Not Many Experts

Evidently, Radiohead’s reputation for industry-questioning release strategies (or lack there-of) precedes them, so upon the release of The King Of Limbs, rush releasing the album within 5 days of its announcement was just not enough. Perhaps making a mockery of the rigid structure of release dates currently employed in the industry, the decision has been made to, instead, release the album today digitally. Whether they are trying to make a point or not is purely obsessive speculation, but, whatever the motive… The end result is the same, and I’m not particularly close to complaining about getting a new Radiohead album a day early… Although if they could be slightly more thoughtful next time and consider my blood pressure, state of my arteries and general health, that would just complete the package.

As exciting as this prospect is, it’s also a slightly terrifying one, for having a predecessor with the stature of  In Rainbows doesn’t forgive you for your mistakes, but highlights and heightens them…  Despite the hysteria and hype surrounding another unconventional release, as soon as the downloading has been done and you realise that there’s another 80mb of Radiohead sat in your computer, the  unavoidable question starts to emerge; where, in Radiohead’s arguably unequalled hegemony of albums, does The King of Limbs sit?

The answer was never going to be clear or predictable – two qualities that Radiohead, and The King of Limbs, are mercifully free of. And it was never going to be conclusive either, or even an answerable or relevant question. But it’s just unavoidable. The fragmented drums and directionless wanderings of keyboard of album opener “Bloom” seem almost wilfully obtuse, whilst the rest of the album relaxes into more methodical songwriting, whilst still bearing the typical hallmarks of Yorke’s creativity.

Elsewhere, “Lotus Flower” was presented today as something of a lead-single of the album by the release of its slightly not-worth-watching (and definitely not worth repeating at 2am in any city of the world) video, a move explained by a rumbling bassline that will have anybody who thinks that they are very cutting edge describing as “post-dubstep”. We’re also especially pleased to announce that the very obsessed soul who identified the song that Thom Yorke played in Cambridge last year as “Give Up The Ghost” was, indeed, correct. What he didn’t know was that the whole thing would sound hundreds of times better with the warmth of Johnny Greenwood’s”Reckoner” reminiscent guitar. Preceded by the stunning “Codex”, though, it’s tough to appreciate. A paradox of a quietly throbbing synthetic beat, and simple stripped down piano chords backed by Yorke’s wail, it works unbelievably well. They may not have been the first to mix acoustic and electronic, but as always, when they’re not the pioneers themselves, they’ve surpassed all previous attempts. In fact, The King of Limbs could very well be seen as a reconciliation of the physical and electronic aspects of music, and as dubstep lurches and folk reclines at opposite ends of Radio 1’s A Playlist, this reminder that the two can be perfect bedfellows could be a perfectly timed example.

It’s clear that Radiohead have avoided trotting out 8 “Radiohead-ish” tracks on The King of Limbs and simply cashing in on an eccentric release strategy that has the world’s media in rapt attention, and for that we can only do them the decency of appreciating the album as its own. Endless comparisons with In Rainbows will abound but are nothing but futile analysis – In Rainbows is its own great album, and The King of Limbs is a fascinating piece of music, but ‘great’? Investing time is the only way to tell, and the least we can do is hold off complete judgement until minutes and hours have revealed what the album has to offer, regardless of the instantaneous nature of 2011’s music journalism. All we can say for sure is that “Lotus Flower”’s video definitely proves that Thom Yorke has still not discovered 2011’s equivalent of the Macarena. The search continues.

Radiohead – Little By Little by Not Many Experts

Post-’Only By The Night‘ loathing aside, I feel pretty sorry for Kings of Leon. Where it was once ‘cool’ to swear by the Tennesse foursome, it is now the absolute antithesis: street credibility is whipped away faster than Tiger Woods’ endorsements at the mere mention of enjoying the BRIT award-winning “Only By The Night“.

Predictably then, the expectation surrounding “Come Around Sundown” has been massive, both from the relatively new fanbase won over by the mid-atlantic pop-rock churned out on the previous record, and the disgruntled die-hards, eager for another “Aha Shake Heartbreak“.

As a consequence, KoL find themselves very much in a hard place in terms of the reception of this album; it seems nigh-on impossible for both audiences to be satisfied at the same time. 7 or 8 listens through however, it seems as though the band have attempted the impossible. For the fans introduced to KoL through the commercial industry’s exhaustive use of “Sex On Fire” and “Use Somebody” however, the less polished southern indie-pop of “Come Around Sundown” seems far less likely to once more induce mass-hysteria. I hope. For the die-hards yearning to hear Caleb’s once-beloved indecipherable vocals over heart-meltingly badass riffs (see King of the Rodeo, California Waiting), the news is not great. Save for one brief thirty second stint at the beginning of lead single ‘Radioactive‘, there are not many (if any) old school KoL moments. It seems to me that in so obviously aiming at the middle ground, “Come Around Sundown” achieves a kind of southern rock/pop puree that will inevitably satisfy neither die-hards or casuals fully.

