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New Radiohead Album Even Better in This Order
Radiohead – A Moon Shaped Pool
XL Recordings, 2016
Produced by Nigel Godrich and Radiohead
This was a cool little release not a lot of people saw coming. Fans assumed the band were in the studio but were surprised nonetheless by a cryptic “Burn the Witch” leaflet this month, followed by the anti-viral meltdown of Radiohead’s social media presence and a website that slowly faded into transparency. With all eyes upon them Radiohead sneaked out two new videos within as many days and released their 9th record A Moon Shaped Pool. The band didn’t even release the title in advance. Bam!
I’m not so sure you should trust any review written within two days of a record release, but welcome to the internet. I think I can drop a little science.
First off, anyone looking for sequels to OK Computer or The Bends is barking up the wrong tree. With some variation, Radiohead found a sound in the less electronic moments of Kid A they continued to hone on every record that came after, including A Moon Shaped Pool. Here they incorporate a little more of the string department in the form of acoustic guitars and the London Contemporary Orchestra.
“I was afraid it was gonna be a bunch of blips and bleeps,” a friend said to me. It’s not, but “it certainly won’t make my running mix,” he added.
“Distance. It’s like a weapon of self defense against the present tense.” – Present Tense
The band, as usual, coalesces around the material adding complicated pieces to puzzles built on seemingly sparse ideas. They get just as weird as they want to, even if it competes for attention with some masterful melodies. “True Love Waits,” for example, and “Daydreaming” are as melodic and beautiful as the band’s best work while incorporating some real musical exploration, sometimes happily over the line. There isn’t a song on this record that isn’t exploring.
I gotta admit I liked the record more after I changed the running order. I know that’s probably sacrilege, but the original is in alphabetical order, which I found a little weird, and maybe just knowing that altered my perception of the pacing. Maybe one day I’ll go back to the original, but I’ve got it right where I want it now. My version doesn’t start with “Burn the Witch.” I think it sets the wrong pace for the record and belongs somewhere in the middle. Holy shit, who cares what I think?
Track two is the six and a half minute pastoral “Daydreaming.” Yorke’s phrasing is effortless and genius here and on the darkly brooding “Decks Dark” a song I’d open the record with. Hell, I’ll just put my order below when I list the tracks. You twisted my arm.
Johnny Greenwood’s orchestral fingerprints abound, hinting at his night job scoring film, probably nowhere as expertly as “The Numbers,” “Glass Eyes,” and the looming and meandering “Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor Rich Man Poor Man Beggar Man Thief.”
“I’m not living, I’m just killing time. Your tiny hands. Your crazy kitten smile.” -True Love Waits
There’s speculation a recent separation colored Yorke’s tone on this record. You can almost hear it in the pangs of “True Love Waits,” a song fans may remember from the early days. “I’m not living, I’m just killing time,” Yorke sings, turning the knife. There’s a similar sadness in the fading sunlight of “Present Tense” where Yorke laments “in you I’m lost.”
A Moon Shaped Pool is not a party record. Its a breakup record with hints of anxiety strung like patio lights across yards of regret. It’s a deep and sad but beautiful record that makes you pay attention to your own breath. Your own place on the subway platform. Isn’t that why we love Radiohead?
Original Tracklisting
- Burn the Witch
- Daydreaming
- Decks Dark
- Desert Island Disk
- Ful Stop
- Glass Eyes
- Identikit
- The Numbers
- Present Tense
- Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor Rich Man Poor Man Beggar Man Thief
- True Love Waits
My Track Listing
- Decks Dark
- Ful Stop
- Daydreaming
- Identikit
- Present Tense
- Burn the Witch
- Glass Eyes
- Desert Island Disk
- The Numbers
- Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor Rich Man Poor Man Beggar Man Thief
- True Love Waits
Almost every year for the past 6 years and on the same day, I’ve posted the same pic of me in the hospital during my temporary and untimely demise in 2015. A few weeks after I was back to “normal”, I asked Eric “Why’d you take the pics?” And he said, “I knew you would want to write about it if you lived.” Eric was right. Eric was often right and Eric always had my best interest at heart. I am going to miss my friend.
You ever meet someone and become friends immediately?! Well this was not the case with Eric. Before he was my manager at Morgan Stanley, I would often see this 6’4″, giant white guy walk up to the only black woman at work, say something then walk away without any hint of human emotion. Naturally I thought he was a jerk until I asked her “Yo, is that dude bothering you?” She laughed and proceeded to tell me he was a great person, which I ultimately got to experience first hand. Little did I know this Italian from Staten Island was more Brooklyn than most Brooklynites.
Eric was not with the shits!! If there were ever someone who lived their life in direct, honest and no uncertain terms, that would be Eric. He would ask me questions at work like “Why are the other consultants making more money than you?” I knew the answer to that question and so did he. Eric then proceeded to increase my salary by 15K. After arguing with all our managers that “You need to hire Alfred!”, they eventually did 1 year prior to the 2015 incident. In the hospital, one of my friends asked me, “What if you didn’t have health insurance when this happened?” I would be in debt for the rest of my life is the obvious answer. I still am in debt for the rest of my life but at least, it is to those who made sure I had a more enjoyable life and for that, I will gladly repay.
My mom loved to tell me the story of how she met Eric. After they told her I was going to be in the ICU for some time, she told the doctor “Well I’m not going anywhere.” She then hears a voice from that back of the room that says “Well I’m not going anywhere either!” That was Eric and in true form, he was at that hospital every single day until I was discharged.
Eric passed away in December 2021 of stage 4 cancer. After feeling faint on his way to my bbq, he went to get checked out and was diagnosed. During the past 5 years, Eric lost his mom, twin brother and dad. I can’t even begin to imagine what that must have felt like but I’m glad that pain he was feeling is no more.
From being my manager to my business partner, writer, book editor, artistic director, and most importantly, my friend, I am going to miss you MC Krispy E a.k.a “Enrique Pollazo!” And although you told me Enrique means Henry in Spanish and not Eric, it was too late!
Sidebar. The day I was discharged, while everyone was deciding what was best for me, no one had remembered that I would need clothes in order to leave the hospital. Eric shows up (unasked) with all the clothes I had on the day I coded, laundered and ready to go. I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve friends like this but i need to keep doing it! Sidebar complete.
Rest in Peace Eric. “Be Good.”
I had the distinct pleasure of participating in a panel discussion on writing your first book, presented by the Harlem chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. Alongside Jim St. Germain, Author – A Stone of Hope: A Memoir and Dr. Keneshia Nicole Grant, Author – The Great Migration and the Democratic Party: Black Voters and the Realignment of American Politics in the 20th Century. We opined on pain points, benefits and strategies regarding our inaugural voyages into authorship. Feel free to watch for your self and I hope this provides some insight to all those looking to make the same voyage. Enjoy!
