibes with strings*

omg at "Daydreaming"

"Daydreaming" is terrific

Hearing some Nick Drake-ian "Three Hours" vibes in the acoustic playing on "Desert Island Disk". Also hearing strong echoes of Scott Walker's "Boy Child" string arrangements on "Glass Eyes".

Neanderthal, please keep posting your impressions!

the 'final' thing crossed my mind with them finally recording true love waits; kind of a housecleaning, going back and taking care of some forgotten stuff. but I doubt it'll be the last one.

I was not expecting 'Present Tense' to be a samba.

this is exactly the kind of radiohead I've been waiting for. thanks radiohead

I'm actually surprised they've revisited 'True Love Waits', especially since there's technically been an officially released version of it available to buy for the last 15 years.

This band have such a backlog of material.

Maybe it means something

The ocean is a moon shaped pool. This shaping action is Tidal. A Moon Shaped Pool is available on Tidal. Walter Becker plays on A Moon Shaped Pool. Lemonade is a Tidal exclusive. Walter Becker is "Becky with the good hair."

Loving this.

It's the most they've ever sounded like Hex.

There's an idea. People keep saying late Talk Talk but that works better.

Bark Psychosis! That's the band I've been trying to think of! Yes!

Oh, now I like it even more...

Neanderthal, please keep posting your impressions!

― Crazy Eddie & Jesus the Kid (Raymond Cummings), Monday, May 9, 2016 6:00 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ran out of time and had to stop listening. tomorrow's another day!

loved pretty much every track I heard though. got halfway through I think.

I wish this was terrible so I could call it 'A Moon Shaped Poo' /13yo

"He Pools Clouds"

Stop.

Moon Shaped Pool:

Could be, also, physical music media (LP or CD)

And/or an eclipse (bonus Floyd points)

It's a shitty title.

It's not that bad.

Someone could do a banging house remix with those chiming synth chords at the start of Tinker Tailor...

A Poon shaped Moule

Sorry, did someone say stop?

I want to have this on CD; I also want to listen to the album today. But I have no interest in paying for the download and the CD. I don't understand the strategy behind the delayed release, other than "maybe people will pay twice".

Shit isn't it? This Mexican music blog has a free (and legal, as far as I can tell) stream that works for me:

http://mexicoindie.net/2016/05/stream-radiohead-a-moon-shaped-pool/

I bloody love this album. This is def radiohead's 'Avalon'.

I'm sure there's some degree of strategy behind the staggering, but may it not also be because of manufacturing times for the physical versions? I don't know about the feasibility of being able to have the CDs & vinyl ready at the point of digital release if you want to maintain secrecy on the details of the album, which they clearly did.

Yeah, but if I buy the CD several weeks in advance I'd expect an immediate download, in mp3 format at least, if not 24bit wav.

Reminds me of either Aphex Twin's Syro or Boards Of Canada's Tomorrow's Harvest (I can't recall precisely which and perhaps it was both) arriving at our record shop in boxes from the pressing plant stickered with manufacturing labels with fake artist name/album title and catalogue numbers, so they must have been pressed using fictitious info from Warp to try and prevent leaks.

Oh, yes, I absolutely agree with that! That's a sly and disappointing move on their part.

If you've already ordered and paid for the CD, or committed to spending money on it, it should be extremely easy to find yourself a digital version through other means. It's only one of the biggest releases of the year.

Yeah, I'd have no qualms about that.

Oh, I know. There's also at least one free & legal stream of the whole album out there (link posted above).

I was just a bit annoyed that, after paying for the CD upfront I'd have to wait, while those who bought the download get it straight away. There's no real justification for this other than trying to get me to buy it twice ...

Or trying to get you to buy the expensive special edition, which was the only physical pre-order to come with an immediate download included. Which I did, as it ended up looking like the best deal, partly for that reason.

Is anybody else getting any Traffic (the band) top notes from this record?

Tomorrow's Harvest is OTM. It's got that same bleak, wandering-in-a-nuclear-winterland resolute daze. A late career album that jettisons reckless experimentation for smoothness and confidence. Same as Avalon I guess.

yeah im getting some Bark Psychosis vibes from this too, prob why i love it so much

For me this is the most consistently enjoyable album they've released since OK Computer. I like plenty of post-Kid A stuff, but as I've said a few times, those albums always felt disjointed, awkward. This is solid, consistent, confident in itself. I absolutely adore it.

consistent

Amazing how well the album flows, considering the track ordering appears to have been selected alphabetically.

