That Voice has kept me from being able to tune in to the music of Radiohead. Thom Yorke's lofty warble of a whine has been a brick-wallish impediment to what many people have called some of the best indie rock out in the last 10 years.
BS, I'd say.
Thing is, though, I really tried. I listened to Pablo Honey, and The Bends, and Kid A, and OK Computer, again and again, and it only got worse. The songs were overwrought and unoriginal, the mix of electronic and instruments just didn't do it. And that voice, my God.
Strange that what did it for me was, of all things, a Thom Yorke solo CD. The Eraser is a spectacular album, full of minimal electronics and sparse melody-based songs, and plenty of that voice to go around, of course. But for some reason it grabbed me rather than repelling me. So, what better time to give Radiohead another try. It'd been a couple years, so why not.
This time, it worked. Kid A made sense, and the blending of organic and inorganic music seemed brilliant, and the voice didn't grate nearly as much. A little, maybe, but have you listened to Doug Martsch sing lately?
So this week I've been spending a lot of time with Kid A and OK Computer, and both of them have finally opened up to me. I'll keep working my way through the catalog, happy with the knowledge that, though I missed it first time around, I've got all this great "new" music to explore now!
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