I can see night in the day time Into the woods I quietly go It takes all the strength I have in me These are the woods The night of the soul Painful to see Love without action Painful to see years of neglect Achin’ to see all that they see Still telling lies to the remains of respect Creatures we are worth defending It takes the right word said from the heart Given to you without ending Given to you, the purpose of art Thousands of plans, I’ve made many I wonder just how many plans I have made Feelin’ this mood overtake me Finally to see the truth as it fades Out of these woods will you take me Out of these woods, out of the strom Sinless child can you save me Guilty man, freedom is yours
Here’s to the babies of a brand new world Here’s to the beauty of the stars Here’s to the travellers on the open road Here’s to the dreamers in the bars Here’s to the teachers in the crowded rooms Here’s to the workers in the fields Here’s to the preachers of the sacred word Here’s to the drivers at the wheel Here’s to you my little love With blessings from above Now let the day begin Here’s to you my little love With blessings from above Now let the day begin Let the day begin Here’s to the winners of the human race Here’s to the losers in the game Here’s to the soldiers of the bitter war Here’s to the wall that bears their name Here’s to you my little love With blessings from above Now let the day begin Here’s to you my little love With blessings from above Now let the day begin Let the day begin Let the day begin Let the day… start Here’s to the doctors and their healing work Here’s to the loved ones in their care Here’s to the strangers on the streets tonight Here’s to the lonely everywhere Here’s to the wisdom from the mouths of babes Here’s to the lions in the cage Here’s to the strugglers of the silent war Here’s to the closing of the age Here’s to you my little love With blessings from above Now let the day begin Oh! Here’s to you my little loves With blessings from above Now let the day begin Here’s to you my little loves With blessings from above Now let the day begin Here’s to you my little loves With blessings from above Now let the day begin Let the day begin Let the day… start
ELEMENTAL MUSIC UNEARTHS BILL EVANS IN NORWAY FOR RSD BLACK FRIDAY RELEASE AS EXCLUSIVE TWO-LP SET ON NOV. 29
Master Pianist’s Energetic 1970 Performance at the Kongsberg Jazz Festival Arrives as a Deluxe CD Version on Dec. 6
Comprehensively Annotated Set Includes Interviews with Evans, Bassist Eddie Gomez and Drummer Marty Morell, and Norwegian Pianist Roy Hellvin; Reflections on Evans’ Art by Keyboardists Aaron Parks and Craig Taborn; and Notes by Evans Scholar Marc Myers
Elemental Music will release Bill Evans in Norway, a brilliant 1970 trio concert captured at the Kongsberg Jazz Festival, as an exclusive RSD Black Friday two-LP set on Nov. 29.
The 180-gram vinyl package, mastered by Matthew Lutthans at the Mastering Lab and pressed at Memphis Pressing, will be succeeded by a deluxe CD version on Dec. 6.
This latest Evans archival find by the team at Elemental Music, produced for release by the award-winning “Jazz Detective” Zev Feldman, is being issued in cooperation with the Bill Evans Estate. The package includes a rare interview with Evans conducted by Norwegian critic and impresario Randi Hultin at the Kongsberg Jazz Festival; new interviews with bassist Eddie Gomez and drummer Marty Morell, members of the pianist’s longest-lived trio, who supported him at the festival; an interview with Norwegian pianist Roy Hellvin, who was in the audience at the performance; reflections on Evans’ art by pianists Aaron Parks, Craig Taborn, and Eliane Elias; and concert photographs by Arthur Sand.
“Between Resonance Records and Elemental Music, I’ve had the good fortune of working with Evan Evans of the Bill Evans Estate for the past 14 years, and this will be my 12th production working with the family,” producer Feldman says. “These recordings come from the archives of Norway’s Kongsberg Jazz Festival, which was founded in 1964. It’s been a major breakthrough for us to have established contact with their team in 2023 and we’re very excited about this new relationship.”
Jak Kilby/Arena PAL
The Kongsberg appearance on June 26, 1970, found the Evans trio in especially stirring form. The pianist — who had recently begun to wean himself off a longtime addiction to heroin in a supervised methadone program — was especially sensitive to his audience’s tastes, and brought a fresh energy to his repertoire.
