Radiohead "In Rainbows"

Checked out the new Radiohead "In Rainbows", which is kind of out this week. They did some pre-release of the mp3 files and then they'll have the actually CD out in december or january. The version I got came with a "bonus CD" that has some live versions of the stuff on the actual release. I heard some people complaining about the bit rate on the files earlier this week, so I was expecting some pretty crappy quality (less than 128 kbps). But I think its relatively decent (160 kbps).

I liked "In Rainbows" a lot. It sounds kind of like Kid A at times, although it may not be as electronic -- lots of guitars (electric and acoustic) mixed in as well. So I guess its kind of like the stuff they did on "Hail to the Thief" or "OK Computer" before they went more electronic. There are 10 songs on the release. I listened to the whole thing without skipping anything. Some of the songs are more uptempo ( e.g., 15 Step and Bodysnatchers), while others a little slower and more mellow (e.g., Nude, All I Need, Faust Arp) and the rest being somewhere in between (e.g., House of Card, Reckoner). I'd say the vibe probably leans more to the mellow side, but its not sappy or anything like that.

I can't say that I dislike anything on this. The songs are really solid. If I had to pick favourites I'd have to say that I like Nude and Jigsaw Falling Into Place quite a bit.

The bonus CD is basically live versions and I think a demo or two of the songs that are on the CD. They don't have multiple versions of songs or anything like that, basically just a live performance of everything on the CD. The bit rate on these wasn't as good as the actually CD and because these are live recordings the sound quality varies quite a bit from track to track. I guess these give you sense of how the tunes evolved because some of the songs date back to june 2006.

Overall, this is really solid release. Radiohead delivered the goods (again). This is worth checking out.