I also got Bark Psychosis vibes from this, I think partly because it reminds me a bit of A Field of Reeds too. AMSP has less eclectic instrumentation but is probably more focussed and overall better, mind.

Amazing how well the album flows, considering the track ordering appears to have been selected alphabetically.

― TARANTINO! (dog latin), Tuesday, May 10, 2016 9:22 AM (11 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i'm gonna go ahead and assume that a little more thought went into the sequencing/titling of those tracks than thom yorke toggling the arrow at the top of the 'name' column

Yeah, the alphabetical titles thing has got to be a joke based on early-leak albums that aren't indexed / meta-data'd properly yet, when they all appear in a folder alphabetically and you think "is this finished? what order do they go in?". If you plant that as a concept relatively early on you're then free to gerrymander song titles to fit the sequencing of songs you like. After all, what do Radiohead song titles refer to these days? Are they a refrain? An opening line? A snatch of verse lyric? An oblique reference? They've been all of the above, so just fiddle with them until you've got it.

I'm also faintly dubious about the 'magic' of sequencing albums anyway; unless there's some kind of lyrical narrative going on I think half the time it doesn't really matter all that much.

It totally matters, but the sequencing on this is pretty much perfect anyway.

Decks Dark is a real grower, lovely melodies and some subtly funky bass.

Haven't really got into Present Tense or Identikit (I think the guitar solo sounds crap, sorry), the rest are great.

xp I think it matters a lot too, and Radiohead have been a case in point. I'd hold up OKC as an album that has been perfectly sequenced, with Thom saying around the time that he would take long walks with the songs on a minidisc, trying them out in different orders etc. It has a beginning, a middle and an end. It flows really well and doesn't feel like it's repeating itself. Since then, I've found that most Radiohead albums frustrate me with their sequencing, which kind of messes up the listening experience for me. I won't go into the details as I've mentioned them several times already, but yeah, getting your album to work as a piece is an important part of making it 'an album' as opposed to 'a bunch of tracks'.

It's a shitty title.

― Hey Bob (Scik Mouthy), Tuesday, May 10, 2016 4:21 AM (6 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

This is def radiohead's 'Avalon'.

― TARANTINO! (dog latin), Tuesday, May 10, 2016 8:02 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ILX always be saying things I was gonna say before I say them

I agree that the album was probably sequenced first and the songs titled second, and not the other way around. Which, if you're an 'indeterminacy / oblique strategies' type person, is actually pretty cool.

"Ful Stop" is my current fav btw

Will buy the CD on Amazon when it's like $8.99 or something and will enjoy an inexpensive and uninterrupted listen free of pops, clicks and slight warping. I'll just have to break up weed on Houses of the Holy instead, fine w that

Ful Stop is great, a highlight, but it also includes those bits with Thom going 'Argh! Argh!', which is the only bit of the album I don't like so far.

At least half of these songs have been around for years, so either they've been playing a VERY long game with this alphabetical sequencing wheeze, or the album is so of-a-piece that the alphabetical sequence sounds as coherent as any other might have done.

probably the latter. the bookends of burn the witch/true love waits feel quite right though.

Which is why I think sequencing is often not that important...

It depends on the diversity of sounds and moods on the album to some extent, I've heard so many albums (Random Access Memories springs to mind) kill the momentum by dropping a really slow/low-key track in second. Imagine OK Computer with Climbing Up The Walls as the second track.

Yeah, it depends totally on the individual album in question, but, as with AMSP, sometimes if the bookends work order the middle's in isn't that important, especially if the overall feel is very cohesive. Don't get me wrong, I think some albums totally fucked-up their sequencing, but I think lots could be changed slightly, or even significantly, and not suffer that much. I also reckon a lot of album sequencing is probably quite arbitrary on behalf of the artists...

