In Rainbows Reviews

I'm not a music critic - I know, feign shock - but I know what I like (and yes I like what I know), and after one full listen through on my way to work this morning I know I'm (predictably) gonna love In Rainbows. The track that had me instantly hitting repeat was the second-to-last one called "Jigsaw Falling Into Place" - and of course "Videotape," but that ones been stuck in my head since Thom released a live version months and months ago - but everything's sounding to my ears like classic Radiohead, i.e. the sounds Thom Yorke pulls out of my muddled head and turns into beautiful song.

Thankfully ateaseweb collected a few of the early reviews from actual critics who know how to write about music, and I'm pasting them here since ateaseweb is being a bitch to load today (wonder why):

Radiohead’s ‘In Rainbows’ is now available for download. The first emails with an activation code to download the 10 new tracks were received around 7am (UK time). The first reviews of ‘In Rainbows’ are coming in.

The Times: “In Rainbows compounds their stance. In time you’ll scoot to your favourites on In Rainbows – in particular, the baroque fever-folk of Faust Arp is just, when it all comes down, an endlessly repeatable treat – but taken as a whole, In Rainbows adheres to a loose musical narrative of its own. […] All I Need, which lobs another relatively direct Yorke lyric into sonic waters that appear to meander by the Get Carter soundtrack. Listen once and you’re unsure. Listen twice, knowing that, three minutes in, a plangent pounding piano leads you out into a snowblind crescendo of melodic light and, you’re excited before you even get there. Quite how it all ranks alongside other Radiohead albums.” - The Times gave the album 4 stars out of 5 and ironically added Parlophone as the record label.

InTheNews: “In Rainbows is Radiohead’s most successful attempt to evoke their distinctively edgy atmosphere. Where the band have had a tendency to veer into the ridiculous on occasions – Pyramid Song comes to mind – their seventh album is sublime in its mood-setting achievement. Subtlety is at the heart of its success. […] A greater reliance on crystal-clear strings, seen fleetingly on Kid A, creates a welcome sense of fragility. But it is the overriding feeling of muted dread which creates the album’s dominant, and scintillating, tension. This is Radiohead’s triumph. - Rating: 9/10

Gigwise: Markedly more immediate than their last record, it’s a startling album that, at times, borrows from their previous records, but forever looks forward. Even after these initial listens, it’s clear that this album will stand the test of time. - Gigwise have a track by track review online.

Uncut: “In Rainbows”, as you’re probably aware yourself by now, is a more stripped-down record (record? There’s an error from me for a start) than some of its predecessors. Yorke’s voice still has plenty of reverb on it at times, but there’s generally less of what Stephen Malkmus once described to me as the “Nigel Godrich swoosh”, less of a general blurry ambience.

The instruments sound clearer and more definable, from Jonny Greenwood’s lovely guitar playing (seemingly through a distorted practice amp on “Bodysnatchers”) to the nimble breaks that Phil Selway plays frequently.

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