After a rather verbose blog entry, I figure it would be nice to have something to look at on this fledgling blog of mine. It's probably safe to say that Radiohead has played a significant role in my life. I'm sure at some point you will see some sort of elaborate discourse about their music on this site. Today however, I just wanted to share with you two of my all time favorite Radiohead performances. These took place on Saturday Night Live around the same time Kid A was released (around 2000), the kind of venue where great performances rarely take place. The two videos are The National Anthem and Idioteque, two rather avant-garde tracks from a truly mind blowing album. As you watch, you kind of get the impression that people in the audience who were unfamiliar with Radiohead were thinking, "have these guys gone absolutely mad?" Given the nature of Kid A, people familiar with the band were probably thinking the same thing. Anyway, if you are a Radiohead fan, and you don't get the chills watching these performances, then you are not human. If you haven't seen a video of Radiohead performing before, well let me warn you that Thom Yorke sort of gets into his music a little bit. Notice Johnny Greenwood playing the ondes martenot on The National Anthem. One of the first electronic instruments ever made. It is all very impressive stuff.
One more thing before you watch (unless you've already done that). A bit of Radiohead trivia, since you'll be watching Idioteque. The band used a sample from a piece called Mild und Leise, composed by Paul Lansky. The recording was done in 1973 and was the first piece of music ever composed by a computer. If you know a little bit about Radiohead's music, this is really quite significant. You should be able to find the sample used on Idioteque in the first minute of the piece. Have a quick listen, it is pretty awesome.
Enjoy the videos. The National Anthem gets cut a bit short at the end. My apologies.
2 comments:
Oh that's nice...
That tickles me in a way that if Loretta tickled me in that way I'd say, "that's nice... that's the spot"
At least it is true that Thom Yorke(y) is haunted.
Pingree... love the blog. So glad to see this and looking forward to plenty of radiohead, school, UK, etc posts to come.
How cool is the sample of Mild und Leise? Is it just me, or does Jonny's There Will Be Blood compositions sound kinda similar to it too?
Maybe you could do a philosophical proof showing that Jonny really isn't human on the blog sometime.
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