Didn't Thom sequence OKC by shuffling and reshuffling it on a minidisc over weeks and weeks...

see dog latin 7 posts up

"burn the witch" is very emblematic of what radiohead does well at their best, taking elements of more avant garde music (steve reich in this case) and applying it to a more pop song format for a different audience and making it sound organic

Uh, the middle part of an album's track order is very important, otherwise you could end up with an LP that sags in the middle.

i believe that sequencing an album like it's still a vinyl product (whether or not it is) is helpful, thinking of "side A" and "side B" breaks it down better

^^ I agree. Thinking about a the middle tracks as side one closer and side two opener is a good way to keep the album from sagging in the middle and gives the album a natural structure.

It's a double LP though ;)

I really like this album so far, I will say the acoustic I Might Be Wrong version of True Love Waits is one of my favorite Radiohead songs, so it is a little jarring to hear the piano-led interpretation here. I'll probably get used to it though, it is very pretty.

would someone tell radiohead to stop putting out single LP releases as double LPs? shit's annoying

one of the reasons I don't like buying vinyl of newer albums is having to switch sides 4 times in 50 minutes

Will buy the CD on Amazon when it's like $8.99 or something and will enjoy an inexpensive and uninterrupted listen free of pops, clicks and slight warping. I'll just have to break up weed on Houses of the Holy instead, fine w that

― Wimmels, Tuesday, May 10, 2016 11:01 AM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Listening to this now. It's not very exciting, is it? The first track to make me really take notice since Daydreaming is Identikit, and I'm listening pretty intently

Identikit now reminding me of Santana, and not in a good way

i feel like there's a certain weird strawman thing of using album covers to clean dope on, i feel like ppl say that a lot more than they do it

Identikit now reminding me of Santana, and not in a good way

― And the cry rang out all o'er the town / Good Heavens! Tay is down (imago), Tuesday, May 10, 2016 2:49 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this literally makes no sense did you just grab santana's name out of the "random classic rock references" bin?

Maybe imago works for VNYL

the last minute reminded me of that 'turn your lights on' track off of supernatural which i was forced to listen to at school coz it had 'smooth' on it

anyway, this album really isn't for me. a shame coz 'daydreaming' really got my hopes up but it's by a zillion miles the best track so far

hey now

It's odd. The start of this album is very gripping, but after Ful Stop it seems to just fade away and becomes very samey - ok, plain boring - to my ears. Which is a shame, because in theory I really like the idea of this being their Avalon, as DL said.

Present Tense is almost good

the only dip for me is 'Present Tense' and 'Tinker Tailor'. 'Identikit' is probably my fave so far, and 'Daydreaming' (which has really grown on me after not making much of an initial impression).

xp sound like 'maria, maria' to you?

Tinker Tailor...shaping up to be my second favourite track!

lol sufjan

nah, not having this album at all. sorry. bye, thread. see you in the EOYs when i'll next diss this album. will possibly vote for 'daydreaming' in the traxpoll at least. it's just so much more compositionally interesting, sonically adventurous and melodically satisfying than anything else here

at least you and I know which In Rainbows track is best

also the longest song, by coincidence
xpost

silly early ranking

decks dark
daydreaming
ful stop
present tense
identikit
burn the witch
...
desert island disk
tinker
true love waits
present tense
glass eyes

surprised you weren't into the other long song lj

Not surprised that imago and I have opposite impressions of this album but I am a little surprised that he likes the most straightforward song and not any of the ones with proggy rhythmic structures (the three bar phrases in Ful Stop, Desert Island Disk is in 7, etc).

i really like the feel of desert island disk and present tense but i struggle to remember what the songs sound like

present tense in your list twice

missing the numbers

whoops, i meant to put present tense in the top half and the numbers in the bottom. and it's the melody of the numbers that i can never remember afterward

i'm still enjoying the album but i'm beginning to cool off a little. i'm totally engaged up through ful stop, but i really only love two songs from the last half (identikit and present tense), which makes it more frontloaded for me than any other radiohead album

Between the cosmic jazz piano, relatively straightforward rock groove, and the strings, 'The Numbers' really gives me a Spiritualized vibe.

goon shaped cruel

i feel like there's a certain weird strawman thing of using album covers to clean dope on, i feel like ppl say that a lot more than they do it

― rockpalast '82 (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, May 10, 2016 3:50 PM (54 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I mostly agree with this, but I have a sleeve for Tom Waits' Frank's Wild Years that's missing the record and that's been my go-to weed-breaking tool for years now. I probably wouldn't use a sleeve of a record I care about to do this because, over time, it makes the inner gatefold kinda cruddy. And yeah, something a little overly romantic about actually breaking up weed on the record you're listening to at the time. Maybe this happened more in the 60s?

