Radiohead - The King of Limbs

My relationships with Radiohead albums vary a lot - some have been instant favourites, others slow-burn and some I've just never really got on board with. I became a Radiohead fan around the release of Kid A so they'd already begun their journey away from indie-guitar-music. Amnesiac I've always struggled with and Hail to the Thief required me to realise how great each of the individual songs were before I started to enjoy it (it was the first success of my old mp3 player, as a result of having my entire collection on shuffle). In Rainbows was hugely popular with myself and my friends - I have very fond memories of hearing nearly everyday on a holiday we went on in France, an instant hit.

The King of Limbs is up there with Amnesiac as an album I really struggle with. For me there are few really notable moments and when I look at the tracklisting I never think "that's a good/memorable song". Generally speaking, it's much more heavy on the electronica than I really care for, although I feel that as Radiohead fan you're not really allowed to complain about electronica. It's certainly the star of the album, more-so than Thom or any of the other band members - all the songs feature pops and clicks very prominently. Perhaps my lack of knowledge (or care) for the genre means I can't appreciate the songs as much; I'm sure I'm not the only Radiohead fan suffering from that.

Morning Mr Magpie has Thom nearly spitting the verses with anger but a surprisingly dull chorus - the highlight (for me) is when the electronica actually drops away for a few moments. Little by Little is quite good but Feral that follows it just feels half-formed and like filler - something you can't really afford to do on an 8-song album. Lotus Flower was the closest thing to a hit from the album if I remember correctly - I can certainly recall people raving about it. There's a more traditional Radiohead feel to it and it has a great chorus, but it's also very typical of the rest of the album. Codex is a bit of a surprise in that The King of Limbs could have easily been an album without a slow, reflective number; it's nice to have it though.

This copy is the deluxe edition that was available for pre-order. It was pricey but I was still on a In Rainbows-kick so was very excited for a new Radiohead album. The package is, as we've come to expect, lovely. It's hard to know where to begin - the records are on crystal-clear 10" vinyl, the newspaper is vast and detailed, there's a square thing of tiny art and the whole album on cd too. It's a very nice release indeed.

I don't listen to The King of Limbs often. As is often the case, I now feel I should do - it's still a good album, just not the sort of Radiohead album I often want to hear. However, if I'm not necessarily in the mood for Radiohead but want a good album, then it is definitely an interesting option.

Format: Double 10", cd, picture sleeves, newspaper, art, bag
Tracks: 8
Cost: £30 new
Bought: Website
When: 13/05/11
Colour: Clear
Etching: Side A: "Endless branches" Side B: "Uncountrollable" Side C: "A never ending mesh" Side D: "Intertwined in to everything"
mp3s: cd

James Blake - Retrograde

Strictly speaking, this record was a gift, but the reason for it was instantly clear. A few years ago just after Christmas my friend Hugh popped around to my parents' house on his way back to Cardiff to say hello. He gave me this 12" and I very quickly realised that he'd been give two copies of it for Christmas and was passing one on to me.

A couple of years before that I remember the name James Blake suddenly appearing everywhere; people were getting very excited about his music. On the surface it didn't seem like anything I'd enjoy but enough people were talking about it I figured I should have a listen. I played a song and it didn't do anything for me so I left it there. We went to Green Man that year and James Blake was playing quite high up the bill on one of the days. Hugh was very excited as he'd become a very big fan. I remember the set being notable only in how bland and boring it was. Even Hugh was disappointed. During the set he even made an ill-advised joke about Wales being as nice as England, which didn't go down well with the predominantly Welsh crowd.

Anyway, Hugh stayed a fan and clearly told at least two members of his family, who bought him this two-song, 12" single. Neither song has very much going for it. His voice is nice enough but the whole thing is too minimal for me. At a few points something happens that sounds like the song might be going somewhere, but then disappears as quickly as it appeared. I don't really know exactly how to classify the music of James Blake, but whatever it is, I'm not a fan.

Format: 12"
Tracks: 2
Cost: £0 new
Bought: Gift
When: 28/12/13
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: no

Mr Len - Pity the Fool [Promo]

This record cost £1. You can't argue with prices like that. Mr Len was in Company Flow with El-P but that's really all I know about him. The Matador Records stall at the Independent Label Market the first year I went was excellent (as I've mentioned a few times before) and in their bargain bin I found this promo 12" for the debut Mr Len solo album (a mere 12 years after the album came out). I enjoy a bit of hip-hop and the fact that Mr Len was in Co-Flow was enough to make me think it would be rude to not buy it.

The beats are pretty nice and the guest rappers each bring something different to the tracks. The b-side comprises instrumentals of three of the four songs on the a-side along with an untitled bonus track. Some of the instrumentals aren't quite so interesting without the vocals but are still pretty nice (albeit in a different way). The highlight of both sides for me is definitely Dummy Smacks, which works equally well with Chubb Rock and Mr Live as it does without them.

