Living legends Radioheadhave announced a spring and summer tour that starts in the U.S. and ends in England. It takes them to Poland, Ireland, Italy, and even two dates at the Coachella Music Festival. Their U.S. dates are in the west and south, so catch them if you can.
03-30 Miami, FL – American Airlines Arena
04-01 Atlanta, GA – Philips Arena
04-03 New Orleans, LA – Smoothie King Center
04-05 Kansas City, MO – Sprint Center
04-08 Seattle, WA – Key Arena
04-09 Portland, OR – Moda Center
04-11 Santa Barbara, CA – Santa Barbara Bowl
o4-14 Indio, CA – Coachella
04-17-18 Berkely, CA – Greek Theatre
04-21 Indio, CA – Coachella
06-06-07 Oslo, Norway – Spektrum
06-09 Stockholm, Sweden – Ericsson Globe
06-11 Aarhus, Denmark – Northside Festival
06-14 Florence, Italy – Visarno Arena @ Parco Delle Cascine
06-16 Milan, Italy – I-Days @ Parco di Monza
06-18 Hilvarenbeek, Netherlands – Best Kept Secret Festival
06-20 Dublin, Ireland – 3Arena
06-23 Pilton, England – Glastonbury Festival
06-28 Gdynia, Poland – Open’er Festival
06-30 Werchter, Belgium – Rock Werchter
07-02 Arras, France – Main Square Festival
07-04-05 Manchester, England – Manchester Arena
If you know me well, then you shouldn’t be surprised that a new record by Deap Vallymade it into my top test list of any given year. Femejism, besides having the greatest album title of the year, is solid beginning to end with the sizzling guitar, sexy / snarling vocals, and powerhouse drumming they do so well.
#9
The debut LP from Goggs(or is it “G0ggs?”) is the loudest, wildest punk rock record I’ve heard all year. Ty Segall, who plays guitar on the record, has quickly become one of the most prolific artists in music, and everything he puts out is worth hearing.
#8
Of course a Radioheadrecord was going to be in the top 10. A Moon Shaped Pool continues the band’s metamorphosis into this generation’s Pink Floyd. It’s beautifully crafted, but a heavy listen. It might be the saddest break-up (Thom Yorke from his long-time girlfriend) record of 2016.
#7
“Holy crap” is the way I described my reaction upon first hearing A Tribe Called Quest‘s We Got It from Here…Thank You 4 Your Service to a friend. This friend, Dee Tension, is a hip-hop producer, beat maker, and MC in Boston, and he claimed he’d been listening to it daily since its release. You might, too, upon hearing it. It’s not only a loving tribute to founding member Phife Dawg, but also a sharp critique on race, politics, gentrification, and much more.
#6
Speaking of great returns, Underworldhad another one we needed in 2016. Barbara, Barbara, We Face a Shining Future is the most uplifting and optimistic record of the year. Every song is about seeing good times ahead and remembering how every moment is divine.
We’re almost there. Who makes the top 5? Tune in tomorrow!
It’s been a good year so far for music. I’m finding excellent stuff every month. We’re halfway through the year, so here’s a quick recap of my top 10 records of 2016 so far.
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard – Nonagon Infinity: Easily the craziest record of the year so far. You can play it on an infinite loop beginning with any track and it will repeat without any noticeable pauses, stutters, or breaks.
WALL – self-titled EP: WALL are currently my favorite discovery of 2016. They’ve brought back a fierce post-punk edginess that I didn’t know I was yearning for until I heard them.
Radiohead – A Moon Shaped Pool: One word to describe this record – Heartbreaking. Most of the songs are about the end of Thom Yorke’s 20+ year relationship with his girlfriend.
Radiohead’s newest record, A Moon Shaped Pool, is about the illusions, dreams, and perceptions we create regarding love. The album gets off to a somewhat frightening start with the sharp string instruments and dark lyrics of “Burn the Witch.” The video for it features a stop-motion animation version of The Wicker Man, a film about illusions and deception (and horror) in a remote English village. Thom Yorke sings about “red crosses on doors” and falling prey to myths as the song builds to Psycho shower scene pace and then cuts to “Daydreaming” – with synth and piano instrumentation that causes your mind to drift elsewhere. Yorke’s lyrics are backwards at the very end, leaving you wondering what the hell just happened…much like you would when returning from a daydream.
“Decks Dark” talks of “a spacecraft blocking out the sky, there’s nowhere to hide. You run to the back and cover your ears, but it’s the loudest sound you’ve ever heard in your darkest hour.” It’s bleak until the other lyrics of “It was just a laugh” come into the song. The bass line on this is wicked, and I love the angular, stabbing distorted guitar licks in it.