However, despite counting myself as a die-hard fan, hooked from the first minute I heard “Red Morning Light” on “Youth & Young Manhood“, I like this album. Sure, it’s nowhere near the standard the band set themselves earlier in their career, but other than satisfying the cult listenership the band already held, what would be the point in returning to that sound after an album like “Only By The Night“, for which they probably received more attention, and more importantly, money from than all of their other records combined? Who can blame them for revelling in the limelight? For all that it is not a ‘masterpiece’. Sonically, from start to finish it is a pleasant experience, with tracks like “Pyro” and “Birthday” sure to be sneaking up the “Top 25 Most Played” on your iTunes for the remainder of the year. Love them or loathe them, you can never abandon them.

Kings of Leon – The End by NotManyExperts

Magnetic Man’s debut came out on Monday, an event of course overshadowed by my review of it being unveiled on the same day on The Line Of Best Fit. To be concise, it’s conclusion was lukewarm to the point where I can’t see it troubling the upper echelons of mine, or indeed anybody else’s, end of year album lists. Nevertheless, it’s worth a look if you’re seriously into the overblown wobble sound (I am not), but Skream’s “Outside The Box” (released earlier this year) is a much better example of major label “dubstep”. Better still, be controversially two-years-behind and download Benga’s “Diaries of an Afro Warrior” or Burial’s “Untrue”. If I haven’t put you off enough, you can read the original here or peruse it below.

“Despite there being nothing more annoying than a trust-funded, Topman covered, squat-posing hipster babbling that “dubstep is the future” based on the evidence of Katy B’s new single, these particular brainless bandwagon humpers are probably right. A whole generation of youth are eschewing guitar lessons to familiarise themselves with Ableton or Logic, and given the increasingly technological-centric nature of society within the past decade or so, this trend is fairly inevitable. Yet this alone cannot be counted as an argument in favour of Magnetic Man’s debut album; unfortunately for them, their pasts as Skream, Benga and Artwork bring enormous expectations and the question to be asked is whether they’ve done themselves justice, or whether they’ve thrown together generic radio fodder and laughed all the way to their next Radio 1 session.

Well… the answer isn’t quite as straightforward as the question. Without a doubt, the trio have nothing to be embarrassed about; next single ‘Perfect Stranger’ is going to propel them once more chartwards via its scattering beats and a vocal from woman of the minute (hopefully literally) Katy B, whilst ‘The Bug’ brings a darker and more refined sound to proceedings that will satisfy cynical dubstep connoisseurs. Admittedly, there are isolated mistakes.’Box Of Ghosts’ fails to go anywhere remotely interesting, but it’s ‘Fire’ that is particularly disastrous, though this is undoubtedly down to Ms Dynamite’s laptop-smashingly irritating nasal vocal delivery. It sounds particularly weak following the unexpected wrong-footing of album opener ‘Flying Into Tokyo’ on which they resist the urge to drop straight into towering beats, and instead carefully conduct violins and glockenspiels, creating a beautifully unconventional opening track.

This, though, is where their foray into the unconventional ends, which, given their intimidating skills, could be seen as a wasted opportunity. But it shouldn’t be. Never was this supposed to be an album that dragged dubstep forwards. Their union with Columbia was (and they have gladly admitted it themselves) to all intents and purposes a contrived effort to bring dubstep to the masses, to have it headlining festivals and dominating clubs. In this respect, undoubtedly they have succeeded, though to name a track ‘Anthemic’ is trying slightly too hard, despite its accuracy. ‘I Need Air’ has already quietly become a bellowing animal of lurching dubstep that is regularly tearing apart clubs, and there are plenty more album tracks like ‘Mad’ and ‘Crossover’ which are more than capable of shaking foundations and rupturing ears like Magnetic Man intended.

Their success, of course, will bring detractors. There will be those who talk of the beauty of dubstep being its underground, counter-cultural and sinister roots. Undoubtedly, these people are desperately trying to stick a label on a cultural phenomenon that is impossible to define; the word “dubstep” itself has already become a meaningless term. In actual fact, Magnetic Man draw on garage, UK funky and drum and bass as much as they do sub bass. This obsession with the term “dubstep” is superficial – it’s this season’s musical fashion and on those grounds it must be ignored for Magnetic Man’s ability to craft terrifying, buoyant electronic music with a tangible sense of emotion transcends genre boundaries. Despite this, the rise of this genre of music to ubiquity is irrepressible, whether we feel the need to call it “dubstep” or not, and if Magnetic Man are the trio who ring in this change, well, we could do a lot worse.”

Magnetic Man – Karma Crazy by NotManyExperts