Topics are running a little thin right now, since I don't really feel qualified to talk about earthquakes. So today, Kurt talks again about the music that shaped his life.
Radiohead
Kid A
Full disclosure, this is not my favorite Radiohead album. I picked up Kid A on a lark during my... erm... sophomore year of college(?). I had actually gone to Wal-Mart with the intention of buying OK Computer, but they didn't have it and--not wanting to leave empty handed--I purchase this instead. I took it back to my room, I listened to it, I absorbed it, I didn't get it.
But I kinda wanted to hear it again.
Kid A is one of those records that dares you to hate it and then welcomes you back for seeing past its rough edges. It doesn't flirt, it doesn't tease; it simply is what it is and does what it does and if you can get on that wave, then it is nothing less than a warm blanket on a cold day.
I found this at a time when I was getting sick of rock-and-roll. I'd been firmly reared on alternative and grunge and classic rock. I worshipped at the altar of Van Halen and could recite the Tao of Nirvana from memory. But music had abandoned my heroes, slumming it with Brittney and SELECT * FROM BoyBands (code humor... sorry). And frankly even rock had grown dull. I needed something more fulfilling than the latest Green Day single.
Kid A delivered. It confused and enticed me with its blend of blips, beats, and brass. The closest thing to a pop song on the record is Idioteque, buried eight tracks deep--a song confident enough to go ten measures without anything but distorted drums. I listened to it over and over, and every time it seemed to make just a little bit more sense, to drive the knife a few millimeters deeper.
Kid A got under my skin and introduced me to a band that would become one of my most beloved. It's not my favorite Radiohead record, but it's the one that popped my cherry--and you never quite forget your first love.
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