Urk's Afternoon Tea Album Review: Kid A

On Today's Installment...
Artist: Radiohead
Album: Kid A
Year: 2000

The album opens with Everything In Its Right Place, and the crescendo to "There are two colors in my head" is pretty much brilliant electronica/hipster bullshit. Kid A sounds like a creepy distorted Rugrats theme, which is also somehow catchy. Although the contrast between the speaking rhythm and the music beat is jarring at times, I feel this is a necessary component to the collection of contrasts on the album. Next, the bassline of The National Anthem blows me right away. This song manages to be earthy (brassy and bass-y) and spaceage at the same time. Thom wails, "so alone," but I'm like, "yeah, right, it took quite a few musicians to make that song." Then, How to Disappear Completely gives me thoughts of "Ceci n'est pas une pipe." Thom's listing words but apparently it's not real/doesn't exist, so I'm not sure what is really going on. True story. Treefingers speaks to me and it says, "Yes, you are here, experiencing this now." The next song, Optimistic, almost sounds like Radiohead. I'm impressed. With In Limbo I find it eerie to be told, "You're living in a fantasy world," over layers of spacey electronic sounds. I approve. Idioteque is the most upbeat song on the album, although the lyrics aren't any less depressing. I, too, laugh until my head comes off. It's like, now I'm being assured that this is really happening, but can I trust this narrator? Probably not. This song is a personal favorite. The transition to Morning Bell is perfect, and Morning Bell conveys a plethora of emotions. I appreciate the ability to go from joyous/loud to creepy/quiet. Finally, Motion Picture Soundtrack is what it says it is. Overall, this album assures us of the randomness of our universe, but also of its beauty.