I still think "Burn The Witch" is by far the lousiest song on this record, and it remains -- after two listens -- the only one I don't enjoy.

i feel like a good bamboo or plastic cutting board would be much more hygenic than a radiohead album

Also, not to be all enhancement smoker here but surely I'm not the only one looking forward to listening to this album blazed

In Rainbows was a big 'weed' record for me

^undercover cop

After reading this thread, then playing the album, then reading the rest of this thread... I think I like (current) Radiohead, but not Radiohead fans? Oof some of these opinions...

I dig how "Present Tense" sounds like a Gypsy Kings song.

pretty sure i like this album, thank you random mexican stream.

the last minute reminded me of that 'turn your lights on' track off of supernatural which i was forced to listen to at school coz it had 'smooth' on it

― And the cry rang out all o'er the town / Good Heavens! Tay is down (imago), Tuesday, May 10, 2016 3:53 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i can see how you came up with this but still lmao

to those of a certain age, that D-minor arpeggio is etched into our brains like a drop-D Days of the New riff, and nothing else compares.

Eye-wateringly poor review from The Independent, quotes first track as "This is a low-fi banker tax" and kicks on from there: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/radiohead-a-moon-shaped-pool-new-album-review-pleasure-and-despair-as-band-lets-themselves-be-a7020376.html

Couldn't get through that.

"Dear PR person,

I am reviewing ____________ for _______________ and I was hoping you could confirm a few of the album's lyrics for me. I think I have them right but I'd like to make sure before I print them."

WHY IS THAT SO FUCKING DIFFICULT????!!

I still think "Burn The Witch" is by far the lousiest song on this record, and it remains -- after two listens -- the only one I don't enjoy.

― Wimmels, Tuesday, 10 May 2016 20:51 (Yesterday)

Burn the Witch is one of the few tracks where you can hear a lot of 'string phenomena' going on, like the harsh attack of the plectrum and all of the percussion/atonality involved in that activity. also, there's a bounty of wild harmonic activity, presented very clearly.. as opposed to other tracks where the strings sound distant/epic/less macro

an album to make you feel, better

I know, WTF. You get the sense the writer is pleased with his cleverness, but it just goes "plonk".

I get the sense they've got no sub-editors or proof-readers.

or people with ears

Between the cosmic jazz piano, relatively straightforward rock groove, and the strings, 'The Numbers' really gives me a Spiritualized vibe.

― sam jax sax jam (Jordan),

Except not monumentally dull.

OTOH, Drowned in Sound nails it - http://drownedinsound.com/releases/19421/reviews/4150037

a sort of avant-garde MOR record

I like this description, but isn't this what Avalon is?

yeah, also a stereolab quote/summary

i feel like there's a certain weird strawman thing of using album covers to clean dope on, i feel like ppl say that a lot more than they do it

― rockpalast '82 (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, May 10, 2016 3:50 PM (54 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I mostly agree with this, but I have a sleeve for Tom Waits' Frank's Wild Years that's missing the record and that's been my go-to weed-breaking tool for years now. I probably wouldn't use a sleeve of a record I care about to do this because, over time, it makes the inner gatefold kinda cruddy. And yeah, something a little overly romantic about actually breaking up weed on the record you're listening to at the time. Maybe this happened more in the 60s?

I still think "Burn The Witch" is by far the lousiest song on this record, and it remains -- after two listens -- the only one I don't enjoy.

― Wimmels, Tuesday, May 10, 2016 4:51 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i still haven't listened to this new radiohead album but i want to pop in and say i think that most weed nowadays does not need to be cleaned, shitty weed tangled w/ seeds and stems is less of a thing now than it used to be. it was definitely a ritual back in the day when we could only get shitty weed

"Can weed affect your opinion on the new Radiohead album?"

