I paid too much for the new Radiohead

I love the innovation of Radiohead. Their pay what you want online distribution deal was killer for their new record In Rainbows. Despite the technology involved what I really loved about it was at the core it’s the exact same premise as the street musician playing with an open guitar case for people to put in what they think the music is worth. While there have been all sorts of rumors (1.2 Million sold, $10 average price) regarding the success of the new model – none have been verified. One thing is for certain, Radiohead are trailblazers. And with Madonna and Nine Inch Nails following suit and opting out of their own major label deals expect to see all sorts of creative ideas for music distribution in the near future. Frankly, I’m excited.

Here’s my deal with Radiohead. I think people want to like Radiohead and I think more people like the idea of Radiohead then actually dig the music. If you put In Rainbows to the test, it’s not really much of an album. A promising start with the up-tempo “15 Step” and “Bodysnatchers” meanders into the ether. There’s no warmth to Radiohead. The sound is all zeroes and ones. I want my Rock & Roll to be a lot more whiskey and beer – to spend some time in a barrel someplace. Instead Radiohead’s sound appears to marinate on the motherboard inside a computer.

A couple guys here at work recently did a presentation on Virtuality featuring web environments like Second Life and World of Warcraft. As people assembled for the presentation they played some tracks from In Rainbows over a loop of Second Life imagery playing on the big screen. It was the perfect soundtrack; equal parts pretty, haunting, synthetic and sterile.

Radiohead’s music purchase site www.inrainbows.com had a very retro MS DOS feel to it with text boxes seemingly in the wrong places and nearly no explanation as to how the purchase process was supposed to work. The entire time I was punching in my info I wondered if it was going to work or if I was even on the “official” site. I decided to pay 5 British Sterling (or about $10 U.S.) what I thought was a fair price for In Rainbows

Having listened to In Rainbows, I’ll say the album for me is worth less than half that. “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi,” a trippy little space coaster of a song held together with strumming and falsetto is the high point of the disc. While most of the music I review in this space is rollercoaster straight, Radiohead’s sound is more like a Tilt a Whirl . . .on morphine. But what works on “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi” is the song actually spins enough to leave the ground. It sounds like something that could have been on U2’s Pop, or maybe their side project Passengers. “Reckoner” is similar in sound but lacks the structure of “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi” and the result is forgettable.

In Rainbows just doesn’t seem to have enough blood running through its veins. It sounds like a stack of Wired magazines in an impeccable urban apartment. It sounds like a stylish place, a catalog, but without people. The main problem with In Rainbows is it sounds like no one lives there.

It’s hard for me to even talk about specific songs, as there wouldn’t appear to be a single on here. While In Rainbows may sound good blasting from the speakers of a downtown advertising agency, I’m at a loss as to where I would ever listen to this CD on my own? I can’t listen to it in my car because In Rainbows is way too moody for that. I’d have to drive around flexing my jaw muscles and sliding my sunglasses up and down my nose making faces in the rearview if In Rainbows was in the Wrangler’s 6-disc changer.

Radiohead are able to warm up their morgue table sound to room temperature on a few tracks. “15 Step” has a nice little guitar riff and intro before giving way to sound effects and drum machines. “Faust Arp” is folksy and “Videotape” starts with big promise and an actual piano intro but fails to build to anything but noises. Overall, In Rainbow sounds like an album the machines will make once they figure out how to be smarter than us humans. And I suppose that’s part of the appeal. While In Rainbows does have some nice Verve-like vocals and a few cool guitar riffs – I’m afraid I wouldn’t throw much change in the guitar case.