Myers notes, “Evans appreciated Norwegians’ reserve, modesty and politeness. He also was aware that their moods tended to be lugubrious in the winter, when there was less sunlight each day, and more gleeful in the summer, when the sun set around 11 p.m. While preparing the Kongsberg set list, he knew Norwegian concertgoers would have a deep connection to wistful songs such as ‘What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?,’ ‘Turn Out the Stars,’ and ‘Quiet Now.’ But as you listen, you’ll notice that the Bill Evans Trio took many of these traditionally somber songs at a more spirited clip.”
Evans himself said on the day after the date, “This is an excellent audience, and it’s weird to think that a little place like Kongsberg can hire musicians from all over the world just because they like jazz here. I admire the enthusiasm of the organizers, who do all of this without earning a penny for it….These days here in Kongsberg have really meant something to me. It’s a beautiful place, and I’ve been able to relax.”
The pianist’s rhythm section, both experienced hands at European touring, took their cues from the leader’s approach. Gomez says, “When we played in Kongsberg, we had just played at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. The recording of that event was called Montreux II. And at that time Montreux was a very high-profile festival. Having passed that hurdle, we went on to Kongsberg, and that was a relief. I felt really relaxed, like, ‘Okay, this is good. It’s not like Montreux, there’s less pressure.’ And I think the outcome is a record that’s quite good.”
Adds Morell, “There’s nothing like playing jazz in Europe — Norway, Scandinavia. Bill was loved, and it was always a special treat, and an honor really, to play for those people, because he was appreciated so well. But then you go to Paris and London and other countries, and it was a similar vibe. And South America, too. Bill was revered all over the world.”
Hellvin says, “It was a great kick for me to hear the tape of this 1970 Bill Evans concert 54 years after being there. I can still remember the atmosphere created by the trio. The summer in Norway was unusually warm that year, but inside the Kongsberg cinema there was a special mood. I don’t think I’ve ever seen another audience so quiet and concentrated, especially during Bill’s rendition of Leonard Bernstein`s ‘Some Other Time.’ It really left us spellbound! To me, Evans was playing a little harder than usual, and with more attack on his up-tempo numbers.”
The players touched by Evans’ influence find the essence of the keyboardist’s genius expressed in a fresh way in the unique Kongsberg performance.
“I’ve come to realize that on Bill’s playing there is lyricism and sensitivity,” Parks says, “but also deep intelligence, and above all a great muscularity. There’s a tactile, grippy kind of thing to the way in which he approaches harmony. There’s a real vitality, and a sense of putting skin in the game, rhythmically. All of that can be felt on this Kongsberg concert.”
Taborn says, “The group playing in Kongsberg is really interesting for me, because I think the Marty Morell years are fascinating….With Morell, Bill is really on top a lot. He has a much brighter feel. He’s really pushing stuff. Even bringing the tempos up a little bit. This group is swinging along in a brighter way, which really brings out the more rhythmic side of Bill Evans.”
Summing up the impact of Evans’ enduring music, Elias says, “Bill Evans created his own musical universe in harmony, melody and rhythm and has influenced generations of musicians with his sound and conception of interplay. I consider him to be one of my important influences.”
Does Trump have things in common with Hitler or Mussolini or Franco?
The historian recognizes common elements.
1) nationalist
There is no question Trump appeals to patriotic and nationalist feelings. However, his nationalism is not of the Blood and Soil variety in this he is more like Franco who was not a virulent antisemite people say Trump is anti-immigrant but many Immigrants support him and he welcomes immigrants to America as long as the process is orderly and legal and does not endanger America’s domestic tranquility.
What is Trump’s religion? That I do not know it often seems he does not have one. But unlike Hitler or Stalin Trump is not virulently atheistic and anti Religion. Many Evangelical Protestants, Amish, Mormons, Catholics even Jews, and some Muslims support Trump as a defender of First Amendment rights and traditional family mores. Also unlike Hitler Trump has many children and grandchildren (some of whom are Jewish) In addition his running mate has mixed-race children. So Trump’s movement is not virulently anti-Semitic nor narrowly White Supremacist.
2) Populism.
Like Hitler Trump is in a way a mass media creation. Hitler we forget was a celebrity who received as much fan mail as a Hollywood star. I grew up in New York and it is remarkable that i have known about Trump for over 50 or 60 years. So he had movie cameos, and was on talk shows and on TV. He was a TV star. I am not a Trump cultist but he has his fanatically loyal followers who seem to dismiss any behavior or rhetoric or transgressions. This populist cult of personality strain he seems to have in common with strong men and yes authoritarian dictators. So I do not dismiss concerns that Trump could become an authoritarian dictator.