Sounds like a Vice story

It’s hard not to feel a bit like somebody's dad saying this

DiS bringing the ageism in perplexing new ways.

My Dad often goes around praising Nigel Godrich's production values to be fair.

The scope of a father's wisdom has clearly broadened over the years.

i have not listened to this yet since it is not on Spotify. so waiting...

You may be waiting a very long time.

tidal is a 30-day trial awayyyyy

yes, join us on the tidal thread. We are all keeping it cool over there.

I'm seeing a lot of people's reactions to the album include things about how 'Present Tense' isn't up to the rest of the record's standards, but I must respectfully disagree, as I find it to the album's most beautiful moment. It's an instance of emotional reprieve on an album that is sometimes so emotionally heavy, it nearly becomes too much. It feels like an honest to goodness love song with the repetition of "In you I'm lost" as the arrangement swells into the rewarding cadence.

Just top stuff.

"Can weed affect your opinion on the new Radiohead album?"

the last time i listened to a radiohead album was 16 years ago and i was so stoned and it made me like that album a lot.

"I quit smoking cigarettes recently and I've been making do with Gummi Bears, the patch, and tons of righteous weed. So between Kid A, Madonna, and that new Doves album, I've been enjoying a summer of love in my mind. The Doves' mantras of desolation are even trippier than the first couple Cranes records (though maybe not as lysergic as prime Swans or Ravens), Madonna's new one makes the 13th Floor Elevators sound like the Weavers, and Kid A doesn't have a thought in its head, always a plus with stoner rock."

http://www.villagevoice.com/music/snowplow-you-bad-elephant-6416843

xp 'Present Tense' is the best song. Think Moka also singled it out as a highlight. Made Karl Malone's top 4 (i.e. it was his #4).

i do like present tense, but i mainly just posted that so i could come back and laugh at it in a few years. my early reactions to radiohead albums are usually way different than how i eventually come to terms. a few years ago i found an old high school notebook from when Kid A came out, and i wrote a little about what i thought about it after the first listen. i think i singled out optimistic as the best song and said that the title track was the worst. now the title track is like an all-time top 10 radiohead track for me.

speaking of high school and radiohead, this brought me back:

Their popularity took root amongst the first wave of internet users, back when the web was more anarchic and undefined, and used primarily by people who felt alienated enough to sit in front of an ugly monitor and post under a pseudonym when almost nobody else was doing it.

it's easy to roll your eyes at broad caricatures like that, but that was definitely me. radiohead meant a lot to me when i was growing up, but the community on their message board meant just as much. but anyway, strange and slightly unsettling to read an article that seems like a short history of your old neighborhood.

"burn the witch" is very emblematic of what radiohead does well at their best, taking elements of more avant garde music (steve reich in this case) and applying it to a more pop song format for a different audience and making it sound organic

Which Reich piece does it recall for you?

I wonder if it's simply just the pulses section from the front of MF18M.

So, I've heard this record and whoever said it "feels like a final record" seems to be spot on. I can't think of where else the band could possibly go after this.

some of the piano moments from 'Daydreaming' and 'True Love Waits' feel more 18 Musician-y moments to me.

btw i have to share this conspiracy-ish close reading of the PTA video that a friend emailed me:
FYI: In the the new Daydreaming video, Thom walks through 23 doors. Last August his relationship ended after 23 years. And when he was making the song, he was 46 and if you speed up and play backward the weird noises at the end of Daydreaming, he sings “Half of our lives.”

i think all of the talk about AMSP being all about their breakup is a bit overblown (especially as so many of the songs were written pre-breakup), but i don't think it's conspiracy-ish to think the 'half of our lives' bit directly references the relationship.

i guess everyone experiences a terrible breakup in their own way, but when i went through my own a few years ago the immediate and lasting feeling was of stepping off of a train in some unknown location, all alone, wondering how you even got there. the wandering through doors in the video, ending with stumbling out into a snowy mountain scene, captures that feeling so beautifully.

"so, I've heard this record and whoever said it "feels like a final record" seems to be spot on. I can't think of where else the band could possibly go after this.
― But... could you imagine a formation in your lemonade? Ho! (Turrican), Thursday, 12 May 2016 20:48 (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink"

I hope they go full throttle heavy/hard rock/electro/dub supernova

beautifully said Karl.

i get what people are saying with the 'final album' thing, with the old material and elegiac feel, but i have no problem imagining them making...another Radiohead album.

