In Rainbows

[motorollin]

Just finished listening to Radiohead's latest album, In Rainbows. All I can say is, it's stunning. It's not quite what I was hoping for (more of Kid A/Amnesiac) but that is not surprising if you listen to Hail To The Thief. Actually, I'm just listening again and there is a very Kid A feel to some of the tracks (namely Bodysnatchers).

I can't really understand any of the lyrics yet, but that will come with time - I'm used to that after listening to Radiohead for 8 years :lol: According to Thom, "[In Rainbows is] about that anonymous fear thing, sitting in traffic, thinking, 'I'm sure I'm supposed to be doing something else'... it's similar to OK Computer in a way". This is promising - I always liked the feel of OK Computer.

By the way, this is the album which is currently download only, and bizarrely you pay whatever you want for it. I have no idea whether they are trying to make a point, or whether it is some kind of experiment, but it definitely does make you think about how much you really value music. I paid a fiver and thought this was fair considering there is no way to hear the tracks beforehand, and I intend to buy a "hard copy" when the CD is released later. I would have paid more for it had the CD option not been available. Call me old fashioned, but I still prefer to buy my music on CDs.

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moto

[motorollin]

Anthomatic wrote:
I looked at the download website but couldn't decide if I wanted a new Radiohead album or not, for any price! :-)

Don't get me wrong; the earlier stuff they did was awesome (Pablo Honey, The Bends) but the later material had me skipping tracks. (Music going backwards and Thom moaning on about something or other...)

Post OK Computer Radiohead takes a *lot* of getting used to. Persevere through those tracks that you can't bring yourself to listen to all the way through and you'll grow to love them when you discover their hidden beauty. And by the way, I hated Pablo Honey - so clearly our Radiohead taste is inverse :-)

Anthomatic wrote:
Anyway, what happens when you finish the download? What exactly do you get? Tracks in MP3 format that are locked to your computer so they can't be copied? I agree it's an unusual approach to release an album with!

They're just MP3s. No DRM.

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moto

[motorollin]

Wain wrote:

Call me old fashioned, but I still prefer to buy my music on CDs.

Agreed, I like having something tangible, especially when it's got a whole album package to help add to some aspect to the feel of the music or whatever.  I like having a physical library that I or my friends can look over (of music, books, and movies for that matter).  I'm less inspired/excited when I'm clicking on track names on my screen.

I really like Thom's artwork actually, which is another good reason for buying Radiohead albums :-)

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moto

[motorollin]

Wain wrote:
I also really like the idea that somebody put real thought into what tracks are present and track order to create a complete, comprehensive work....that starts to be abandoned to the wayside when it's dumped into my massive collection of MP3's for the most part

Good point. There are only 10 tracks on In Rainbows, coming to a total of about 42 minutes. So they haven't fallen in to the trap of dumping a load of crap songs in to the collection. Every song on In Rainbows is great.

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moto

[motorollin]

Why?

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moto

[motorollin]

Speelgoedmannetje wrote:
I always preferred vinyl to cd's.
The sound's more 'close'.
The same can be said about music-dvd's. You immediately hear the difference, even the most untrained ears.

But I thought anything higher than CD quality was supposed to be indistinguishable from CD audio? (at least by the human ear)

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moto

[motorollin]

Hmmm, might have to try to get hold of a DVD Audio version of a CD I already own and compare it. Assuming I have anything which will play it of course...

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moto

[motorollin]

Maybe that's why it hasn't taken off - cos nobody can afford the equipment :roll:

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moto

[motorollin]

Just out of interest I have just checked on Amazon for vinyl versions of some of the albums I have in my collection. They are so expensive! I know vinyl is thought to have a tonal quality which can't be matched by CDs, but even so I can't justify spending nearly three times the amount on a vinyl copy. Besides, why can't an amplifier approximate the sound of vinyl using some kind of effect?

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moto

[motorollin]

No, but you can make up new ones :-) I'm not really familiar with the sound of vinyl, being a child of the digital age, but I'm led to believe that vinyl has a more "warm" sound compared to the "cold" sound of digital audio. So again, why can't DSP on a CD player approximate that quality?

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moto

[motorollin]

adz wrote:
Simply because a turntable is an analogue device, you hear everything that is pressed into the vinyl. Best way I could describe it is like comparing a sign wave to a bar graph. Sure the bar graph can follow the curves of the sign wave, but you loose the smoothness in the process.

That makes it very clear - thanks! Surely this is a matter of "resolution" though? Make the "bars" on the "bar graph" narrower (and more of them) and the digital representation of the wave, and would therefore sound closer to the vinyl version. Right? And I guess that's roughly how DVD audio works?

adz wrote:
As cassette tapes did away with vinyl and CD's did away with cassette tapes, you are in a prime position to see it all happening again as compressed audio and NVRAM take the place of CD's. Its not audio quality that the mass market wants, its convenience.

Shame! And you're making me want to buy a turntable and find out for myself how it sounds :-)

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moto

[motorollin]

Getting back to In Rainbows for a moment, I must make sure I don't listen to it on public transport again. I listened carefully to "Nude" on the train this morning and it made me cry. Quite embarrassing :lol:

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moto

[motorollin]

:lol: It's ok, there was no flood of tears. I was in the Quiet Zone after all.

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moto

[motorollin]

adz wrote:
Pull yourself together man...For gods sake, your British! :lol:

Yes, but I have an excuse ;-)

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moto

[motorollin]

Keep your hands where I can see them... ;-)

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moto