3) Personality.
However, Trump is an American not a German or Russian. He is proud and vain. He wants to be famous and successful as an American president. He wants to have a legacy. I do not know Trump. All I know is what I read in the newspapers and interviews with people i have met. The impression I have is of a mercurial and cunning deal maker who is somewhat shallow and not deeply read. But people say in person he is funny, humane, and friendly so he is not a psychopath like Hitler or Stalin. Trump is imperfect but he is not an Orange Himmler or an Orange Hitler. That seems like wild hyperbole. Let’s not forget Trump ALREADY was president for four years and did not lock Hillary up or establish concentration camps. He did not persecute Jews. In fact, one could argue that Trump has been the most pro-Israel president in history.
But history will be the final judge.
I hope for America’s sake Trump will be like Noah a good man in his time.
I think Trump will try his best to be a good, wise, and humane president. I wish him luck and success for the sake of America, Israel, and the world.
So, I was at a Liberty Fund conference this past weekend in Philadelphia. It was directed by the rather awesome Hollywood screenwriter, Adam Simon. I’ve been at a number of conferences with Adam before, and he likes to refer to me as “his brother from a different mother.” Adam’s Jewish and from the left, and I’m Catholic and from the right. But, we really (as in really, really) like each other. Truly, we’re brothers from a different mother. I love the guy.
If you don’t know, Liberty Fund, which has been around since 1960, long before I was born, the institute hosts week-end conferences with, roughly, fifteen participants. This past conference, in Philly, was me and fourteen participants and two observers. We were talking about screwball comedies from the 1930s and 1940s–It Happened One Night, Philadelphia Story, the Awful Truth, Bringing Up Baby, etc–along with philosophy from Hannah Arendt and Stanley Cavell. We were trying to figure out if we could find anything deep and philosophical about the nature of rights and our right to pursue happiness in Hollywood films.
I loved all 14 of the participants, but I was especially taken with the humor and wit of Wesley. That’s all I knew about him–he was Wesley. I was told by the other participants that he had written four novel and was also big in music.
On the final night–after at least one Aviation cocktail (my favorite)–I asked Wes about his music tastes. It turned out that we both love progressive rock, and he’s even a huge fan of Jerry Ewing and PROG magazine.
I then asked him his stage name. And, much to my surprise, he told me that he was John Wesley Harding. Holy Moses, a total favorite! I was stunned and thrilled.
Here he is, way back in the early 1990s on MTV, with Adam Simon directing:
SCOTT PRESLER IS a name that will be in my humble opinion historically important. Most of the below are verified FACTS. Some of course are just reports from people I know and news reports.
Of course, NOT ALL CAN BE KNOWN.
But here are some names and facts. Most people have never heard of this. But it is on the basis of reports from the field as well as polls that we can make some judgment as to the state of the race between Harris and Trump in Pennsylvania a key swing state that Trump won in 2016 and lost in 2020.
THE NAME IS SCOTT PRESLER and he has been going up and down the state of Pennsylvania registering and getting people to send out mail-in or what was formerly known as absentee ballots. In Pennsylvania, you have 7 days left to register to vote. Deadline: October 21st. So we are coming down to the wire.
You don’t have to wait for Election Day to cast your ballot in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania has a form of early voting.
According to the Pennsylvania Department of State, every county in the commonwealth will be offering “over-the-counter” voting, the state’s closest thing to early voting, in the 2024 general election. This process is called mail ballot voting “on demand.” The party that banks as many votes as possible has an advantage. But still much voting will be in person on the day of the election.
STEPS:
#1 a voter requests a mail-in ballot IN PERSON at a county elections office.
#2 the voter completes it and signs it onsite
#3 the voter returns the ballot to a drop box all on the same trip (or mails it later).
What motives Scott Presler?
Presler is motivated by patriotism He is the son of a distinguished US Navy Captain. Harris has lots of money but PRESLER and his people have smarts, youth and enthusiasm. HE IS BIG ON X and his memes are going everywhere.
In 2024 he is concentrating in PENNSYLVANIA. He has crisscrossed . the state. It is fertile ground because
1) Fracking is very important in PENNSYLVANIA people don’t trust Harris will let Fracking or Natural Gas alone.
