The Man and His Laptop
July 11th, 2006 | Posted by Shannon
I was really going to try to stop writing about Radiohead for a while. But today I find this impossible because today, Thom Yorke’s solo project The Eraser was released. Also, the new Muse record Black Holes and Revelations came out. So it was definitely one of those days where at exactly 4:30 P.M. I got into my car and headed to Tower Records where the sign on Sports Arena Boulevard said “New: Thom Yorke and Muse.” Holy cow, is the stuff I am listening to all of a sudden popular?
I can see why The Eraser is the sort of record many, many people want to run to the store on the day of release to buy. It’s been three years since Radiohead’s Hail to the Thief came out, and we are all hungry. Hungry for ANYTHING. Even if it turns out to be a bunch of electronic crap. But of course that did not happen; this is Thom Yorke we are talking about, after all. The Eraser is a beautiful record. It’s full of nuance, full of special moments. It’s one of those records that I will be listening to in my car for the fiftieth time and I will hear something new. There is a lot of the new Radiohead stuff I heard at the June shows here, in The Eraser. Not the actual songs, but certainly the sounds, and the feelings. Sweeping, lovely, sometimes funky, sometimes weird. Awesome.
I remember, oh how I remember, when Radiohead’s Kid A came out, how it totally blew the mind of so many people. How different it was, how groundbreaking. I think that record changed me. It changed my life, or maybe my life just happened to be changing at the same time. Whatever it was, it was earthshaking. And I remember the reviews: “where is the guitar?” The guitar was there the whole time, it was just a little more subtle.
The Eraser is like that. It’s different; it seems simple, but it’s very layered. I was almost as excited to buy the Eraser as I was to buy Kid A and Hail to the Thief, but I think in the end I willl listen to The Eraser way more than I do to Hail to the Thief. Kid A, of course, practically sleeps next to me.
Anyway. It’s an extraordinary achievement for Mr. Yorke. I love him more with each passing day, and I dreamed about him last night. He was the good guy in my dream, and Britt Daniel was the asshole. Britt Daniel was an asshole in my dream! It was awful. I want to have sex with Britt Daniel in my dreams, not hate him. Fucking dream. Dammit.
As for Muse’s new one. If Beethoven took fourteen hits of acid and decided to take up with Angus Young, it might be an indication of Muse’s sound. It’s not for everybody, but I love it. I have been listening too intently to The Eraser to give Black Holes and Revelations the time it deserves, but heck, it’s only been six hours. So I’ll start on that one tomorrow.