Format: 12"
Tracks: 8
Cost: £1 new
Bought: Independent Label Market
When: 13/07/13
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: no

The Smashing Pumpkins - Lull

This record has seen better days. The sleeve was water-damaged when I bought it but did mean that it was bargain £1 in the Oxfam Books and Records shop in Lancaster. I'd only just moved to Lancaster for university and was disappointed to find that the record shop in town had closed between my open-day and me arriving. The Oxfam shop had some interesting things on occasion but rarely anything brilliant (with the exception of a Centro-matic cd, which still seems quite out of place).

Whilst I wasn't that keen on buying a water-damaged record, for £1 it seemed more than worth it to hear three old Pumpkins songs I didn't know. Blue was on Pisces Iscariot, which I didn't have a copy of at that point, and a live version of Slunk was on Earphoria. This 12" remains the only place where I have a copy of the acoustic Bye June (although all of these songs feel like they should have found their way onto one of the many recent reissues). Despite the water-damage, the record itself is in perfect condition.

Very early Pumpkins isn't my favourite era, but I do really enjoy it. Rhinocerous and Blue are both great songs. Slunk has a slightly less finished feel to it, but I can imagine being excellent live at the time (I'm constantly floored by how good that band were live when I watch those old performances). Bye June is listed on the record as a demo, which makes me wonder how it would have sounded had it reappeared anywhere else with the rest of the band. It's a fine song.

Format: 12"
Tracks: 4
Cost: £1 second-hand
Bought: gig
When: 03/11/03
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: no

William Basinski - Melancholia

Like a lot of people, or so I assume, I first heard of William Basinski from hearing about The Disintegration Loops. The things I read about it made it sound really interesting and I was just beginning to get into new genres (for me) by the way of Max Richter's Infra, so I thought it might appeal to me. I've listened to sections of the 4-hours+ of music on those albums and enjoyed it. The cost of purchasing a (vinyl) copy has long been the thing putting me off getting any further into it.

A few years later I was in Manchester to see Neutral Milk Hotel and spent the afternoon record shopping. I found a few records I fancied in Piccadilly Records and this was one of them. At £20 it was a pricier purchase, but I figured I'd enjoy it. Plus, it was on Temporary Residence, which is a comforting sign of a good album. It's rare I chance £20 on such an unknown album, but I guess I was feeling adventurous.

I like Melancholia. It's gentle but somehow ponderous. I get a similar calming effect from it as I do Max Richter's recent Sleep album - the second it starts I begin to feel myself unwinding and relaxing, but it also keeps me alert. The piano builds some suspense, but not horror-suspense but just the feeling that you should aware that there is more going on. That feeling ebbs and flows throughout the 14 movements (each named with Roman numerals). I couldn't call out any highlights because I couldn't imagine not listening to the album as a whole.

My only complaint with the whole record is an annoyingly minor one - the labels on the records aren't stuck perfectly centrally, which means the needle hits them at the very end. It makes an amazingly unpleasant noise, which is not at all what you want after 20 minutes of very calming music. It's such a minor thing but does take away from the enjoyment of the record - either I remember and have to dart over to the turntable to lift the needle or I forget and get rudely awoken by the noise.

I really should check out more of William Basinski's work. The cds of The Disintegration Loops aren't hard to find and would probably get more play than the many LPs that work is spread over (although it is a very nice looking boxset). I imagine my collection will grow, but it's unlikely to be on vinyl, so you might not read much more about it on here.

Format: 12", gatefold sleeve
Tracks: 14
Cost: £20 new
Bought: Piccadilly Records, Manchester
When: 18/05/14
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: Download code

Mudhoney - On Top! KEXP Presents Mudhoney Live On Top of the Space Needle

I have far more live Mudhoney records than anyone really needs (and more live albums than actual albums). It all started with Live Mud in 2008 which really blew me away. On Record Store Day in 2014 I saw that Mudhoney were releasing another live album and I quite fancied a copy - I'd seen the band a couple of times and knew they were great live. I certainly hoped the new one would be as good as Live Mud.

The record is a recording of a very strange gig. Sub Pop and Mudhoney both turned 25 in 2013 and, in a mix of all things grunge/Seattle, they played a special show on top of the Space Needle to a very small crowd and broadcast live on a local radio station. I'm not sure I knew all those details when the release was announced, but I certainly like the idea. The live show isn't as good as Live Mud, but given the circumstances it's not that surprising. The set-list has some great songs (and less-enjoyable ones like Chardonnay) but the sound is thinner and a bit rougher (What to Do With the Neutral sounds particularly flat). Touch Me I'm Sick, I'm Now and Suck You Dry all sound pretty good.

Just one month later I found a copy of their live album from Third Man Studios in Rapture in Witney and bought it for two reasons - I was excited to finally have a Live at Third Man record (given that most of the bands they'd recorded do little for me) and because I felt that I had to buy something (and there really wasn't anything else particularly exciting). I think I now have all the live Mudhoney albums that I need, but you never know what's going to happen in the future. I should probably buy more of their actual albums before any more live records at least.

Format: 12", picture sleeve
Tracks: 10
Cost: £15 new
Bought: Truck Store, Oxford
When: 19/04/14
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: Download code