I hope they go full throttle heavy/hard rock/electro/dub supernova

isn't that Muse? idk, i heard one song like 13 years ago.

That is basically it

Radiohead should become a smiths cover band

get knopfler in the studio with Becker. Go full Gaucho.

I don't know, for some reason it kinda feels to me that Radiohead have explored every possible avenue of what they can do, and if they continued making records from this point onwards, they'd be very comfortably "Radiohead" records. I mean, folks are already saying it about this one: "It sounds like Radiohead making a Radiohead album" ...

Who is saying that, and what other Radiohead album does this sound much at all like?

yeah there are a million avenues they could explore as far as I know. feels like they're only just getting started after posing around for the best part of two decades

*pissing

Oh come on, this is hardly some Kid A-style switch up. It's every crotchet a Radiohead record.

is anyone denying that?

AMSP is a rupture in time and space, and more importantly, in radiohead history

it has all the hallmarks of Radiohead bit there hasn't been a Radiohead album that sounds like it. you couldn't accuse them of repeating themselves with this one.
to me it feels like, if Pablo Honey was nursery school and TKOL was their university thesis, this is kind of their first job, I.e. putting what they've learnt into practice.

Obv a better analogy would be Pablo honey - nursery school, ... the bends - primary school and fun in the playground, ... ok comp - secondary / high school, puberty, the prom, etc, -- kid a/amnesiac - college freshman stoner days, maybe even some activism! ... hail to the thief - disenchanted grad school, contributor for the college newspaper ... In rainbows, got lucky and landed a solid entry level job ... Tkol, economy in the shitter, back to school for a phd ... A moon shaped pool, post-doc fellowship work, also self produced a documentary film about homelesness or something

yall need to stop going to so much college

a better analogy is like...pablo honey, a long playing record of a rock quintet and the songs arent that great for your ears...the bends, another long playing record of a rock quintet and the songs are better...kid a, not so much rock...tkol, not so much songs...

Tkol, economy in the shitter, back to school for a phd

Burn The Witch/Spectre 7'' available in UK indie record shops today.

Not that they seem to have told the shops at all!

I caught myself skipping 'Burn The Witch' when I put this on last night. Uh-oh....

xp 'Present Tense' is the best song. Think Moka also singled it out as a highlight. Made Karl Malone's top 4 (i.e. it was his #4).

― Sufjan Grafton

Yes. Present Tense and Numbers were the two highlights on my first listen but I could see Decks Dark and TLW eventually becoming favorites. Weakest one for me is Tinker Tailor...

In other things: I've been listening to Spectre all over again in the context of this album and I think it's amazing. The vocal melody he makes when singing "My hunger burns a bullet hole a spectre of my mortal soul / The only truth that I can see
Is when you put your lips to these" keeps getting stuck in my head (just realized I kept mishearing the first line as 'My hungry bird" which made no sense). Even the lesser guitar and piano covers I've heard on youtube make you realize how great of a melody it is. Only thing ruining this song from being the best thing they've released in years is the awkward drumming and the reverb overload on the voice (I also blame those as the factor that ultimately won the bond theme to Sam Smith which is a shame... I'd love to have seen people that don't follow them remembering them from a song other than Creep)

Oops string of thoughts and I accidentally hit space in the wrong part.

Agree that Tinker Tailor is a slightly weak point. It's not awful though.

I mean listen to this cover:

https://youtu.be/ZgszBXPNZQA

Not even doing it in the Silverchair voice with an accent ruins that melody.

Agree that Tinker Tailor is a slightly weak point. It's not awful though.

― TARANTINO! (dog latin)

Not at all. It's too early to tell but this feels like the most cohesive album in their career for me. There's always one or two tracks which I keep skipping in every one of their records - even in the 'honeymoon' phase - and this time around I only skip Burn the Witch because I heard it way too obsessively before the album came out.

Burn the Witch is okay but it has a different texture from the rest of the album and feels more like something that would have come out around the In Rainbows era.

