Kid A

Released 27th September 2000
I bought it: The day after it came out, most likely from Time Records, our local independent record store that naturally no longer exists.

Where I was…
In the autumn of 2000 I was starting my final year of secondary school. Steve Lamacq and NME were my main sources of music, and music was my main source of everything. I was a bit of a loner. Radiohead were a band I was aware of, but I hadn’t found my way in yet.

Before reliable internet connections, mobile phones (smart or otherwise) or streaming, my main source of escapism was listening to the radio. Most weekday evenings on Radio 1 were occupied by Steve Lamacq’s Evening Session, followed by John Peel. I couldn’t always stay awake for Peel, but Lamacq opened up so much new music to me, and coincidentally he was from my dull little town too.

The run up to Kid A being released was being treated like the second coming. There were two big events on the radio - the broadcast of a gig from Warrington, and a whole show dedicated to the new album, playing it in full with the band there to talk about each song. I specifically remember Lamacq getting really passionate before he played Idioteque (“it’s a world where everything and nothing makes sense, it’s a world where the lottery rules”), and it was that song which really made me sit up and pay attention. The next day, I took the plunge and bought the album.

What I thought then…
From the opening chilling bars of Everything In Its Right Place, my main thought was “what the fuck have I just bought??” I was massively intimidated. Even the artwork was distant and glacial. But I grew to like its distance and perceived weirdness, it must have struck a chord with whatever I was going through at the time. Kid A was perhaps the first album I listened to obsessively, and ultimately changed the way I consumed music. Suddenly I wanted to know everything about this band and hear every song they ever made - which back then meant buying albums.

What I think now…
That opening is still chilling. Listening to this album through headphones makes you feel like Thom Yorke is whispering right into your ears. It’s hard to go back to the studio version of these songs without picturing the live versions - EIIRP’s extended sample breakdown or National Anthem being a fucking beast. It’s interesting that their “no singles, no videos” policy for this album was deemed shocking at the time, especially now singles don’t seem to exist.

This album feels like an older relative that was dismissed as weird when you were an ignorant teen, but in hindsight was more alive than any of us squares. There is a cohesion in the recurrent themes of fury and despair, plus flashes of love too. How To Disappear is still heartbreaking - those swirling strings towards the end like a ship caught in a storm. The whole thing centres around the unforgiving panic of Idioteque - then and still my favourite Radiohead song. I can’t count the times I’ve lost my shit to that track, either internally or very publically.

One thing that’s hitting me is how unhappy and alone I was at the time for these bleak songs to reach out to me so much. I guess it was good that I had a cathartic musical security blanket, but it also makes me realise just how far away I am from that now.

Next:
In an interstellar burst...

Everything All Of The Time - a life through Radiohead

After 10 Years, 10 Albums, I was looking for a new thing to write about. When these articles were forming in my mind a few months ago, Radiohead were starting to yawn and stretch their way out of a hibernation. I have a massive history with this band, so they felt like a good fit. Then they went and released a new album.

Last time, I looked at 10 albums that were shaping my life 10 years ago. This time round it’s the discography of Radiohead, but autobiographical. I love that bit in High Fidelity where Rob goes nuts and re-orders his record collection in the order he bought them. You know what? I could probably do the same thing. But these days the main thing I’m doing with my CD collection is gradually taking it to the charity shop.

So what follows is a look back at Radiohead’s albums in the order I bought them. I’ll try and dig out what I thought about them at the time and, after giving them another spin, what I think now.

I picked an interesting place to start...

Conclusions - are you hoping for a miracle?

So, what have we learned?

Was I expecting to be moved more? I listened to all this records during a quiet week at work. There are two ways I generally consume music these days: through Spotify at work or on my MP3 player during my daily commute. Neither can guarantee my full attention. I got a few good memories unearthed throughout all this, but mostly it was just the soundtrack to my day at the office.

One strong memory from this era was Illegal downloads. They were starting to really enter into my music consumption habits around this time, meaning I probably heard all these albums long before the release dates listed next to them. Although I should stress I own CDs of all these albums (bar Tom Vek). Downloading music always made me to buy more music, not less. I’ve had enough computers crash on me - one taking 16 GB of mp3s with it - to know that a physical copy is always better.

The only thing that’s stopping me buying the Tom Vek album is I’d just rip the handful of tracks I wanted and put the CD on a pile with the rest of my collection, perhaps never to be touched again. Chances are the sound quality of the download I have is just as good as any I could get from a ripped CD.

Paul Epworth was a common theme, producing four of these ten albums, as well as remixing several other songs for the dancefloor. After cutting his teeth here he then went on to co-write and produce one of the biggest selling records of all time, Adele’s 21, as well as her Bond theme Skyfall. Nice work if you can get it.

It was refreshing to hear so many people singing in their actual voice, not Generic English or Transatlantic Drawl. Even different parts of London get a look in. Saying that, this is a collection of almost entirely White Guys With Guitars. I guess it was a combination of my tastes not being all that diverse at the time, and the scene in general - not a whole lot has changed for indie in 2015. Going from one album to the next on Spotify, pretty much every time the next band I was going to review was in the previous act’s “Similar Artists” section. 

Another linking thread was loving the first album but then “drifting away” from a band. Why do so many bands release one amazing album and then gradually drop out of your life? There is that old cliche that you have your entire life to write your debut, and then six months for the follow up. But can it really be that simple?

