Spill, 10.00
By Keith "K-Tel" McCalmont
A relaxed Jonny and Colin Greenwood of Radiohead sat down recently for an intimate conversation on the eve of one of only three concerts to be played in North America this year by the quintet from Oxford.
Their new album, Kid A, is garnering much critical acclaim, but more importantly it sets the band out in yet another musical direction assuring fans that the band is very real and very much in command of their artistic senses. Each song incorporates layer after layer of sound building into a well-textured and entirely original musical score defying comparison. The tag line in most circles being; "it's not an easy listen". However, Jonny laughs, "most people who approach us say that they love the album, but are surprised to find out that other people are enjoying it as well". What is being forgotten is just how abstract their previous album OK Computer seemed before going on to win several major awards.
With Kid A, Radiohead introduce several new elements to their music, the most surprising of which is the burying of lead vocalist Thom Yorke's operatic voice between and betwixt Colin's snarling bass lines and Jonny's feverish guitar/synth work. In addition, during the course of one performance, the group managed to involve tambourines, transistor radio, upright bass, piano, sampler, maracas, and the list goes on. While it may seem impossible to play this album in a live setting, Colin is quick to point out that Jonny's preparation work leaves him with very little keyboard work to do on the jazz/disco free for all that is "Idioteque". "Jonny literally wrote on each key 'first this one', 'then this one next', and 'next this one', and 'this is the last one'... a monkey could do it!!". (Really!) All kidding aside, this makes for a stunning visual performance in concert with strobe lighting, mass instrument exchanges, and the whirling rave style posturing of Yorke. This is an album that can be appreciated at different levels in both an exciting live setting as well as at home in your own CD player.
Once again, politics make an important foray into the conceptual artwork of the album, but not within the music itself. Colin wisely states that, "you don't use music as a soap box, it dates the music horribly to eventually become propaganda...". Instead, they are content to be active within their own circle of friends and to promote and treat their music with the greatest degree of respect possible. To that extent, they toured Europe this summer playing in their own concert tent, free of the corporate logos that surrounded their appearance in Toronto. "And this song," crowed Thom, "was brought to you by Labatts!!", after performing "Morning Bell". In fact, Thom went on to dedicate songs to Ford, Pizza Pizza, Molson, Much Music and Ticketmaster which receive a raucous chorus of boos from the angry punters.
There will be no typical music videos for the new album according to Jonny as, "we are not interested in miming". Instead, their are several fun yet creepy "blips" available for download on their website at www.radiohead.com created by Stanley Donwood, who also created much of the artwork for the album in collaboration with Thom Yorke. In lieu of their usually outstanding video work (see "Just" and "No Surprises"), Radiohead are sending out reels of live concert footage to be used by the major video stations. MuchMusic has yet to make a decision on whether or not they will use the footage. Incidentally, be sure to find your "secret booklet" hidden behind the CD holder of your jewel case, that features more artwork from Donwood influenced by the London Illustrated News (circa 1880).
The live performance was outstanding. During "National Anthem", drummer Phil Selway kept everything in check, while Colin stood coolly in the safety of the kit's shadow as Thom lunged furiously around the stage, spinning in circles and threatening to leap out at the audience. Guitarist Ed O'Brien stood shyly to stage right while Jonny draped his lanky body around each instrument, caressing the transistor, exhorting unthinkable sounds only to rush back to the piano, pounding furiously on its keys raising the tempo and lying in wait for the missing element to take us all over the edge. And then he sang, "Everyone is so near..." and we all went over. Radiohead maintained this pace throughout the concert, playing nearly the entire album, occasionally returning to their guitars to play favourites such as, "My Iron Lung" and "Just". The evening reached its peak during the encore with only Thom on stage to play a new gem entitled, "Follow Me Around". The band watched with awe from stage side as Yorke sang in his wavering angelic voice that rose from deep within his slight frame to the rafters of the building, to rapturous applause from the audience and polite clapping from his adoring band mates. Clocking in at just over two hours, this was a marathon performance from a band proudly strutting their new album, and left only due to the stadium curfew.
After such a breathtaking performance, I began to fear that maybe this would be the last time, but not to fear. Colin and Jonny maintained their cracking sense of humour throughout the interview by taking digs at each other in conversation. Colin in particular by dredging up memories of a young Jonny who, "would run about the neighborhood with a tennis racket playing air guitar" to which Jonny could only smile in guilt. In turn, Jonny would make fun of Colin's frequent use of the phrase "you know" by singing it softly during his responses, "youknowyouknowyouknow", leaving them to ask us for a friendly edit of their sound bites! What is refreshing about this important and successful veteran band is that they are still enjoying the music, enjoying each other, and look ahead to a strong future together. Where other bands have changed members or have a breakdown in the quality of music, Radiohead is still soaring high above their contemporaries. "It's great, exciting..." says Colin when asked about being famous. This confidence, along with a tremendous new album bode well for the future of arguably the most important band of our time.
