Journal › radiohead
The Smile
Having watched Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood from further and further back over the years, it was a treat to be up close with The Smile in Manchester tonight.
A day off in London
We’re back from a fun 24 hours in London. In the afternoon, we enjoyed Thom and Stanley’s Test Specimens, Jarvis’ Good Pop Bad Pop (two days after Geri was his mic stand) and a wander past Apple Corps HQ. Later, a sunlit gathering in Hoxton’s Howl at the Moon with Johanna, Carl, Ben, and tiny Taco. To close the day, we attended the Good Pop Bad Pop after-party at Spiritland, where I was starstruck by producer Mark Moore and satirist Chris Morris.
Designer Discs interview
I was delighted to be the first guest on Matt Davey’s new podcast. It was an opportunity to reflect on my career path and attitude to design, and choose five songs that really mean something to me.
2021 in music
I can’t recall a year quite like this one; month after month of superb new music made even more overwhelming as my taste expanded deeper into modern jazz and more nuanced electronic genres.
KID A MNESIA exhibition
Radiohead, again. But, you know, best band in the world, our generation’s Beatles, etc. Anyway, last night I got lost in the disconcertingly claustrophobic KID A MNESIA exhibition, and somehow I didn’t have nightmares.
Using disorienting game mechanics and eerie sound design to journey through all that unsettling artwork makes complete sense, and I continue to love everything that results from this whole make-or-break period.
Available for PS5, PC, Mac. Note, Macs with RAM. This was rough on an 8GB Intel and 8GB M1; works great on M1 Pro 16GB (but heats it up a bit).
Kid A Mnesia
With the release of Kid A Mnesia, there’s been a welcome dump of material looking back at Radiohead’s make-or-break period. If, like me, you cannot separate the music from its intrinsic visual language, check out this short studio interview with Thom Yorke and Stanley Donwood, this in-depth discussion, and the forthcoming book of artwork. For broader context, nod along with today’s excellently chin-rubby Pitchfork and The Quietus deep-dives.
I’m obsessed with the intertwingling of art, sound and ideas about landscape, so when Thom talks about these things, I’m there. And I love his point about a naive process, reminiscent of McLuhan’s praise for the amateur.
The nature of being a songwriter, or a painter, or whatever, is to retain a beginner’s mind. The search is the point. The flailing around is the point. The process is the point.
Anyway, this post serves as another reminder to move closer to the things you love because they will help you expand. And with that, I’m off to pick up my copy of the album.
2020 in music
Weird year. Despite the virus, there was an overwhelming avalanche of new music. As the pandemic tore at the fabric of life, music was the balm that helped us cope with such an awful year.
Radiohead Public Library
The new Radiohead Public Library keeps pulling me back in, revealing old favourites and new discoveries from every corner of their career. It’s a particular thrill to rewatch this performance of Paranoid Android.
2019 in music
How to summarise 2019? So. Much. Good. Music. I’ve struggled to properly evaluate an overwhelming stream of releases, and my charts are still in flux. But, the year-end is nigh, so I must commit.
Olafur Eliasson: In Real Life
Having admired Eliasson’s work for twenty years, I’d expected to love everything about this significant Tate survey. Instead, I began to wonder if I’d over-invested in his ideas.
2017 in music
A fantastic year for music: many of my favourites returned with new albums and heaps of exceptional new artists appeared. We also made it to lots of shows.
2016 in music
We lost David Bowie, and the world collapsed. Black voices mattered: Solange; Michael Kiwanuka; A Tribe Called Quest; Chance; the sheer brilliance of Frank Ocean.
The Seldom Seen Kid
The fourth album from Elbow is another intensely personal journey through main man Guy Garvey’s life experiences, dripping with introspective worry and wonder.
Best Gig You Ever Experienced?
Last week, in an attempt offset the mammoth workload and do something without pixels, I assembled all of my gig tickets from the last fifteen years.
The Reggae Tribute Genre
I’m digging Easy Star All Stars right now. It began when a colleague introduced me to the exceptional Dub Side Of The Moon.