2) strong religious communities
3) people are spooked by massive dropping off of quasi-legal Haitian immigrants (like in Springfield OHIO). Local schools and hospitals are being overwhelmed. People are worried about uncontrolled unvetted illegal immigration seemingly without any controls or legal limits.
4) many people are hunters and have traditional values The idea of men participating in women’s sports and going into girl’s bathrooms is horrifying to many. The concept of transgender surgery for prisoners or for MINORS without parental consent is alarming to many. This is a sleeper issue but many parents I have talked to are disturbed by the idea of biological males participating in Girl’s and Women’s sports. Many ordinary citizens are disturbed by the notion of biological males going into the private spaces of girls and women.
5) People see crime and homelessness spreading. I heard a speech by a lifelong Democrat a Hispanic woman who was terrified by Venezuelan gangs and forced to abandon her apartment and many of her personal possessions in the dead of the night. The police did not respond. A few neighbors helped her find her way out with a few things. She was terrified and feared for her life. She was adamant that the only hope was VOTE FOR TRUMP. The mainstream media downplayed the incident as insignificant.
The top issues are the ECONOMY, CRIME, IMMIGRATION and to a much lesser extent ABORTION. In the Senate race Casey has shifted his position on abortion. He once described himself as a “pro-life Democrat,” and voted in 2018 to ban abortion after 20 weeks.But Casey criticized the overturning of Roe v. Wade for putting women’s lives at risk. And he’s since supported codifying abortion rights.
Meanwhile, his GOP opponent McCormick calls himself “pro-life,” BUT has said said he supports exceptions for rape, incest and when the mother’s life is in danger. The bottom line is abortion is legal in Pennsylvania Pregnancies can be ended in the commonwealth up to 24 weeks gestation, a deadline tied to the concept of viability that was introduced in 1973’s Roe v. Wade. Abortions can be performed after that cutoff if a pregnant person’s life or health is in danger.
Some of Pennsylvania’s abortion restrictions stem from Planned Parenthood v. Casey, a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision related to a law Pennsylvania passed in 1982.
The law imposed the parental consent requirement for minors to get abortions, the 24-hour waiting period, and a requirement that people seeking abortions get parental consent. After the law was challenged on the basis that it ran afoul of Roe, the parental consent provision was overturned. I could be wrong but I don’t think abortion is a top issue in Pennsylvania.
Trump himself has moderated his views on abortion and his wife Melania has called herself pro-choice in a recent memoir.
Some people probably remember Florida flipped from Blue to deep Red in 2020 and a lot of that is due to SCOTT PRESLER and his band. In 2022 Pressler helped flip NY State congressional districts to the GOP (which gave them a narrow majority in the House.)
PRESLER’S group is targeting people who have NEVER REGISTERED TO VOTE (such as rural hunters, the AMISH, young students.) Some people are switching to GOP from democrat, but many are registering for the first times. 30% of all hunters in Pennsylvania were never registered. He went to a gun show with his people and registered 500 new voters a day. He is going to Amish communities and has almost 100% support for Trump. Most have never voted before.
FACT: there are 80,000 Amish in Pennsylvania, about 80,000 in Ohio , about 60,000 in Indiana and about 40,000 in Wisconsin. Most are related in some way.
In many counties in Pennsylvania the number or registered republicans has now surpassed the number or registered Democrats. In 2016 there were almost 900,000 more registered Democrats in the state than Republicans. Now the advantage or registered voters is down to 300,000 (and reportedly dropping weekly).
The enthusiasm for Trump in Pennsylvania is amazing. At Butler (where there was the first assassination attempt people came from all over the state. Reports were that there were between 50,000 and 100,000 people in attendance. Elon Musk was there and was encouraging people to register to vote vote and reportedly PRESLER and his people got many never before registered people to pledge for Trump many were young, many were Hispanic many were over 65! (and had never voted).
Of course, there are many hardcore TRUMP haters. There are the Never Trumpers.
Polls however show Trump is doing well with HISPANIC MALES and WHITE MALES but less well with WOMEN and young people. In states with large Hispanic working-class populations ARIZONA and NEVADA Trump seems to be leading but they are virtually tied, such as NORTH CAROLINIA, MICHIGAN, and WISCONSIN.
But I think Pennsylvania will go for Trump.
Scott Presler has made the difference in many counties in Florida.