A relaxed Jonny and Colin Greenwood of Radiohead sat down recently for an intimate conversation on the eve of one of only three concerts to be played in North America this year by the quintet from Oxford.
Their new album, Kid A, is garnering much critical acclaim, but more importantly it sets the band out in yet another musical direction assuring fans that the band is very real and very much in command of their artistic senses. Each song incorporates layer after layer of sound building into a well-textured and entirely original musical score defying comparison. The tag line in most circles being; "it's not an easy listen". However, Jonny laughs, "most people who approach us say that they love the album, but are surprised to find out that other people are enjoying it as well". What is being forgotten is just how abstract their previous album OK Computer seemed before going on to win several major awards.
With Kid A, Radiohead introduce several new elements to their music, the most surprising of which is the burying of lead vocalist Thom Yorke's operatic voice between and betwixt Colin's snarling bass lines and Jonny's feverish guitar/synth work. In addition, during the course of one performance, the group managed to involve tambourines, transistor radio, upright bass, piano, sampler, maracas, and the list goes on. While it may seem impossible to play this album in a live setting, Colin is quick to point out that Jonny's preparation work leaves him with very little keyboard work to do on the jazz/disco free for all that is "Idioteque". "Jonny literally wrote on each key 'first this one', 'then this one next', and 'next this one', and 'this is the last one'... a monkey could do it!!". (Really!) All kidding aside, this makes for a stunning visual performance in concert with strobe lighting, mass instrument exchanges, and the whirling rave style posturing of Yorke. This is an album that can be appreciated at different levels in both an exciting live setting as well as at home in your own CD player.
Once again, politics make an important foray into the conceptual artwork of the album, but not within the music itself. Colin wisely states that, "you don't use music as a soap box, it dates the music horribly to eventually become propaganda...". Instead, they are content to be active within their own circle of friends and to promote and treat their music with the greatest degree of respect possible. To that extent, they toured Europe this summer playing in their own concert tent, free of the corporate logos that surrounded their appearance in Toronto. "And this song," crowed Thom, "was brought to you by Labatts!!", after performing "Morning Bell". In fact, Thom went on to dedicate songs to Ford, Pizza Pizza, Molson, Much Music and Ticketmaster which receive a raucous chorus of boos from the angry punters.
There will be no typical music videos for the new album according to Jonny as, "we are not interested in miming". Instead, their are several fun yet creepy "blips" available for download on their website at www.radiohead.com created by Stanley Donwood, who also created much of the artwork for the album in collaboration with Thom Yorke. In lieu of their usually outstanding video work (see "Just" and "No Surprises"), Radiohead are sending out reels of live concert footage to be used by the major video stations. MuchMusic has yet to make a decision on whether or not they will use the footage. Incidentally, be sure to find your "secret booklet" hidden behind the CD holder of your jewel case, that features more artwork from Donwood influenced by the London Illustrated News (circa 1880).
The live performance was outstanding. During "National Anthem", drummer Phil Selway kept everything in check, while Colin stood coolly in the safety of the kit's shadow as Thom lunged furiously around the stage, spinning in circles and threatening to leap out at the audience. Guitarist Ed O'Brien stood shyly to stage right while Jonny draped his lanky body around each instrument, caressing the transistor, exhorting unthinkable sounds only to rush back to the piano, pounding furiously on its keys raising the tempo and lying in wait for the missing element to take us all over the edge. And then he sang, "Everyone is so near..." and we all went over. Radiohead maintained this pace throughout the concert, playing nearly the entire album, occasionally returning to their guitars to play favourites such as, "My Iron Lung" and "Just". The evening reached its peak during the encore with only Thom on stage to play a new gem entitled, "Follow Me Around". The band watched with awe from stage side as Yorke sang in his wavering angelic voice that rose from deep within his slight frame to the rafters of the building, to rapturous applause from the audience and polite clapping from his adoring band mates. Clocking in at just over two hours, this was a marathon performance from a band proudly strutting their new album, and left only due to the stadium curfew.
After such a breathtaking performance, I began to fear that maybe this would be the last time, but not to fear. Colin and Jonny maintained their cracking sense of humour throughout the interview by taking digs at each other in conversation. Colin in particular by dredging up memories of a young Jonny who, "would run about the neighborhood with a tennis racket playing air guitar" to which Jonny could only smile in guilt. In turn, Jonny would make fun of Colin's frequent use of the phrase "you know" by singing it softly during his responses, "youknowyouknowyouknow", leaving them to ask us for a friendly edit of their sound bites! What is refreshing about this important and successful veteran band is that they are still enjoying the music, enjoying each other, and look ahead to a strong future together. Where other bands have changed members or have a breakdown in the quality of music, Radiohead is still soaring high above their contemporaries. "It's great, exciting..." says Colin when asked about being famous. This confidence, along with a tremendous new album bode well for the future of arguably the most important band of our time.
Labels: Colin Greenwood, interviews, Jonny Greenwood, Kid A, Radiohead
Radiohead’s bass player has been interviewed endlessly. One added weekly.
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