« Do health sciences professors really prefer George Bush? | Main | Why is American food getting spicier? »
Me on NPR on Radiohead
Here is the link. Over the last week I went back and listened to their major works again; I'm not that impressed. Try Christopher O'Riley's album of piano arrangements, and you will see just how thin and unmemorable their compositions are. Admittedly not all great music would transfer well to the piano, but the Radiohead "sound" isn't that original either, at least not compared to the frontiers of electronica or for that matter punk. This morning I put on Boris's Pink; it is hardly my favorite album but it was a welcome relief.
Posted by Tyler Cowen on October 8, 2007 at 11:25 AM in Music | Permalink
Comments
I assume you're just trying to provoke people with that post. I will also assume that you've seen neither of the aforementioned bands live.
Posted by: Mark at Oct 8, 2007 12:19:05 PM
You made quite a few claims about behavior that I find interesting.
1) People donate less over time in repeated interactions.
2) People who are asked to donate in repeated interactions eventually feel overwhelmed by the process.
Can you point me to a few cites about this sort of thing.
Posted by: GoodneesOfFit at Oct 8, 2007 12:41:41 PM
Agreed with Mark that you are just trying to provoke people. Personally, I would posit that very little of the progress in modern music--popular or otherwise--is visible in the paper arrangement.
Posted by: db at Oct 8, 2007 12:52:03 PM
blasphemous.
Posted by: erin at Oct 8, 2007 12:58:15 PM
You have just lost a reader.
Posted by: Jeff Westcott at Oct 8, 2007 12:59:33 PM
you're judging a band based on some guy's classical music arrangement? well we better throw out every dylan song that has been remixed and made worse as well...
Posted by: p at Oct 8, 2007 1:03:14 PM
What? You don't share my musical preferences? I am outraged sir!
Oh, and you're wrong about the complexity/composition thing. Sure, when you strip the music down to one element and play it on the piano, it doesn't sound that complex. Big deal, it's still good. It's the arrangement that is key, not just the composition of part of a song.
Posted by: D. Greene at Oct 8, 2007 1:11:42 PM
Pink is a good album. I am psyched to have Boris tickets for this Sunday. But, "De gustibus non est disputandum". Boris isn't particularly original and doesn't have particularly memorable compositions.
Posted by: joeo at Oct 8, 2007 1:13:19 PM
Pink is a good album. I am psyched to have Boris tickets for this Sunday. But, "De gustibus non est disputandum". Boris isn't particularly original and doesn't have particularly memorable compositions.
Posted by: joeo at Oct 8, 2007 1:13:47 PM
I was a big fan of Amnesiac a few years ago, but I can't really bring myself to listen to it anymore. I'm not sure if I'll bother with the new album.
Posted by: Lee at Oct 8, 2007 1:25:56 PM
Oh, and Cowen, you're right about the internet not being a substitute for labels. For now.
Posted by: D. Greene at Oct 8, 2007 1:26:22 PM
I've never been much of a Radiohead fan, but I do enjoy Easy Star All-Stars covers of them.
Check out 'Radiodread'
http://www.amazon.com/Radiodread-Easy-Star-All-Stars/dp/B000GUJZ5K
They also do a cover of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon album, named of course 'Dub Side of the Moon'.
Posted by: Bob McWhirter at Oct 8, 2007 1:31:28 PM
Perhaps Radiohead is equally as unimpressed with Tyler, seeing that they're avid promoters of Naomi Klein.
Posted by: Trent at Oct 8, 2007 1:39:33 PM
I like Boris, but don't imagine that most of their stuff would sound like much on the piano because drone metal is mainly defined by texture and volume. Boris is a pretty versatile band (especially on Pink) but drone is basically their bread and butter. Indeed the band name is a reference to a Melvins song that is considered one of that genre's founding documents.
Posted by: steve at Oct 8, 2007 1:40:05 PM
Another reason why people might pay a higher amount for the new album is the reason I plan on paying more than $5-10: over the years I've downloaded a couple of their albums for free, and this is a nice way to give back to the band for those without having most of the money lost in the slush of middle management.
And yeah, Radiohead rocks, Tyler's totally wrong about them, yada yada.
Posted by: nate at Oct 8, 2007 2:09:00 PM
Christopher O'Riley made the same kind of mistake with his Elliott Smith covers on piano-- there's just something unique about hearing Elliott's voice that makes the piano tribute 1-dimensional.
A few of the good one's on "True Love Waits": Let Down, Karma Police.
Posted by: Dan at Oct 8, 2007 2:59:58 PM
I second O'Riley's version of Let Down. Perfect wedding song.
Posted by: Trent at Oct 8, 2007 3:01:55 PM
you will see just how thin and unmemorable their compositions areThey're a rock band, of course their compositions are thin and unmemorable.
Their performances (live or otherwise) may be much better, but that's something completely different, as many people are failing to grasp.
Posted by: Bob Montgomery at Oct 8, 2007 3:32:27 PM
Okay, making your credibility as a cultural critic disappear is enough, but what else can you show me?
Posted by: Bob at Oct 8, 2007 3:49:48 PM
I agree with Tyler. Raidohead is just not that good. Unlike Dylan or someone like Tom Petty, the "fullness" of their music is their supposed hook. If it were truly good, it would go to the classical format nicely.
Listen to Metallica or Led Zepplin or even Coldplay on strings and you'll see what I mean.
Posted by: dave smith at Oct 8, 2007 3:55:24 PM
Would love a post on the best electronica CDs.
Posted by: Yogesh at Oct 8, 2007 4:08:47 PM
I'm partial to the "Rock-a-bye Baby" versions of Radiohead songs:
Posted by: ryan israelsen at Oct 8, 2007 4:13:33 PM
The classical music translation is meaningless - it's expensive muzac, whatever the source. Try listening to a classical-style rendition of Robert Johnson 12-bar blues and it will be thin and unmemorable. The same would be true of 'Born to Run' or 'Wouldn't It Be Nice', both of which are stunning songs.
Posted by: Nick at Oct 8, 2007 4:24:15 PM
An offbeat suggestion, but electronic music is always best experienced with a little bit of chemical stimulation. Its the only way you can really separate and place all of the sounds and textures that are happening in a lot of radiohead-esque music.
It really does make it more enjoyable.
Posted by: Perry at Oct 8, 2007 5:04:27 PM
This is an incredibly stupid post. Are you going to tell us The Wall isn't any good because it didn't translate make a good bluegrass cover?
Posted by: eriks at Oct 8, 2007 5:10:23 PM
