QN5 Music

As most of you know, I’m an ultra-huge gigantoid Radiohead fan, so this prolly won’t come as much of a shock to you.

Personally, IN RAINBOWS is my favorite album of 2007 - and it still monopolizes my iPod the majority of the time. Song-wise, this is some of the strongest work they’ve put together in years, even moreso than the majority of Hail To The Thief, which I loved, despite it’s slightly schizophrenic tracklisting.

As a cohesive piece of music, it’s easily the most organic of their catalog. There’s really not much electro-trickery to be found, (save for a couple percussive sputters on “15 Steps”). This is a band that has completely reinvented its sound album after album after album, and In Rainbows (and the excellent Disc 2) is an album that feels uncontrived and natural on every level. It sounds as though they decided to just make some songs and not reinvent music this time. Granted, they still exhibit the ultra-layered studio-mastery they’ve become known for over the years, but it almost seems to me that this record is a concious effort to purposefully HOLD BACK the sound.

When bands like Sigur Ros or Mew have taken the RH sound and elevated it to such cacophonous levels, it only seems right that the band that artistically standardized that approach to recording holds it’s breath and pulls back on the reigns. Each song takes a pensive/ measured approach from its opening, to it’s zenith and to it’s close. Nothing every truly EXPLODES…and thankfully, it never needs to. And for a band that made EXPLODING an artform… it’s beautiful to watch the musical maturity needed to restrain from turning “All I Need” into an overproduced overlong exercise in thrashing and volume. The song only goes as far as it needs to and ends before it becomes what you expect it to… yet, you’re left with All You Need…quite literally.

“Arpeggi/Weird Fishes” is absolutely one of my favorites and I’m very pleased with the final version, as I’ve been listening to the live versions of these songs since they toured the states with them a couple years ago. “Nude” is one of the most beautiful songs I’ve heard in years, and the opening is goosebump inducing the first time you hear it. I could go on and on about it…but I won’t.

“Last Flowers To The Hospital” on Disc 2 is probably my favorite song they’ve done since “How To Disappear Completely”. The chord changes are about as haunting as it gets. Extremely refined, simplistic, and totally unique.

Also, on this album, they let their rock flag fly…and got down and dirty with some straight up clangy garage rock with “Bodysnatchers” and “Jigsaw Falling Into Place”. This is the Radiohead from The Bends that didn’t hesitate to throw a chainsaw-sized guitar riff into the middle of a ballad. “Bangers & Mash” is my shit, straight up and down. That’s as ill a breakbeat as you’d be able to pull off a 60’s rock record for a mashup. The drumming itself on this album also comes to the front alot on this album, on songs like “Reckoner” which is just played to a tee, each roll and fill… pitch perfectly hit at the right marks.

Overall, I can’t say enough about this album. My only gripe would be the final version of Videotape, but I did myself a disservice by getting attached to the live bootleg version of the song for a year+ before the CD dropped. I shoulda just waited, cause lyrically/melodically…it’s a beautiful fucking song. I’m just not sold on this particular arrangement of it. But letting myself get stuck on something that wasn’t the artists original intention is a fauxpau is a dummy’s snag, so I won’t even let that register.

9.5/10

In comparison to their other albums, there’s alot of different variables you have to take into account when comparing them (impact on music, time of release, etc etc), but this is definitely one of their Top 3, imo. I’d put it behind OKC and KID A.

Hollerate.
Tone.

jjustin408 said:Have you ever considered being a music journalist? That was a great review.

Hahah thanks. Honestly, It’d prolly invoke way too much backlash if I attempted to do it while still being an “active” musician. Politically, you’re not really allowed to have negative opinions on other people’s music when you’re trying to build your own career. Perhaps I’ll dabble in it when I’m done with this rap stuff.

Agreed! Essentially, third verse of “Politics” addresses that whole issue directly.

amplifya said:Not to call you out or anything… but didn’t you (and Pack) take time out of both of your sets to say “Fuck Drake” on stage at CMJ last week? lol.

Never said that. I was talking about how people get caught up in the flavor of the month and may not be aware of QN5. I said and I quote >“tell that bitch to stop listening to drake records for 5 minutes and come fuck with us”. You can take that however you want.

I’m not going to take offense since i’m guessing you haven’t really listened or given him a fair shot. (The only other video on my youtube besides my “Gathered” piano cover is me playing over a Drake song..i’m a fan.)

...and I’m happy that you’re happy!