Tag: Radiohead

Top 5 Singles of 2016

top-5-singles

In the past I’ve listed my favorite EP’s of the year. This time I honestly haven’t listened to enough music this year. Seems kind of odd for me but honestly it just hasn’t happened. Between working full time, having new life experiences, and just dealing with myself I haven’t absorbed as much music like I did in my adolescences. With this context I decided to put together a list of songs or singles that I really enjoyed but didn’t make my top ten albums. These songs were strong but didn’t carry the whole album. Some of them were just singles. Still these songs stood out so much I had to give them some love.

It’s known I’m not huge on EDM. Up until recently I was very antagonistic against the style. Once I started going out more, down in North Park, driving by myself and participating in drunken behavior I’ve really fallen into this music more and more. “Ablaze” by School of Seven Bells has been in rotation for months on my playlists. The guitar rhythm is a nice bridge more to help me cross over. There’s a steady energy here keeping me up beat and positive when I hear it. I especially like driving while playing this one. The rest of the album is solid but this one stands out from the others.

My affection for heavy music, metalcore and djent particularly, has fallen off a cliff for me. It hasn’t felt the same for a while. Maybe it’s age or the past year’s experiences but I haven’t immersed myself within the scene like I did in the past. Still, I have soft spot for it when I hear something that satisfies my taste in the sonic aesthetics. Erra pleasantly surprised me this year with “Irreversible” from their latest album. I haven’t heard breakdowns like that. Surely someone has done them before but it was a first for me. The crazy part about these breakdowns… No chugging. They grind on a harmonic note. It’s not brutal but it still gets the energy pulsing if it’s your flavor. Erra also repeat this section several times which always gratifies my sweet tooth.

Unfortunately now cancelled, HBO’s Vinyl brought a slew of original soundtracks into the show. “Kill the Lights” featuring Nile Rodgers stood above the rest. In the series it’s a single by the fictional group Indigo that raises up in underground clubs. It’s introduction on the show has one of it’s more memorable moments. The song originally written by Alex Newell and DJ Cassidy resonates the essence of the 70’s and disco. I’ve been Googling to find hidden discos in San Diego so I can live out my new fantasy of dancing in nostalgia. I don’t feel comfortable participating in today’s clubs or dry humping there but I could lose my shit at disco playing “Kill the Lights” and others like it. I’m not sure why this song gets me interested in going clubing but I’m glad it has.

For most of the year I thought Volume‘s single “Feels Good” would easily be my favorite single. It’s great at the gym, driving around, or anytime I need some jubilee. You can read my detailed and existential review here. Some tease though. The band has promised their new album early in 2017. They have held this bridge for their next album through their single. It’s done a solid job so far but fans are ready for what’s next. Looking back on this single, the level of production from guitarist Diego Farias rose to Grammy level proportions. Next year couldn’t sound better. One paper this track checks every box for me. However, it’s not at the top of my list.

The best single of the year came as a surprise but looking back on the year no other song could really hold the crown. “True Love Waits” by Radiohead was the white whale of unreleased studio tracks for over two decades. I wrote about this and their album A Moon Shaped Pool earlier this year. Turns out it’s one of the best songs of the year. I could go into the personal reasons but if you’ve read my introspective blogging I need not explain. The song certainly gets me emotionally charged but that’s why people like music. The truly superb music influences our feelings and thoughts. As sad as my perspective is about this track it makes me feel hopeful. Only great music can incept your mind like that. Without a doubt this is my top song or single of the year. I tend to lean towards music that capture the year for me.This song will always be a small time capsule of 2016. Hopefully someday I can look back remember where I was then but appreciate how far I’ve come now. Appreciate what I have in the future, wherever I am.

Having never written a list in this style before I hope anyone who reads it grasps its flow. I enjoyed tackling each track by track. I will have another list before the release of my annual top 10 albums of the year this month.

True Love Waits

AMSP

New Radiohead music has sailed on the horizon for the last few years. I’ve anticipated some release but felt skeptical to its quality. King of Limbs felt tried and honestly lazy. Maybe their tank finally ran empty. I found the level of effort offensive at the time. Limbs sounded like a bunch of shitty leftover demos idly dumped on the world yet the general gage at the time was high. I saw them at Coachella that year perform mostly hits and some popular Limbs tracks. They looked pretty old then and I found it hard to imagine a new album would be out anytime coming soon.

A Moon Shaped Pool arrived with little time for hype to build, which I like. Initially I’m underwhelmed by it but it’s far better than King of Limbs. If Radiohead released this under another name my opinion would be much higher of it but unfortunately, at this stage, their competition is only themselves. They have to live up to The Bends, OK Computer, Kid A, Hail to The Thief, and in my opinion In Rainbows. Moon Pool doesn’t live up to those and we shouldn’t expect it to. It feels dry in perspective to their career. Many of the songs like “Daydreaming” and “Decks Dark” build up nicely at the end but never payoff. Much of the album doesn’t take me anywhere like “Burn the Witch” which had a great video and I’m sure fans will call for it live. It’s still three and half minutes of loops and Thom Yorke mumbling, kinda like Limbs.

I find with each track I enjoy the following one dims any grove or vibe built up. “Identikit” and “The Numbers” however run well together and layer an equal amount of live instrumentation versus synths and drum machines. Radiohead gets a lot of credit making those elements mainstream in rock but sometimes it’s nice to hear some rock from them. One of my favorite tracks “Desert Island Disk” starts climbing half way through, not at the end, and pays off. It’s one of the few I can zone into more than once.

The crowning jewel of this experience and what makes it worth listening at all comes at the end with “True Love Waits” the big foot of Radiohead lore. It’s been played live since 1995 but never seen a studio release. In a way it’s another way to criticize the album. They went back in time brought back a piece of greatness from their prime. Maybe that speaks to their lack of ability now or maybe like their producer said they were finally satisfied with a recording. I could see either way but I’m currently a pessimist. I’m not downing them for including this however. “True Love Waits” is a masterpiece and for perhaps the last time Radiohead birthed a classic that will endure them. We should all be grateful they went to the time machine or got the last cup from the well. I’m in deep with this song. How couldn’t I? Those lyrics are eleven years old yet they haven’t felt more important or real. Maybe Thom and I are just in the same place. It doesn’t matter. I’m just glad it’s there.