It is too early to tell, but right now it could easily contend as top 3, if not their best. Every other album has issues, even OK Computer which I've held up as a masterpiece since I was 16 sounds lyrically sophomoric in today's context (Subterranean Homesick Alien?). Everything that came after had high-points but never quite glued together in a satisfying way and like you, I'd find myself skipping a lot. I don't see myself skipping much on this. It works as a piece and it's the kind of complete artistic work bands like Radiohead should have been striving towards all along.

I still think In Rainbows is probably better, it's tighter and less prone to self-indulgence.

Two little things I love:

-In 'Ful Stop', that 5/4 guitar part that comes in during the last third and cycles over the 6/4 beat

-The synth during the build/bridge in 'Identikit'. It's the kind of sound that's all over TY's last solo album and 'Amok' but nowhere else on the album, unexpected & perfect.

a mole shaped poon

God this is so good. "Glass Eyes" is so dope.

^my review

really like 'Desert Island Disk' but the distortion/sibilance on the 's' of 'standing on the edge of' at 2:40 kinda drives me crazy

I'm giving this yet another listen - at this stage, I'm unsure where I would rank it in terms of Radiohead's discography, but the more I hear it, the more I'm beginning to feel that this will ultimately become one of their more satisfying albums for me.

A cerebral, theoretically informed but affectionate review on academic website The Conversation, of all places -
https://theconversation.com/a-moon-shaped-pool-and-the-unmistakable-alchemy-of-radiohead-59160

So yeah, on my umpteenth listen now and this is one of their best ever albums for me, and one of my favourite albums of the year so far. I wasn't expecting this to be anywhere near this good, so it's a welcome record for me.

-The synth during the build/bridge in 'Identikit'. It's the kind of sound that's all over TY's last solo album and 'Amok' but nowhere else on the album, unexpected & perfect.

― sam jax sax jam (Jordan)

love that bit.. it works great with the odd vocals. it's too brief. the preceding guitar chord/strum is nice, too. some nice filtering going on with the drum/reverb sounds

digging the album, save for Present Tense and Glass Eyes. Thom Yorke's voice does get tiring after a while. and Desert Island Disk feels overly Beck-ified, slight

Yeah, the synth in 'Identikit' is a great moment, although I love that entire section of the song completely. One of those moments which caught my ear on the first listen.

Ful Stop is a real beaut, and Decks Dark. Tinker Tailor sets up a great atmosphere and it's got a nice riff, but it seems to evaporate somehow, 2/3 into its progression.

'Tinker Tailor...' is the weakest track on the record for me, but I still like it plenty.

Played it a few times now, the title suits it.

I'm a bit confused about this album so far. As mentioned upthread it's kinda hard to remember the melodies of the songs, but imo it also feels like melody isn't really what "occupies" or is central or w/e to Radiohead these days (also true for TKOL which i like lot). I mean, AMSP "sounds" great but it also sounds like a Johnny Greenwood album. He shows up everywhere and "interrupts" whatever the rest of the guys are doing. Happily surprised about Identikit and esp True Love Waits which I thought would be awful.

Do you guys think this album will appeal to people who weren't previously Radiohead fans? My friend came back to me saying he was left with a bit of an 'is that it?' feeling.

I'd say so. It depends on what they are fans of, obviously.

I dunno, I find 'Burn The Witch', 'Identikit' and 'Decks Dark' quite catchy, actually!

I have a friend who doesn't rate Radiohead at ALL (he mostly listens to ambient/contemporary classical/celestial jazz stuff) and this is their only album I would want to play for him, I think he may even actually LIKE "Daydreaming" and "The Numbers"

comparisons:
- 'desert island disk' sounds like neu! (the ambient bits) and faust (the off meter acoustic bit)
- jonny likes dubby kind of production stuff still, its cool
- speaking of steve reich kinda moments, in the right channel on 'the present tense" there are some looped vocal bits that sound v similar (for v short bursts) to his tape loops pieces like 'come out' or 'it's gonna rain'
- 'ful stop' almost works a fleetwood mac song
- the piano on 'true love waits' reminds me of the way a lot of ambient piano bros like eluvium do their piano

the weakest track for me is the 'the numbers', it feels too familiar. too 'optimistic' (like you can stone cold sing the verses and it's not a hair out of place)...in addition to the stairway comparison, though it does pivot to something more novel towards the end.

