The King Of Limbs - Radiohead (2011)
ideated from: a favorite album that starts with “K”
Discog-ology: Going through an artist’s albums, or at least the ones I haven’t written up yet, in order. Hopefully will be about once a week.
It can be a little hard to differentiate one Radiohead record from another, but this one is pretty distinctive for what it isn’t. There are no gigantic crescendos or massive guitar solos or skronky, early-modern synthesizers. Each song stays in the lane it starts in, building a little world and staying in it for the duration.
Radiohead are always big on atmosphere, and here they take that idea further than normal. I don’t play piano, but there was one in the house growing up, and i was fascinated with the sustain pedal that lets the notes you just hit ring on while you play other notes on top. That’s what a lot of this record sounds like, with new sounds and textures floating in on top of previous ones.
Discog-ology
Next (and last): A Moon Shaped Pool
Previous: In Rainbows
Tracks I Liked
Morning Mr Magpie - an oblique lyric, but a great little tune
Little By Little - I guess a “modern life is rubbish” lyric. I’m not a big remix guy, but this already excellent tune sounds even better when remixed by Caribou on the TKOL RMX collection.
Lotus Flower - a great example of that “sustain pedal” effect I was talking about. The layered vocals on top of the room-shaking bass groove give it a spooky feel.
