supercollider & the butcher

today was a day for new radiohead. the next limb in the tree as it were. i tried to listen to the songs while doing the dishes and that lasted for about 30 seconds before i danced my way in front of my stereo so i could take it all in without soap, running water and a dish strainer mediating the experience. even the distance between the speakers and i became an obstacle and i ended up on my knees on the ground. listening. listening. dancing in place and listening.

it's a new experience hearing a song from them for the "first time" after having heard the live version for years now. the poor quality recording i've had of thom on the piano familiarized me with the melody and lyrics through its many listens, allowing me to arrive at this first listen today knowing all the words and anticipating the direction the song will take, all the while, rapt attention to gather into my spirit every new sound. every new nuance of his voice. and with that, another layer is added to the patina of this song.

supercollider is lovely and electronic, in line with what i see as the arc of radiohead's electronic evolution, but the butcher, the second song of the recording, is a part of what i see as this amazing counter rhythm to their synthesized exploration. it's darker. earthier. and i feel like it's directly related to the more acoustic and organic sounds that thom was using on his solo tour last spring. electronic thom/radiohead channels something from so far out in the universe the rest of us humans can only see it through these electronic and other-wordly sounds. meanwhile, this other facet, this muddy, organic, full of acoustic percussions and man made sounds comes from the opposite place: it's from so deep in the earth, burning in the center, brought up through the ground and into the light of day through his music. i experience the electronic coming in through his head, cerebral and ethereal, sinking down to the heart and coming out to us while the organic comes up through the ground, swaying through the hips into the gut, and always, always, always, back out through the heart. his music. their music. it resonates in the heart.

but i'm skipping a piece of the story here: my first experiences this time last year with his new earthy sounds. his solo tour. nyc. both nights, but most especially the second. coachella. i owe you that story. i owe me that story.

but right now, i'm heading on a run in the sporadic sun with my two new songs on repeat.

image: copyright radiohead. cover of the 12" vinyl release.