Younger friends who don't care about Radiohead are interested in this record.

I discovered "Zuckerzeit" for myself about 2 months ago, think this sits alongside. I like both, think I prefer the Cluster one at the moment.

"The Numbers" reminds me of the last Julia Holter album (as do several moments on the album actually).

I really got into 'The Numbers' recently. I have a new favourite each time I play this one.

I dunno, I find 'Burn The Witch', 'Identikit' and 'Decks Dark' quite catchy, actually!

"Identikit" is the only song on the album that I think of having a really infectious, indelible vocal melody. "Tinker Tailor" has a striking, interesting melody. I don't think of the other tunes as bad but it is usually something other than the vocal melody that brings me back.

I'd say that Yorke is, to an extent, the weak link on this, but fortunately the arrangements usually bail him out. The first half of Identikit really suffers from that in general - really spindly, sparse Radiohead songs have never really worked for me, they're very unforgiving of Thom's voice, and it's easy to see how they could have fucked that one up in the King of Limbs era. But that song really comes into its own in the second half when the other elements come in. For all the talk about the orchestration, the choral bits are incredible.

Older live clips of "Identikit" do feel like they have a little more energy.

it really picks up with Ful Stop and Identikit.. especially that "broken hearts" bit during Identikit, a highlight of the album. that latter half of the album finally sort of clicked for me yesterday, off of the momentum of that chorus

I had this on again earlier, and the moment on 'The Numbers' when the strings come in is just... fucking hell! What a record.

Is anyone lucky enough to be going to any of the upcoming gigs? I would have made the trip to London if I could have got a ticket.

Whoever said 'The Numbers' reminded 'em of Led Zeppelin is pretty OTM. It's like the chords of in the second part of 'Stairway' mixed with the 'Kashmir' strings.

True Love Waits might make it into my Radiohead top 5. always loved the live version/s but this.. Jesus.

Is anyone lucky enough to be going to any of the upcoming gigs? I would have made the trip to London if I could have got a ticket.

I am gonna see them at Primavera Sound in two weeks

"broken hearts make it rain" is a both great and hilarious lyric imo

Yeah, written down it's such a daft, teenage lyric, but it's context and delivery make it work.

why oh why am i not going to primavera this year??

I didn't appresh the "broken hearts / make it rain" double-entendre until I watched older clips of Yorke dancing while singing it live, now I agree that it is v.poetic & sweet

another very 'poetic' bit of the album for me = the conceit of "Desert Island Disk"/'different kinds of love are possible', which projects an amusing image of Thom Yorke as single & ready-to-mingle

the piano on 'true love waits' reminds me of the way a lot of ambient piano bros like eluvium do their piano

― 6 god none the richer (m bison)

are you talking about the primary part or the sort of unhinged, background tinklings? the background stuff sort of recalls Charlemagne Palestine's "sliding fifths" style of (fluid) playing... sort of like Mick Turner's solo music.

....sort of

Whoever said 'The Numbers' reminded 'em of Led Zeppelin is pretty OTM. It's like the chords of in the second part of 'Stairway' mixed with the 'Kashmir' strings.

― Turrican

Yep, riffing is very Jimmy Page-esque when he uses acoustic guitars, reminds me of the Led Zeppelin III. Strings and laughs at the end seem like a reference to I Am the Walrus as well.

Strings remind me of Curtis Mayfield too.

Strings in Glass Eyes are very Debussy. It's a great piece if you're in the mood for it... would love to hear an instrumental only take.

I didn't appresh the "broken hearts / make it rain" double-entendre until I watched older clips of Yorke dancing while singing it live, now I agree that it is v.poetic & sweet

Which two meanings are you thinking of? Almost seems line there could be 3:

- broken hearts/tears
- divorce settlements
- making money selling albums that appeal to sad people (I don't really think that's true but the popular perception of radiohead's music is that it's for miserable people)

- choosing between kano and rain

- game 6 of 2015 nba finals

http://i.imgur.com/SuqlDWS.jpg

Strings on "The Numbers" seem to come straight out of here for me
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3WeNexb2a8