Man of War

Not me, obviously. Personally, I avoid all sorts of violence unless I’m absolutely sure that I’m going to come out both victorious and unscathed. And those conditions are so rarely guaranteed that I’m basically deeply into self-pacifism these days.

No, I’m referring to the new Radiohead video, of course. From the ever so good new album, which I have really been enjoying, and is already in my top 4 albums for 2017*.

There seems to be some confusion as to what exactly this video is meant to be telling us. No-one seems very sure and everyone is taking a different message from it.
I am also confused as to what exactly is going on. Some sort of descent into anxiety, paranoia and madness? And when he falls over on the railway tracks [spoiler – he falls over on some railway tracks, by the way] is that him taking his medication, with calming, but transient results?

Or is it merely a reminder that otherwise apparently normal places can get much, much spookier when night falls, just like Bergvliet does (especially on Fridays)?

Yes. “Bergvliet is flippin’ terrifying in the dark”. I think that’s actually the message they are trying to get across here.

 

* Current other three contenders at this point (in no particular order):
Elbow – Little Fictions
Future Islands – The Far Field
a-ha – As yet untitled acoustic release, Nov/Dec

20 years of OK Computer

It’s twenty years to the day since Oxford band Radiohead released OK Computer.

I lived in Oxford back then, and the local HMV on Cornmarket Street opened at midnight for Radiohead fans to buy the album before anyone else in the UK got the chance – no mp3s or downloads back in those days, remember.

And yes, I was looking forward to the release, but wasn’t a HUGE fan, so I wasn’t planning on heading into town. But then, finding myself still awake at the witching hour, thought “why not?”, jumped on a bike and hit the High Street.
I was only just in time. The crowds (such as they were) had gone (it doesn’t take long for 50 people to each buy a CD), and the staff were about to close up, but a friendly guy let me in just before locking the door, and I got my CD and my free poster (woo!).

The album was definitely one of the best releases of the 1990s and has aged really well. And yes, the CD is still somewhere safely boxed up in my loft. The poster never made it out of the damp Cowley Road flat we lived in though, and even the branch of HMV succumbed to the pressures of the modern retail environment and closed in 2014.

Favourite track? I liked all of it, but the slower stuff hit home more for me – No Surprises, Exit Music (For A Film) and of course Karma Policeas mentioned here.