i write a lot about the band, radiohead – their music, their live shows, videos, as well as report on how they appear in my dreams.
they permeate my life in a way no other artist has, or i anticipate will ever have, since part of their value comes from the richness of returning again and again to their music. it has carried me through whole decades of my life, nearly half of its entirety, and each listen deepens this history further, adding a new layer to the slowly building emotional patina. it is the powerful and unique resonance that i find in their work that draws me to them. while many people find them depressing what i experience in their work is that it shines beauty into heartbreaking spaces. it makes the pangs of melancholy so beautiful it transcends sadness and becomes something new entirely: a wave to carry you forward of its own volition into a whole new space. one that is more vibrant, more alive, gives texture and colors and nuances to emotion you could not otherwise sense. everything emotional is heightened and visceral.
i can go there, to this place beyond, by just hearing the opening lines of a song and always and forever when i hear the lead singer, thom yorke. his soaring falsetto. that's it. i'm done. sometimes it's too much seeing them live {or even videos} and i have to shut it all out – the resonance, the inevitable disappointment when it ends, the heartbreaking beauty....
for years i have cultivated a pretty serious artist's crush on thom yorke. he is someone so intensely himself, seemingly without shame, without guilt, just plowing forward one song at a time. as the primary songwriter of the group, he is the driving force behind the band and probably one of the cleanest conduits of raw creative force that i have ever seen. i have tried to put it into words many times before, but just see for yourself. watch him live {but it has to be close – within the first 15 feet of the stage. trust me.}
i often dream of him, particularly after coming back to a creative space myself. and as much as i might relay a dream literally, i am very aware that any dream of thom is actually a dream about the creative force inside me that he represents both in the sleeping and waking worlds. just before the king of limbs was released this winter i was writing a good friend about my excitement {coincidentally a friend i made in line to see thom in new york city in 2010}. i wrote to my friend:
in case it isn't clear, thom is the sun in my artistic universe...though....actually, i would say, that's what it has felt like for the past 13 years since I started listening to them...but my intuition just stepped in this very moment to correct me and say: "thom yorke is the biggest mirror being held up to the sun that is you, shining in your own creative universe."
i am still working on internalizing and living this statement.
if you are looking for an introduction to the band, by all means, ask me. i would be happy to create a playlist and mail it to you. here are also a few songs that are my all-time favorites from them. selected a bit randomly {because there are about 25 on my top 5 list} but hopefully to give an upbeat/downbeat range.
fog
reckoner
this one is a great video to get a sense of thom's presence: videotape
where i end and you begin
and these are from thom's solo work:
my favorite song of 2009 and 2010, a cover, but still so good: all for the best
cymbal rush
atoms for peace