It is hard to believe in 2000 the Democrats had a 1 million advantage over the GOP and this state went for Bush by 537 votes Essentially the military vote made the different then. But now the GOP has over 1 million advantage in Florida and is a solid GOP state. (it helped that DeSantis is very competent Governor)
There are so many unknowns in politics. Surprises and big events could occur. We are getting down to the end.
I know many friends and family members are pressing me to vote for Harris. I just couldn’t do it.
I couldn’t get myself to vote for Trump either to tell the truth but in California, it doesn’t matter. I don’t know, honestly, what I would do if I were living in a swing state.
The GREEN PARTY is on the ballot in all 50 States (RFK jr has withdrawn in most places). Some disillusioned independents who would have voted for RFK jr. probably will vote for the Green Party.
We will watch if that makes a difference. THEY SAY IT MADE A DIFFERENCE in 2000 and 2016. There are rumors that Arab Americans are going to vote green in Michigan to protest “Genocide” Joe and Harris. Harris had a private meeting with Arab leaders. She is trying to keep her Pro-Palestinian Arab base and the Jewish vote. I think that is an impossible challenge. But who knows?
I do know this, however.
IF Harris loses Pennsylvania ARIZONA, GEORGIA NEVADA she will be in bad shape.
OF course the election is also about GOP majority in Senate and House also. If Harris wins but DEMS lost in House and Senate she will be checkmated.
It will all come down to TURNOUT and enthusiasm. Not all can be known and in a few weeks, these lines will be just an historical document of an opinion made on October 15, 2024. But I do believe that the efforts of Scott Presler and his band will make a difference. It will either be razor-thin or a solid victory for the GOP.
Simon Fairfax’s 1415 is the sixth and final book in his A Knight and a Spy series. I have thoroughly enjoyed immersing myself in the medieval world of Sir James de Grispere and his comrades Mark and Cristo. All of the events of the previous five novels come to a head in this thrilling conclusion.
1415 begins where 1414 ended: Jamie is is recovering from the near-fatal poisoning he suffered at the Council of Constance, Germany. As soon as he is able to return to England, he is tasked with infiltrating a possible plot to overthrow King Henry V. Henry would like to wage war in France and reestablish English rule there, but he is threatened with possible rebellion at home. Jamie and Mark travel across the channel to acquire ships for Henry’s planned invasion, and they foil a plot to destroy the fleet.
Sierra Ferrell, Meijer Gardens Amphitheatre, Grand Rapids Michigan, September 6, 2024.
Even in the face of a predicted temperature plunge, the atmosphere at Meijer Gardens heated up as another sell-out crowd filed in for an evening with Americana siren Sierra Ferrell. You could sense the anticipation in an audience skewing considerably younger than the venue’s usual demographic — guys decked out in Deadhead or jam band shirts (with Michigan’s Billy Strings well represented) and the occasional Nudie suit, women clad in hoop skirts and adorned with flower crowns and facial glitter, cowboy boots all around — forming the longest merch line I’ve seen in these parts for many a moon.
And once opener Meredith Axelrod had reeled us in with a giggly, appealingly skewed acoustic set, Ferrell wasted no time fulfilling her fans’ wildest dreams. Planted center stage at a flower-draped mike stand, resplendent in patchwork fringe dress, pancake make-up and feathers in her hair, she laid out her credentials with opener “I Could Drive You Crazy” — an unstoppably catchy, flirtatious chant, simple as a playground taunt, that morphs from Appalachian fiddle drone to “We Will Rock You” stadium stomp in less than four minutes. At which point the crowd — already on its feet and packed close to the stage — followed suit and went understandably nuts.
As she dove into a generous sampling from her two Rounder albums Long Time Coming and the new Trail of Flowers, it quickly became obvious that Ferrell is that rare real thing – a consummate performer who’s a genuine triple threat. As a singer, she’s got a powerhouse voice and the expressiveness and sensitivity that only come with experience and maturity. Her songs ring true no matter how old-timey her inspiration, packed with appealing melodies and clever, thoughtful lyrics, spanning country music’s historic shifts from cowboy songs and Western swing to bar-room weepers and Bakersfield honky-tonk. And her stage presence – whew! Giddy, yearning, heartbroken and vengeful by turns, Ferrell is all the way into her onstage role, her oversize persona more than a match for her outlandish outfit, a vaudeville turn that doesn’t hide a strong yet vulnerable heart.
