KEROSENE BEARS HAVE FUN

As my fellow KB said in a recent post (and as I’m sure you’re hearing about wherever you go), Radiohead has self-released their new album In Rainbows a little over a week ago as an online mp3 download. And as I’m sure you know, you get to choose the price you want to pay for the album. I decided to purchase mine for 8 dollars (roughly 4 pounds). Maybe that’s cheap-ass to some, but I think it’s reasonable. Surely Radiohead deserves a decent monetary reward for the wonderful music they release. But if they give me the option, there’s no way I’m going to pay $16 for their album like I usually would in a record shop. And besides, a good percentage of that $16 probably goes to the record store, the distribution company, the record label, etc. With this self-release however, it’s pretty much all going to Radiohead. You could make a good argument for supporting your local record store by paying full price, but in this particular instance, there is no option other than to download it online directly from Radiohead. So there you have it. I don’t think I should feel guilty.

But enough of that money talk. How is the album? Well, just remember that it’s Radiohead we’re talking about, and Radiohead consistently makes some pretty exceptional albums. They certainly haven’t ended their winning streak with this release. In Rainbows has to be one of the best albums released this year, which does actually say a lot considering all the good music that has come out in 2007. However, if I compare it to other Radiohead albums, it’s hard for it to beat all their albums since The Bends. Yes, even Hail to the Thief and Amnesiac despite their less unanimous acclaim. This may sound like I’m being negative, but I’m really not. In Rainbows may not be quite as good as most of Radiohead’s other albums, but it’s still an amazing album. There’s so much more to say about this album, but for now I’ll leave the in depth album reviewing up to other music nerds out there like Andy.

I will give my humble endorsement though. Don’t wait any longer–buy the album. Yes, buy it. It will be worth your money, at the very least a few pounds.

Now if you tuned in last week to Radio Magic with Kerosene Bears on WEGL 91.1, you would have heard In Rainbows in it’s entirety in addition to some other requested Radiohead songs. Here’s the tracklisting and the rest of the songs I played:

In Rainbows

1. “15 Step”
2. “Body Snatchers”
3. “Nude”
4. “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi”
5. “All I Need”
6. “Faust Arp”
7. “Reckoner”
8. “House of Cards”
9. “Jigsaw Falling Into Place”
10. “Videotape”

also…

“Exit Music (For a Film)” off the album OK Computer

“Idioteque” off the album Kid A

“Fake Plastic Trees” and “Street Spirit (Fade Out)” off the album The Bends

“Knives Out” off the album Amnesiac

Okay, so yet again, I’ve had a busy week. Well, make that at least three busy weeks. I’m still just as busy, but I’ve decided to set aside a few minutes while my Typography project dries to catch up on what I’ve played on Radio Magic in the past weeks. Unfortunately, I don’t have time to write anything about the music I played, so I’ll just list the song names. I would rather not have to settle for a second rate post like this, but I figured that something is better than nothing. Thank you for your patience. This is, after all, the busiest semester I will ever have.

Here you go:

9/20

Andrew Bird - “Fiery Crash”, “Plasticities”, “Dark Matter”, “Spare-Ohs”, and “Yawny at the Apocalypse” off the album Armchair Apocrypha

Midlake - “Head Home”, “Van Occupanther”, and “Branches” off the album The Trials of Van Occupanther

Laura Viers - “Cast a Hook In Me” and “Saltbreakers” off the album Saltbreakers

The Besnard Lakes - “Disaster”, “And You Lied To Me”, and “Rides the Rails” off the album The Besnard Lakes Are the Dark Horse

9/27

Panda Bear - “Comfy in Nautica” and “Bros” off the album Person Pitch

The Black Kids - “I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You” off the Wizard of Ahhhs EP

Modest Mouse - “Florida” and “We’ve Got Everything” off the album We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank

Bear In Heaven - “Bag of Bags” off the forthcoming album Red Bloom of the Boom

Iron & Wine - “White Tooth Man”, “The Devil Never Sleeps”, “Resurrection Fern”, and “Boy With A Coin” off the album The Shepherd’s Dog

Br. Danielson - “Hammers Sitting Still” and “Physician Heal Yourself” off the album Brother Is to Son

10/4

Castanets - “This is the Early Game”, “Westbound, Blue”, and “And the Swimming” off the forthcoming album In the Vines

Band of Horses - “Is There A Ghost” and “Ode to LRC” off the forthcoming album Cease to Begin

Sleeping States - “Rivers” and “Constant Lunacy” off the album There the Open Spaces

The Evens - “Cut From the Cloth” and “You Fell Down” off the album Get Evens

The Gentle Way (A.K.A. Troy Stains) - “A Sad Affair” (unreleased)

Mogwai - “Black Spider”, “Wake Up and Go Beserk”, and “7:25″ off the Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait soundtrack

As many of you may have heard, Radiohead has announced their new album will be released nine days from now. Yes, just twenty-four hours ago the album was believed to be pushed back until early 2008 and not even a single (or a leaked track) was expected to surface until late December at the earliest (by my own oft-flawed estimation, anyway).

Not only that, the album can be yours for completely free (if your cheap-ass like Ben) or with any amount of money you feel you should pay (I tithe at my church, why not Radiohead?). And to top it all off, the album is promo-free, which essentially means on 10/10 every Radiohead fan (and the suit & ties of the music industry) will listen to the same album on the same day for the first time.

I’m the kind of music fan who rarely has an album that I fall in love with. Not that I don’t love music, quite the opposite. I love music like a drug addict embraces the needle. A worn-out analogy to be sure, but an accurate one nevertheless. That is to say, I wander the broad landscape of the musical world and it’s various subsections searching for that next kick, that next big thing… the next sequence of sounds that will blow me away.

Sure, there were times in my musical infancy where I would cling onto those albums that molded my life and some regrettably so (Parachutes didn’t age as well as I thought it would, but I blame that on two people: him and her). But I’ve long forgotten those days where a album really speaks to me and, this is the most important part, teaches me to love something I didn’t before. Coldplay may have sound tracked my days of middle school heartbreak but it didn’t take me out of it, it fueled my silent aggression towards pimply faced boys and girls with awkward boobies.

Radiohead took me out of that life and put me in a new musical landscape that seemingly existed on a higher plateau than the one I pranced around in before. It was 2001 (pre-9/11) and someone finally introduced one of the most difficult and beautiful albums of my entire life: Hello, OK Computer. An album that made even more sense in the chaos that ensued after 9/11.

There was a very brief period in my life where I doubted the greatness of this album but then I realized one incredible testiment to the album. In all honesty, all of my favorite albums this year would not exist if it wasn’t for that album and that band. No Spoon, No Caribou, No Super Furry Animals, No LCD, and most definitely, No Deerhoof! And that’s just talking in terms of this year, how many bands’ greatest albums weaved together ideas originally introduced OK Computer (Here’s looking at you Yankee Hotel Foxtrot)? Not to say that these artist aren’t great in their own right but Radiohead made their creative freedoms possible.

Now 10 years later from the release of OK, we see a band doing that same innovative take on modern music they did a decade ago. That excites me, friends. A combination of classical craftsmanship mixed with the punk rock “spit-in-your-face” attitude that doesn’t leave fans in the cold but teaches them to love something new from someone they trust.

These 9 days will not go by fast enough.