Radiohead's New Single: Reaction to 'Lotus Flower'

So, here it is. Radiohead's first new album-bound material since 2007's In Rainbows, one day ahead of schedule, just six days after it was announced. Difficult bastards.

On first listen, it seems pretty much what was expected. A snaking, bassy intro is eventually met by Thom Yorke's meek, patient vocal while Kid A synths wobble and whirr. 'Lotus Flower' is incredibly deliberate; you get the feeling that every lingering bass note, every echo-tracked vocal has been surgically prepared rather than bound together with double-sided tape and willpower.

Though the album's electronic intelligence references Kid A and Amnesiac heavily, it updates the sound to an extraordinary extent; those albums hardly sound outdated even today, but there is undeniable progress evident on this, the album's lead single. The relentless, swinging bass is reminiscent of the xx's more upbeat moments, if more pervasive, more aggressive.

All in all, this track is typical Radiohead, which is no bad thing. It's a smoother Hail to the Thief, a more adventurous In Rainbows, Ok Computer with a black cover.

Or that's how I see it. Why not let it 'slowly unfurl' for you, and tell me what you think?

Radiohead and Reasons to be Cheerful

Classic Radiohead; surprise the music world by announcing a new album at one week's notice and in a unique format. These guys could not be more cutting-edge if this album was built entirely from samples of Andy Gray laced with riotous Egyptian rhythms. As usual with Radiohead, we know very, very little of what to expect from 'The King of Limbs', announced this morning and due out this Saturday, the 19th February.

It will be release both as a £6 download and a luxury £30 download/vinyl/artwork package. Mmm...collectable.

This release is sure to spark massive interest; Radiohead fan site ateaseweb.com crashed when it published the story, and the alternative music press has been especially vocal; NME.com seems to be at least 75% Radiohead-centric, whilst Pitchfork, known to be somewhat partial to the Oxfordshire quintet (see below) will soon be a-frenzy with every last one of the Greenwood brothers' bodily functions.

10.0: Must be Radiohead
9.5-9.9: Great enough to play on your college radio set
9.0-9.4: Try playing this one on your guitar all night in your dorm room
8.5-8.9: The CD is pretty good but runs the risk of becoming mainstream
8.0-8.4: You should buy any green washed out retro t-shirts by this band
7.5-7.9: Good enough for maybe a sticker on your guitar case
7.0-7.4: Decent enough to talk about in the coffee shop
6.0-6.9: Needs more white guitarists with black-rimmed glasses
5.0-5.9: Might be good for a fratboy band, those neanderthals
4.0-4.9: Reviewer couldn't find any Cloves before writing and was angry
3.0-3.9: Too many unintelligent people might understand it
2.0-2.9: Curls up the ends of our bowl haircuts with shame
1.0-1.9: Did not cause a single tear to flow from our weepy eyes

0.0-0.9: That ain't Radiohead

Table quoted from here

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't massively excited myself- but as we know next to nothing about this release, it would be churlish to fawn just yet. Expect a review by Monday.

Gig Report- Second Impression @ The Bull & Gate

Back in April 2010, Second Impression were capable; if not quite rising stars, they certainly looked a touch more interested than the usual middle-aged Camdenite bottom-feeders you'd find playing small venues of a weekend in NW1. They had youth, enthusiasm, and most of all, melody backing them up. One year on, all three characteristics are more noticeable than ever.

Yesterday's setlist and stagecraft showed the nous of a band at least twice these teenagers' age. Newies were effortlessly weaved in amongst older crowd favourites with seamless ease; 'In The Night' in particular stood out, all Biffy Clyro guitars and meteoric drums. Those aforementioned favourites were as well received as ever; opener 'Arrows' still sounds like a tragically neglected single from 'Silent Alarm', while the bass-heavy throb of 'Lilacs' evokes 'By The Way'-era Red Hot Chilis.

Don't be fooled by the tried-and-tested influences; Second Impression are a band with ideas. The phenomenally powerful rhythm section would drown most any other songwriters around; the fact that dual guitarists Jovis Lane and Alex Gorokhov can whip such needle-sharp, strong guitars over the explosive beats of Charlie Bostock and Marco Gaspari shows significant musical sensibility. Coupled with this much chemistry and energy, that makes for stunning, exciting music.

"This is easy pop for happy people" spat lead vocalist and guitarist Lane, "as some fucking reviewer called us. If you like Scouting For Girls you'll love this". On Saturday's evidence, these hot prospects will be looking a little beyond soundtracking low-IQ cretins' heartbreaks.

New Strokes Material Comes to Light!

Today saw the unveiling on Amazon.com of the first taste of the Strokes' New Album, 'Angles' due for a March 21 release. With The Strokes' relatively modest-cum-totally-fanatical fanbase frantic for a first hint at new material in over five years (during which the New Yorkers have played not one new song), this taster has to be big. It has to have all the dirty, slick-garage stylings of Is This It, along with that album's effortlessly emotive, ruminative, urban choruses.

On first (and grainy and truncated) listen, lead single 'Under Cover of Darkness''s sound falls somewhere between Is This It and Room On Fire, coming off as a Carribean cousin of 'Hard to Explain', complete with low-slung bass and ska-lite guitars. As ever with The Strokes, production will be a divisive issue- if this sample is representative of the end-product, the album will be a lo-fi affair. It's unclear from this tiny snippet whether the album will go down the "charming underground masterpiece" or "obscurist crash-and-burn" route. For now, however, the world of alternative music still awaits the return of its coolest prodigal sons.

Have a listen here and tell me what you think