Her broadest performance came on the solo murder ballad “Rosemary”, strategically placed mid-set, but Ferrell’s bluegrass-inflected backing band raised the show to an even more impressive level. On fiddle and Fender Telecaster, Oliver Bates Craven was the perfect soloist, peeling off one winning lick after another; mandolist/acoustic guitarist (and Michigan native) Joshua Rilko kept every tune gliding forward or jingle-jangling around as required; Geoff Saunders laid down a nimble, satisfying groove on electric and stand-up basses; and drummer Matty Meyer displayed a great feel for dynamics and drive, matching Ferrell mood for mood. And when the band gathered around one mike and chimed in on rich vocal harmonies for Tim O’Brien’s “The Garden”, the Osborne Brothers’ “Lonesome Feeling” and Ferrell’s open-hearted gospel throwdown “Lighthouse” — well, you could feel the sigh of delight from the 2,000 souls listening in.
But then, the whole night seemed like a non-stop highlight reel: the homespun household wisdom of “Give It Time” setting up the compulsive Spanish tinge of “Why’d Ya Do It”; an intense cover of “Me and Bobby McGee” that just kept building as Ferrell channeled Dolly Parton’s tenderness, then Janis Joplin’s fire. Then there was the closing run that showed off Ferrell’s versatility with Trail of Flowers‘ opening hat trick: “American Dreaming” (lovelorn, resigned road anthem); “Dollar Bill Bar” (femme fatale Ferrell turns the tables on the latest pick-up artist to cross her path); and “Fox Hunt” (stark string-band music that catches both the thrill of the chase and the desperation of a starving mountain man). Put simply, this was a great show; beneath the flamboyant trappings, there’s an elemental presence about Sierra Ferrell and her music that, on this night, proved outright irresistible. If you’re looking for downhome music with a sense of the past that cuts to the bone and revs up a rousing good time, don’t hesitate to check out her albums and see her live!
Dear Spirit of Cecilia readers, it’s time to dig into some prog/anti-prog/a-prog. Is Radiohead prog or not? I’m sure this question has been debated before. Let’s just say, Radiohead did something unique and did something unique several times. First, with Ok, Computer in 1997 and, then, again, in 2000 with Kid A. The following dialogue reflects our thoughts about such innovation and creativity in the world.
Brad: Well, I’m happy to begin this conversation. In the mid 1990s, I had heard the single, “Creep.” Strangely, I was more familiar with the live Tears for Fears cover version than I was with Radiohead’s original, but I still knew the song pretty well. To this day, I like the song, but I don’t love it. And, if push comes to shove, I prefer the TFF version. The unedited, R-rated Radiohead version of the song does nothing for me.
The mid-1990s were kind of wild for me, in terms of my profession as well as in my life. I didn’t get married until 1998, when I was 30. For part of the mid 1990s, then (single), I was working in Bloomington, Indiana, while working on my PHD (I loved Bloomington and my job there), and, for part of it, I was working in Helena, Montana (a city I loved, in a job that I hated; well, let me clarify. I was working at the Montana Historical Society which I hated, but I was also teaching at Carroll College, which I loved).
One day in Helena, I went to a local alternative shop (comics, music, etc.) to buy the latest issue of The Batman Chronicles. On display, though, they had OK Computer, advertised as a “neo prog classic.” Despite money being tight, I bought the album, went back to my apartment, and was suitably blown away by it. Though I love Kid A more, I still have great fondness for Ok, Computer and always will. Though “Karma Police” was the big single from the album, it’s the beginning of “Subterranean Homesick Alien” that I love the most.
From there, I went back and bought the first two Radiohead albums–Pablo Honey and The Bends. I also bought the two eps–by special order–My Iron Lung and Airbag. For what it’s worth, it was the two non-prog songs from the early albums–”Blowout” and “Street Spirit” that most intrigued me.
Tad: Brad, thanks for kickstarting this conversation about two albums that I like a lot. I got into Radiohead around the time of The Bends. I thought that record was wonderful, because I have always had a soft spot for Beatlesque power pop. I didn’t really enjoy OK Computer, because I felt that they had betrayed their pop roots! Of course, with the passage of time and greater perspective, I love it now (except for Fitter, Happier).
When Kid A was about to be released, I remember they put out Everything In Its Right Place as a teaser on Amazon, I think (this was years before YouTube, remember!). I listened to that one track obsessively – I couldn’t get enough of it! But when the entire album was finally released and I got a chance to listen to it, I was completely turned off. To my ears, they had completely abandoned melody and replaced it with abrasive noise. It was literally years before I would return to it and give it another chance.