Steve Lamacq had a theory that bands go through these 2-3 years of success as that matches student’s time at university when they have the time and lack of responsibilities to devote towards following a band obsessively. When the real world calls, these things fall down your list of priorities.

A lot of my favourite tracks from these bands aren’t actually from these albums. It would be interesting to do a follow up article on the follow up albums to all these records I’ve reviewed. Just looking at that list now…

Maxïmo Park - Our Earthly Pleasures
The Rakes - Ten New Messages
The Futureheads - News & Tributes
Kaiser Chiefs - Yours Truly, Angry Mob
Franz Ferdinand - Tonight
Art Brut - It’s A Bit Complicated
The Cribs - Men’s Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever
Tom Vek - Leisure Seizure
Editors - An End Has A Start
Bloc Party - A Weekend In The City

...I can see one stand out there (Cribs) and two I’ve never listened to (Kaiser Chiefs & Art Brut).

So, to sum up: it was good to re-assess these records. It’s reintroduced me to a handful of songs that will attempt to brighten my commute or working week. But nostalgia is still bollocks. It’s nice to revisit the past on occasions, but if you’re constantly looking back then you lose track of where you are and where you’re going.

You have been watching...

Maximo Park - A Certain Trigger
The Rakes - Capture/Release
The Futureheads - The Futureheads
Kaiser Chiefs - Employment
Franz Ferdinand - You Could Have It So Much Better
Art Brut - Bang Bang Rock & Roll
The Cribs - The New Fellas
Tom Vek - We Have Sound
Editors - The Back Room
Bloc Party - Silent Alarm

Bloc Party - Silent Alarm

Released 14th February 2005, Witchita

What I thought then...
“It’s so cold in this house...” In February 2005, I was living in a cold house. A typical poorly maintained student pile. Silent Alarm had me hooked after that opening line. It all sounded so vital and important, and probably showed Epworth’s production at his best. I definitely had this album’s artwork as a poster on my bedroom wall.

What I think now...
Another band whose back catalogue I reassessed ahead of seeing them live a few years ago, Silent Alarm was always the standout and most consistent album they released. I still feel this is one of the best debut records of our time. A heady mixture of nerves and confidence. A rush of memories and regrets. This is my past in an album.

Standout Track
What to pick...Like Eating Glass began it all. Helicopter and Banquet were the dance-offs. Positive Tension, Luno and She’s Hearing Voices were for the moments of rage. Blue Light and So Here We Are were the comedown songs. It has to be This Modern Love - you just need to hear it to understand.

Live Memories
There was an NME tour that I’ll always kick myself for not going to. The Killers, Bloc Party, Futureheads and Kaiser Chiefs, more or less these blogs in one show. Still, I managed to see Bloc Party several times around this album and beyond. They closed Reading Festival in 2005 for us - with a mass of ticker tape at the end - and then there was a gig in Rock City with Patrick Wolf supporting.

What Happened Next?
They will survive, and keep on surviving. A Weekend In The City came next, my main memory of that was being the first one who got the leaked version and passing it round as many people as possible. Then came Flux, a sensational song they’ve never really been able to top, but then neither has anyone else. After Intimacy, Bloc Party were, for a while, split beyond repair. But they came back together for Four, which still feels like an album they made on the one condition it sounded nothing like Bloc Party. Thankfully, Rachet and the accompanying Nextwave Sessions EP provided better closure. In an odd coda, Bloc Party still seems to exist, albeit half the original band quit, and apparently a new album is on the way.

They will always be the band that means the most to me out of all this, and they’re the reason I’m writing this too. I always compare them to Radiohead, a band so impossibly untouchable in my affections it’s hard to be too critical about them. Compared to all their peers, it always felt like Bloc Party were pushing things further - musically, socially and against each other.

Next Time: Conclusions

Previously: The Back Room | We Have Sound | The New Fellas | Bang Bang Rock & Roll | You Could Have It So Much Better | Employment | The Futureheads | Capture/Release | A Certain Trigger | Introduction

Editors - The Back Room

Released 25th July 2005, Kitchenware

What I thought then...
I distinctly remember getting very excited the day this album leaked, and downloading it on the big computer in our spare room with my mate Ed, comparing the beefed up album versions to the singles we’d downloaded over the past few months. And somewhere in my parents attic there is a minidisc of me interviewing singer Tom Smith before they played my student union. I don’t remember how I managed to pull the strings for that one.

What I think now...
Just the right side of gloomy. I think the Joy Division comparisons dogged them down at the time, but it’s a really apt comparison. They re-issued a couple of the singles twice, which felt a bit like overkill. But there’s some powerful tunes on here. Lights, Munich, Blood - that’s one hell of an opening gambit. Tom Smith sings like the sky is falling and all is lost.

Standout Track
Has to be Munich, another song that follows me around on my daily travels. Best memory is my friend seeing them live, calling me during this song and shouting the guitar line down the phone.

Live Memories
This is probably the band I saw the most before their album was even out. Lincoln Delph, Norwich Arts Centre and Reading Festival...with another show at the Delph later that year.

What Happened Next?
Another band I slowly drifted away from. Even the immediate follow up An End Has A Start didn’t reach the same heights for me, and I paid even less attention to its electronic tinged successor In This Light And On This Evening. Never even listened to the last album, and there’s another on the way. They seem pretty big in Europe still. Good for them.

Next Time: I'M ON FIRE!

Previously: We Have Sound | The New Fellas | Bang Bang Rock & Roll | You Could Have It So Much Better | Employment | The Futureheads | Capture/Release | A Certain Trigger | Introduction