Comments on: Everybody Be Cool: Pitchfork Still Hearts Radiohead

By: eulogy grandmother

eulogy grandmother — Fri, 14 May 2010 01:56:05 +0000

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By: sparkletone

sparkletone — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 13:28:29 +0000

No, no! I’ve been misunderstood. DiCrescenzo’s initial Kid A review IS obnoxiously written! However, compared to the … highlights? … of his time at Pitchfork, it doesn’t rate with the truly weird and awful ones.

By: moulty

moulty — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 22:52:57 +0000

@Bruno the Fishing Dog: the new Crystal Wolvvvz EP Haha that's great.

By: k-rex

k-rex — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 19:14:19 +0000

“everything from production to arrangements to lyrics to album art were carefully crafted towards a unified purpose”
This is why Radiohead, by way of their superfans, are so annoying. There is a huge, huge chasm between “carefully crafted” and “lots of cool sounding overdubs and studio wankery”. And Kid A is where Radiohead jumped straight from the one to the other. Sometimes (always?) random stuff thrown together is just random.

By: Bruno the Fishing Dog

Bruno the Fishing Dog — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 19:00:16 +0000

@iantenna: i kind of like what they're doing with that. there's an icon that differentiates it from an actual new release, and then it goes in the separate section on the front page for reissues. it used to be that some reissues would get 9s and 10s and then fall through the cracks while the new Crystal Wolvvvz EP or whatever sits on the front page for the world to see.

By: saturn

saturn — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 18:37:50 +0000

@ChrisB.: that was the best retraction ever.

By: krisskraft

krisskraft — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 18:11:11 +0000

Kid A and Amnesiac are both great. They could have released them together as a double album and there would have been no suffering in quality or importance.

It’s a shame that the band since hasn’t done much for which to sing praises. Come on, admit it, the best thing that can be said about “In Rainbows” is that it’s the band’s fifth best album.

And a bit off subject, but I wish Pfork would just stop complaining about Radiohead’s treatment by Capitol. The label allowed them full creative control to become the most influential and (arguably) greatest band of their generation; they helped land the band’s records debut at number one on billboard; they promoted in interesting ways that were respectful to their art; they basically financed the groundwork for the cottage industry that Radiohead will now rely on for the rest of their lives. I don’t know if I’ve actually heard Radiohead complain about Capitol, but Pfork needs to shut the fuck up about it. Their constant complaining sounds like your run-of-the-mill 90′s indie-kid bellyaching to me.

And if it comes down to the fact that Capitol released a box set of the albums and a “Best of”, then I have to advise the writers over there to grow up. Worsts offenses have been committed to the legacy of a band. Further to the point though, Capitol owns those records and can do whatever they want with them. Radiohead signed a contract, and I’m sure Capitol’s ownership of the masters were explicitly laid out in it. Anyway, I’m sure the band still sees a nice royalty rate from those sales too.

By: ChrisB.

ChrisB. — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 18:02:38 +0000

@ScrabbleChamp: It was less obnoxious because DiCrescenzo wasn't writing about a phony trek across Europe looking for a misplaced Radiohead show.

By: slowburn

slowburn — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 17:53:00 +0000

Incredible album. I had to put it away for a few years (I just didn’t want to feel that in-my-head for a brief period in my life) and when I came back to it it was such an extraordinary homecoming.

By: ScrabbleChamp

ScrabbleChamp — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 17:46:53 +0000

@sparkletone:

Sorry, what part of this isn’t obnoxious?:

“The butterscotch lamps along the walls of the tight city square bled upward into the cobalt sky, which seemed as strikingly artificial and perfect as a wizard’s cap. The staccato piano chords ascended repeatedly. “Black eyed angels swam at me,” Yorke sang like his dying words. “There was nothing to fear, nothing to hide.” The trained critical part of me marked the similarity to Coltrane’s “Ole.” The human part of me wept in awe.”

By: iantenna

iantenna — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 17:21:06 +0000

i don’t give half a shit about radiohead or this album, but could they please, pretty, pretty, please drop the “best new music” tag for reissues? it just looks fucking stupid.

By: relaxing

relaxing — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 17:16:38 +0000

@sparkletone: “Less obnoxious” should not be used to refer to any early P4k reviews — or anything penned by Brent DiCrescenzo, really. “Stomps like mating Tyrannosaurs”??

Bizarre new review. They usually ding re-releases when the majors flog their back catalogs with the addition of lousy bonus material. Seems more like this reviewer just wanted his own chance to fete the album in the hallowed pages of the Fork.

By: sparkletone

sparkletone — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 17:09:48 +0000

No one should be allowed to forget one of Brent DiCrescenzo’s less obnoxious (but still highly Pitchfork-stereotype-y) reviews, the original Kid A review:

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/6656-kid-a/

By: MayhemintheHood

MayhemintheHood — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 16:55:12 +0000

This kind of makes me want to check it out again, because as it stands now, Kid A was the point where I stopped listening to Radiohead.

By: fre2daa

fre2daa — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 16:45:08 +0000

I love both albums, but if I had to choose, it would be KID-A all the way. Beautiful and creepy all at the same time.

By: goldsounds

goldsounds — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 16:11:20 +0000

@mahkiavelli: Amnesiac is good, but I must firmly diagree. I’m not a stan for all things Radiohead, but it is seriously a massive “statement” album. Of all the directions they could have gone, they chose the one that still blows my mind while being extremely listenable. I can’t say that for “Packt Like Sardines…” and “Push/Pulk…”

By: NedRaggett

NedRaggett — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 16:11:15 +0000

As I muttered on Twitter, if Capitol really wanted to honor Kid A they should rerelease its tracks as a glitchy 128 kbps rip.

By: mahkiavelli

mahkiavelli — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 15:56:30 +0000

It’s good and all, but Amnesiac > Kid A.

By: cassidy2099

cassidy2099 — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 15:27:28 +0000

I can’t disagree. It still gets play from me all these years later. I can’t say the same for albums that came out six months ago.