I guess I have a love/hate relationship with Radiohead. I spent the past couple of days listening to Kid A and Amnesiac (along with the bonus tracks on their 2009 respective reissued editions). There are moments of incredible beauty on both albums: Everything In Its Right Place, Optimistic, Pyramid Song, Knives Out, come to mind. But Thom Yorke’s vocals grate on me in so many places. He sounds querulous and whiny; it’s as if he can’t find any joy in life at all. “Catch the mouse/crush its head/throw it in the pot”…. Is that a rant against meat eaters? I don’t know, but he sounds so desperate!
Also, Stanley Donwood’s artwork is extremely off putting to me. There is a condescension and disdain for normal people who are just trying to raise a family, earn an honest living, and not make waves. Maybe I’m reading too much into it, though. Tell me where I’m wrong, please!
Brad: Tad, thanks so much for your good thoughts. You and I almost always agree, so it’s really interesting to me when we diverge from one another. My views are almost completely opposite of yours, but I suppose timing has a lot to do with it. I mentioned earlier that I came across OK Computer really by chance – seeing it in a display in an alternative shop in Helena, Montana, of all places.
I was in my second year at Hillsdale when Kid A came out. It was the fall semester, and I remember so clearly getting the album. I not only played Kid A repeatedly, but I poured over the lyrics, the art, the booklet, anything that would offer even a smidgen more information about the band and the album. I absolutely loved it when I discovered there was a second booklet, locked under the cd tray.
I played Kid A so much–especially in the background during office hours–that it became a conversation piece with my students and me. So, the album is associated–for me at least–with extremely good memories.
And, I actually like Donwood’s artwork. I even own two books of his art, one of which I have proudly displayed on our living room bookshelf!
Carl: I know, for a fact, that I cannot be objective at all about either album! And there is some freedom in admitting that.
I can relate quite well, Tad, to two of your remarks: the one about having a “love/hate relationship with Radiohead” and your observation that “there are moments of incredible beauty on both albums…” Amen, amen!
For me, setting aside “Fitter, Happier,” which is either an act of genius or an act of cynical annoyance, I think OK Computer is one of the most beautiful, gut-wrenching albums ever recorded—regardless of genre. I don’t recall Radiohead being on my radar at all back in 1997, when I walked into CD World (R.I.P.) in Eugene, OR, and heard it on a listening station.
I was immediately transfixed by the album, which I bought and then listened to hundreds (no exaggerations) of times over the next couple of years. I would listen to it often while driving to and from Portland, from the fall of 1997 to spring of 2000, for MTS classes.
Oddly enough, the stark—but somewhat hopeful—lyrics seemed to go well with my studies, although I don’t know how to explain it. But, again, it was the sheer gorgeous quality of the album, with its amazing melodies, detailed arrangements, astonishing sonics, and the elastic voice of Thom Yorke. And the guitars! I soon bought both Pablo Honey and The Bends, and while the debut album was “okay,” I thought the sophomore release was a remarkable work, with several songs that rivaled what came along on OK Computer.
I mention the guitars because my first reaction to Kid A was simply, “What the hell is this?! Where are the guitars?!” It threw me for a loop so deep and big that I actually refused to listen to it for quite some time. For whatever reason, it did not connect with me at all.
Oddly enough, it was through some acoustic/instrumental covers of Radiohead songs—by pianists including Christopher O’Riley, Brad Mehldau, and Eldar Djangirov—that I warmed up to the album. And while it will never, for me, equal its predecessor, I now recognize just how great it is. Once again, it’s the beauty of the music—in songs such as “Morning Bell”, “Everything In Its Right Place”, and “How To Disappear Completely”—that comes to the fore.
Tad: Carl, you expressed my initial misgivings about Kid A so much better than I did. “Where are the guitars?” Yes!!! I also gained a greater appreciation for the songs on Kid A, composition-wise, through listening to Christopher O’Riley’s classical piano versions. I love the album now. As far as Donwood’s artwork, I just get such negativity from it, but that’s my personal reaction.
Looking back, it’s hard to understand these days just how influential Radiohead was. Everyone was compared to them. I don’t think there would be a Coldplay without Radiohead. Remember the British band Travis? They were a poppy, “safe” version of Radiohead. One of my favorite European groups is Kent, from Sweden. They were obviously heavily influenced by Radiohead.
