05: Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool
2016 – XL
Day 05 of Album Month is here!, which means we’ve reached the
last album of the week! Why not end the first week with one of the
UK’s all time best bands ever, Radiohead?
Today I’m taking a dip into A Moon Shaped Pool.
Radiohead is a band that I had heard and seen a lot on MTV in my tween to
teen years, with “Karma Police”, “Paranoid Android”, and, of course, “Creep”
on regular rotation. Although I often watched when they came on and
apparently liked what I heard, it took me into the last half of the aughts to
really start my fandom of their music. (Many thanks to my fellow Tori Amos
fans for nudging me along that road. There are so many artists I have either
discovered or rediscovered through all of you, I can’t express my gratitude
enough.) Although I may not pore over interviews and articles the same way
I did when I was a teen or in my 20s, it doesn’t make me less of a fan.
I mean, I still love the music even if I am behind on hearing a lot of it in
general (not just Radiohead but soooooo many, even my favorite artists).
For those curious: My favorite Radiohead album is Kid A with In Rainbows a
very close second, and my favorite Radiohead song is currently “Reckoner”
and is always subject to change.
So now that you know a smidge of my Radiohead backstory…
As I stated in yesterday's blurb about Nine Inch Nails’ offering, Hesitation
Marks, with the ebb and flow of my life, some albums can take me some
time for me to really get to know and appreciate. I feel that with A Moon
Shaped Pool as well. It’s a fantastic album for sure, I just find it to be a
‘mood album’. What do I mean by that? It’s not exactly that you need to be
in a certain mood to listen to it, although that could be the case, it’s more that
it has a vibe that lends to a more introspective place. It’s also quite an
immersive album (get those headphones on or surround sound pumping!),
and, for myself, it’s something I would prefer to be able to focus on more
when listening as a whole to really experience it. I haven’t read up on the
album (I’m not sure why), but it feels like a story when I listen from start to
finish, and it feels like it would prefer it to be listened to and absorbed
in that way.
Opening with amazing and dark strings, “Burn the Witch” is a fantastic start
to the album and sets the tone quite well. It’s like an abrupt, ‘let’s throw you
right into it’ introduction, feeling like you stepped into the story a few
chapters in. “Ful Stop” is definitely a stand out track to me, as it feels like
a story within a story. Kind of like a flashback or dream sequence of sorts,
going through dimensions and feels all the way through until you start to
fade back into the main narrative of the album. Like I said, I haven’t read
up on the album at all (it was apparently a boat I missed but meant to be
on and time just zoomed by), so I could be on another planet here, but this
is my ‘review’ and so here we are. lol
The strings on this album are incredible, and I feel it’s most apparent in
“Glass Eyes”. In its barest, it's already a beautiful song, and the strings just
take to another level, threatening to break your heart. Achingly beautiful.
*chef’s kiss* This feeling comes back around with the book end,
“True Love Waits”, another gorgeous and stellar track. (I also must mention
the vocal melody line of “Identikit”. I’m always a sucker for lines like that.)
May I just take a moment to acknowledge the wonderful background vocals
and chorals on this album? Along with the aforementioned strings, they lend
such a haunting, almost lilting feel to the album. If it hasn’t already (I’m
pathetically behind on the times so I genuinely have no idea),
A Moon Shaped Pool needs to be performed in full with an orchestra
and choral backings. Seriously. It needs to happen.
There are a lot of layers in this album, so I definitely stress the
headphones or immersive ‘it’s like watching a movie in the theater but
it’s listening to an album’ experience when you listen. I think it will truly
help the appreciation and connection side of things to just let yourself
get lost in it when you can. I don’t have a favorite song on this album as
of yet (although I do tend to double check the song titles when I hear
“Daydreaming”, “Decks Dark”, and a couple of the ones already mentioned),
but I think that’s okay. I’m still getting to know this album. In time, the
favorites will show themselves, and I’m looking forward to getting to
know its story better for it to happen. I have a feeling
we’re going to become fantastic friends.
~*~
Dive into and take a listen, purchase the album or a souvenir, and see what
else Radiohead is up to in the links below. Bring a towel.
https://radiohead.bandcamp.com/album/a-moon-shaped-pool
https://www.amazon.com/Moon-Shaped-Pool-Radiohead/dp/B01FDF12W6
https://open.spotify.com/album/2ix8vWvvSp2Yo7rKMiWpkg
https://tidal.com/browse/album/60215409
https://music.apple.com/us/album/a-moon-shaped-pool/1111577743
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