#9: Radiohead - Kid A (2000)

1. Everything In Its Right Place
2. Kid A
3. The National Anthem
4. How To Disappear Completely
5. Treefingers
6. Optimistic
7. In Limbo
8. Idioteque
9. Morning Bell
10. Motion Picture Soundtrack

You could argue that I should start covering Radiohead with OK Computer, but I figured it would be more in the spirit of this blog for me to look at an album of theirs that I'm less familiar with. Besides, Kid A was such a radical departure from OK Computer that it almost seems irrelevant which album I start with - so I'll begin with this, their first foray into a more electronic-based style of music.

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Radiohead's fourth album was, by all accounts, a difficult one to make. Spawned in part by writers block, overwhelming media attention, and depression, Kid A represented a huge and very conscious change for Radiohead, with the band abandoning their three-guitar lineup and replacing it with a myriad of electronic instruments and more besides.

It's clear from the very beginning that this is a very different record to OK Computer. Opening track 'Everything In Its Right Place' slowly swirls into being with a mesmeric synth line and warped, cut up vocals, before Thom Yorke's voice cuts through it with simple, repeated statements that are somewhat abstract and open to various different interpretations (a theme that continues throughout the album). The eponymous 'Kid A', meanwhile, sounds like a video game soundtrack recorded underwater, with vocals that are little more than a computerised burble.

Things almost begin to sound a little bit more 'normal' on 'The National Anthem': The song begins with a fuzzy bassline and the first 'real' drums we've heard on the record so far. However, even this is shot through with electronic effects, and Yorke's vocal is once again twisted slightly, yet still recognisable. Then the brass kicks in, with scattershot trumpets and parping horns eventually spiralling off into wild, unpredictable patterns, contrasting brilliantly with the rhythm section, which remains resolutely in time throughout.

'How To Disappear Completely', however, takes the record in a completely different direction. Underpinned by an acoustic guitar, strings swoonsomely rise and fall around Thom's vocal as he sings "I'm not here, this isn't happening...", craving the escape that the title suggests. 'Treefingers' maintains the calm vibe, with its minimal ambience almost acting like an extended interlude before the second half of the album.

'Optimistic' kicks things back into gear with probably the record's most conventional song, built on a simple guitar riff and a steady, pounding beat. But even this track shows the band's newfound love for electronic sounds, with an eerie synth looming in the background as Thom tells us that "You can try the best you can... the best you can is good enough." The record then changes direction once again: 'In Limbo' brings back the ambient swirling sounds, but layers them superbly with a clean guitar line, an understated drumbeat, and Thom's distorted, echoy vocals before the whole thing becomes distorted and eventually fades into static.

'Idioteque' shocks things back into life with what is probably the best synthetic percussive noise ever, forming the basis for an electronic drumbeat that runs throughout the song as sampled chords hum like haunting guitar feedback. Whatever the song is talking about, be it nuclear war, global warming or something else entirely, Thom's urgent vocal assures us that "We're not scaremongering: This is really happening," adding to the song's sense of oppressiveness and intensity. Its outro leads seamlessly into 'Morning Bell', where tight drumming and an aquatic-sounding synth suddenly give way to buzzing guitars - which then leave just as suddenly.

'Motion Picture Soundtrack' ends the record on an almost dream-like note, with a reedy organ and sparkling harps underscoring a gentle vocal from Thom, although in contrast the lyrics can be interpreted somewhat darkly ("I will see you in the next life..."). After the song finishes, there's a pause, and then the harps return amongst almost choral sounds in what isn't so much a hidden track as a delayed outro to the album as a whole.

While Kid A may be a vastly different proposition to the album that preceded it, that doesn't make it any less of a success. Every track seems to attempt something different, and while this means that some songs stand out more than others, the record still manages to flow as a cohesive whole. It's the perfect example of why it's foolish to write a band off just because they've decided to change: It may have disappointed those who hoped that the band would be saviours of rock, but this album proved that Radiohead have ideas by the bucketload and talent to spare.