What is amazing to me is how Radiohead kept their audience, no matter how left-field and out-there their music got. I also appreciate how innovative they were in marketing themselves. Remember when they released In Rainbows online, for basically free? They anticipated streaming music years before it existed.
Brad, I wish I had the same experience you had of stumbling across OK Computer and incorporating Radiohead’s music into your life. I think I feel the same way about earlier artists such Roxy Music, Depeche Mode, and New Order. I can’t imagine not having them available, and their music means so much to me on an emotional level. Listening to them still transports me to different times of my life.
Kevin: The confluence of artists assembled in the conglomerate called Radiohead is remarkable. It is rare for a musical group to emerge that gels together. It is yet rarer for one to collectively seek something new and striking, something visionary. It is the rarest of all to have one that can consistently break new territory in a way that feels always new.
In the summer of 1997, having just completed a recital and performer diploma in classical guitar, I began work on my second progressive rock album. I was seeking to break such new ground working on compositions, lyrics, instrumentation, arrangements. It was a joy and yet painful to continually do this work on my own while seeking sympathetic artists to this vision. In particular I was seeking a drummer who could capture the raw talent of my original co-conspiriator, my brother Colin.
Colin and I had literally grown together in our listening, writing, and performer during my latter school days at home. We didn’t need conversation to know when things worked—we just clicked. I didn’t realize just how rare this was until some years later when we did find a chance to regroup and perform again.
In 1997 we were thousands of miles apart and still living in the days when long-distance calls were as rare as they were expensive. But during one such rare call, I remember him mentioning that I had to get the new Radiohead album OK Computer. He knew my tastes. He knew my aversion to new music of the 90s—for the most part I found grunge to be over-blown and entitled. There were exceptions, but it all seemed unjustifiably angry and sulking and focused on screaming in the darkness because they couldn’t be bothered to look for the light switch.
OK Computer, he assured me, was “different. You have to give it a listen!”
The opening distorted guitar line of “Airbag” gripped my attention immediately. It was melodic but angular, technically adept but rough at the edges, weirdly familiar yet strangely weird. One thing was abundantly clear—these guys had it. The playing was exciting, inventive, and in-the-pocket— except when the haunting character android made its presence felt—and then it was oddly off-kilter, but consistently the band worked its magic together, as a multiple pulsing organism.
The album is brilliant and it set a new standard for creativity in the popular music realm. I could write a book on this album alone. Their use of texture, tone, timing, timbre, text, and contrast appears to flow effortlessly from their collective creative pen. These skills fully come to the fore on OK Computer, where there is a loose narrative (dare I say “Concept”) to the album. But equally on Kid A the stops and starts within and between tracks, the intros and endings, the attentiveness to sonic space. Historically there are moments of brilliance throughout the progressive rock catalog, but here, in Radiohead, was something for a new millennium. Even the contrast between OK Computer and Kid A is extraordinary.
Then there are the melodic and harmonic moments of sheer genius! The way the melodies weave from one section to another, the shift of harmonic focus from a single altered note, the blurring of lines between keys and major/minor constructions. You all know my fondness for Talk Talk’s latter work, which expresses through minimal chords and melodies and achieves artistic triumphs using very basic musical theorems combined with an incredible musical instinct. Radiohead uses maximalism in their approach and since it is a vision more of a collective than a single artist, the result is almost overwhelming to the senses. After a good listen to either of the albums of this essay I literally have to give my ears a rest—it’s so intense.
And yet, listening back, while I still love the creativity, the craft, the brilliance, the technical adeptness, I have to agree with Tad. The dark vision and tone and word with no hint of redemption anywhere suffocates. It’s one thing to work with chiaroscuro, the renaissance artistic technique of using darkness to emphasize the light. Radiohead accels at contrast from a sonic standpoint. I just wish the texts and the vision equally offered an understanding of the beauty of life and not only its tensions. I love the experience of Radiohead’s extraordinary works of human imagination, but in the end I crave the light.
Brad: All right, friends and neighbors, this concludes our discussion of Radiohead–and not just Radiohead, but classic Radiohead–OK Computer and Kid A. As is obvious, we don’t all agree, but we love one another! Here’s hoping you love us as well.
Spirit of Cecilia 
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