“Desert Island Disk” is a term coined by British DJ’s to describe records you’d take with you if you knew you were going to be stranded on a desert island. The song mentions waking up from “a thousand years of sleep” and how “different kinds of love are possible.” It’s easy to think that it’s a song about coming out of the closet, but I think it’s more about waking up from the illusions we’ve created around us. The acoustic guitars on the track are excellent as synths build and then disappear behind them.
“Ful Stop” claims, “You really messed up everything,” but also says, “Truth will mess you up all the good times.” Yorke seems to be singing about how the fantasy he’d created in a bad relationship is finally broken. Is it a good or a bad thing? Only Thom Yorke knows the answer, but the shoegaze / goth wave feel of the song leads one to believe he’s angry about it either way.
“Glass Eyes” is about the hollowness of strangers and love that’s not really there anymore. It’s a somber song with near-funeral dirge piano and synths and strings that move around like ghosts in an old church. On “Identikit,” Thom Yorke admits that he doesn’t want the illusion of false love to end (“When I see you messing me around, I don’t want to know.”). The tick-tock percussion stands out among the jangling guitars, spacey synths, and chorus that sounds like it was recorded in a big concrete bunker.
“The Numbers” is a subtle (in its instrumentation, certainly not the lyrics) power to the people song about the 99% shaking off our shackles and reclaiming happiness. “We call upon the people. People have this power. The numbers don’t decide. The system is a lie.” There’s more excellent string work. I can’t remember so many good string arrangements on previous Radiohead records.
“Present Tense” is about a man fighting for love. “In you I’m lost. I won’t turn around when the penny drops. I won’t stop now, I won’t slack off, or all this love will be in vain.” The backing vocals are a bit ethereal, making you think that voices in Thom Yorke’s head are encouraging him the whole time.
In “Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor Rich Man Poor Man Beggar Man Thief,” Yorke lets his lover know that “all you have to do is say, ‘Yeah.’” He’s willing to embrace the illusion if that’s what it takes. It’s an excellent track with more of those great piano chords only Radiohead can seem to make work.
The album ends with “True Love Waits.” It’s a sad song Thom Yorke wrote in 1995 about begging a lover to return and being willing to do anything to make a relationship work. “I’ll drown my beliefs to have your babies. I’ll dress like your niece and wash your swollen feet. Just don’t leave.” The band’s been looking for the right album / moment to release it, and this album is perfect for it.
A Moon Shaped Pool is about how love can be a fragile fantasy. It can be a comfortable illusion that, once shattered, either delivers agony or ecstasy. Would you want to be put back into the Matrix if you were pulled out of it? Would you embrace illusion for the feeling of love, even if you knew it was false? Many would, for the risks in finding new love and a true path are frightening.
There is a Zen koan about the nun Chiyono being enlightened while carrying a pail of water:
In this way and that I tried to save the old pail,
since the bamboo strip was weakening and about to break,
until at last the bottom fell out.
No more water in the pail!
No more moon in the water!
Radiohead’s newest album reminds us that love can be like the moon in the water. You think it is there, but it is only there until the bottom drops out and the illusion is shattered. You can find true love past the illusion, or you can cling to it. The choice is yours.
Keep your mind open.
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Radiohead, arguably the biggest band in the world (and still one of the few pushing the envelope and daring to not be pigeonholed), have announced their as-yet untitled new album will be released on May 8th in digital formats and in physical formats on June 18th.
The band surprised everyone by erasing their entire Internet presence for two days and then returning with the new single “Burn the Witch.” Two days later they released the single “Daydreaming,” which has a video directed by film director Paul Thomas Anderson (for whom Radiohead guitarist Johnny Greenwood has scored multiple films).
Radiohead are playing multiple festival dates in the U.S. and around the world starting this summer. They always put on an excellent show, so don’t miss them if they’re near you.
In case you missed it, music titans Radioheaderased their Facebook, Twitter, website, and pretty much everything else they had on the Internet two days ago. They were gone. Fans were puzzled, but not entirely surprised as Radiohead have been Internet renegades for years. They were the first to release an album (In Rainbows) online and told fans they could pay whatever they wanted for it, even nothing at all if they liked.
Their website and Twitter content was often cryptic, and they’d go for long stretches without posting anything.
They came back yesterday with a new single and video – “Burn the Witch.” It’s a dissonant, almost frantic song with Thom Yorke’s usual mysterious lyrics. The video is also a tribute to the unsettling film The Wicker Man. Don’t bother with the Nicolas Cage version. Just don’t. Enjoy the original, this new song, and the upcoming album (whenever that is) instead.
Keep your mind open.
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