Radiohead ‎– Amnesiac

I am pretty sure “Like Spinning Plates” samples Christopher Young’s title track for the film “Rounders”.

Listen carefully to hear the xylophone and high hat on Radiohead’s LSP at 0:47 seconds in. The high hat kicks in and then shortly after the xylophone with the EXACT same sequence of notes as Rounders yet possibly with the pitch shifted slightly. The point in “Rounders” a film that was release 3 years prior to Amnesiac, is at 1:03 into the track.

Like Spinning Plates http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQBDsNiCCNM
Rounders http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfBSM46KzsA&feature=related

How do we go about fact checking for the sample? It isn’t printed in the liner notes.

My copy has a sticker saying "Made in Holland" below the barcode at the back of the cover. All the matrix numbers match though. Can a UK release be made in Holland? Otherwise, is my copy a Holland release? I'm confused...

Quite a curious piece in the Radiohead discography, Amnesiac has always been seen somewhat as the "offcasts" from the Kid A album.

While when Kid A was released people were rightly shocked, even horrified at the change of direction of the band, Amnesiac came around swiftly afterwards and somewhat got swept up in the post-fear hysteria that surrounded many fan's initial doubt about the wholly change in direction.

Indeed, I must admit that prior to Kid A Radiohead were not a band whom I gave any attention to. Mainly this was due to my youth and belief in the people who wrote reviews in magazines (along with my teenage friends who like me were total dance music devotees who refused to look beyond a solid 4/4 kick drum). Radiohead were this boring, depressing band right?

Correction. Wrong.

But that's a whole different story. The fact is that Kid A changed my opinion about Radiohead, and Amnesiac solidified that opinion.

Amnesiac is an album full of the messed-up Warp Records style electronic shit that seeped through Kid A. Starting with Packt Like Sardines In A Crushd Tin Box (yes, let's add a "sp" to that), the album begins in a mode that easily flows from the last dying moments that you craved would never end from the dying breath of Kid A. It's a quirky introduction to the blissful confusion that will proceed.

Pyramid Song, the first single since the band released No Surprises (of course no singles were issued from Kid A), is haunting. Yes, it's haunting. Lyrically romantic, but not like you expect. Thom throws words at you that you simply do not expect from a love song. It's sick, it's not right. Yet I still fall in love.

Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors is one of my favourites. Crunch would be the best word. It CRUNCHES. Vocal wise it's back to Kid A (the song), that fucked up effect that sounds like Gary Numan on Salvia. There is a part of this song that drops, and not in the way you think of. It just DROPS. It's ghastly yet immersive. I shall not spoil it.

Track four brings you back to the Ink Spots. Blissfully periodic of the 1940's, yet Thom still spits vitriol. No Java Jive here though, far from it.

I Might Be Wrong is rather more generic Radiohead material. Pehaps a nice b-side that would have fitted (in less gritty production) on The Bends sessions, but nonetheless not quite up to the standards that this album holds in my opinion.

Knives Out was an actual single, and I guess it's obvious why. A strong chorus, not particularly interesting but powerful all the same. Dirty, hateful lyrics bely the catchiness of the music. This is not a love song. Not quite fit for any Now! compilation (thank fuck).

Next is Morning Bell / Amnesiac. Yeah, this was on Kid A. cut the Kids in half.

Dollars & Cents comes up, and it's moody! It doesn't really go anywhere, but it flows nowhere well. A bit like drinking milk, once you start it's not so bad. Then it's Hunting Bears. A nice intro, good use of brutal silence. But why bother any more about this!

Like Spinning Plates

It's one of the (if not THE) album highlights. It'll mess you up if you are messed up, it'll mess you up if you're feeling messed up. Just don't bother listening to it bored. Thom's delivery is sublime, his lyrics beauty. Dying beauty. The most beautiful kind. Evocative of abandon, blissful abandon. Nothing left to care for here, just watch the lot float away. All in reverse? Well, that's the idea.

Life In A Glass House rounds up this album. Wonderful arrangement, i'm sure Tom Waits is a fan of this. He must appreciate the intensity and groove that Radiohead force upon you here, with the massive contribution of Humphrey Lyttelton.

Is someone listening in?

Radiohead came in for a lot of criticism when they went to an electronic sound for Kid A and Amnesiac(which were recorded at the same time)but I find it an improvement.
This is a mix of electronic stuff and more guitar-based songs.
Favourites include:
Pyramid Song- a dark,piano-driven track backed by rising strings and Thom's melancholic vocals.
Spinning Plates- the highlight.A swelling electronic riff is joined by Thom's distorted vocals and some bass and guitar.Eerie.
Life in a Glasshouse- a pretty straightforward piano and guitar song apart from a backing of trumpets and other jazz instruments.