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Thom
recently announced the tracklist for Amnesiac on
the official
RH message board:
01. Packt Like Sardines In A Crushed
Tin Box
(3:57) Lyrics
From Jam!: What sounds like tribal drumming alternates with vintage
drum-machine blips, as they collide in cut-and-paste fashion.
An austere start.
Review from SXSW by Allstar: "Packt Like
Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box" kicked off the session with a trippy,
dance backbeat and a pounding kettle drum (or, perhaps, drummer
Phil Selway was literally banging on a kitchen pot). Yorke's vocal
was mostly distorted throughout the track, weaving in and out
of indistinguishable (in this setting, at least) sampled vocals.
There is a reference to this title here.
02. Pyramid Song
(4:49) Lyrics
This song debuted at the Tibetan Freedom Concert in 1999 with
Thom solo on the piano. The running name for it at the time was
"Nothing to Fear." It has since been called "Egyptian
Song" and finally "Pyramid Song."
From Jam!: It begins with simple
piano and singer Thom Yorke intoning non-verbal, falsetto noise,
against what sounds like the buzz of conversation. An assortment
of sounds plays out in the background as jazzy drumming joins
the mix and the track builds to a more conventional, full arrangement.
"There was nothing left to fear/Nothing dark," Yorke (apparently)
sings.
Review from SXSW by Allstar: "Pyramid Song" creeped up next, as
a piano-laden intro quickly gave way to a minor howl from Yorke.
A lush and stormy backing track persevered throughout, giving
off the impression that the band is symbolically lost at sea.
When the drums kicked in, the song almost became a big band-era
jam (more on that later). As the crowd at Plush became lost in
the track (many folks were seen with their eyes shut, as if in
some sort of trance), a large, overpowering orchestral crescendo
rose and fell, bolting those lost in the music back to reality
that this is Austin, Texas, not a Pentecostal sermon.
03. Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors
(4:07) Lyrics
From Jam!: Stop-start, bass-heavy sounds (perhaps a lingering
manifestation of Yorke's collaborations with DJ Shadow?) and elevator
pings form the backdrop as an electronically distorted, sped-up
voice free-associates on the topic of doors. Video-game sound
effects rise and descend throughout. More sonic experiment than
song, this is perhaps the strangest track on either "Amnesiac"
or "Kid A." Certainly it bears the strangest title -- that isn't
a typo.
04. You and Whose Army?
(3:10) Lyrics
This song premiered during the Kid A tour 2000 and
was a crowd favorite. It featured Thom sitting at piano and Colin
playing an upright bass. Towards the end of the song, the full
band comes in and the song really takes off. The version
that was played at the Sundance Festival is indeed the studio
version that will appear on Amnesiac.
From Jam!: Here's a novelty: guitars! Yorke's voice is pushed
way up front, and the track begins with him loudly inhaling. The
full band gradually joins the mix, and it all ends with an almost
gospelly, piano-led denouement. The lyrics, which seem to taunt
authority into cracking down on the rabble, could have been given
a completely different meaning had they been set to more triumphant
music. (You can practically hear Bono delivering a song like this
without a shred of irony). But here, Yorke sounds defeated, as
if even he's not confident that an insurgency would succeed.
Review from SXSW by Allstar: "You and Whose Army?" slightly recalled
OK Computer in that Yorke's yearning vocal cry of "Come on, Come
on, Come onÖ" repeated over and over somehow felt a tad like
"Karma Police." A crunching organ and string section drives the
track, which falls under lilting and poetic.
05. I Might Be Wrong
(4:51) Lyrics
One word: Rawk!
From Jam!: The song is set to a satisfying, snarling guitar figure
and a driving, skipping beat, but the vocals are smeared in echo
and difficult to detect. Superficially, the message is optimistic,
but the music is so sinister, you can't help but wonder if we're
not supposed to trust the hedonism advocated in the lyrics --
hence, the song's title.
There's an interlude in the record here -- a complex drum-machine
pattern, a rumbling bass-line and Yorke's falsetto voice floating
over top -- but it's not clear whether it is part of "I Might
Be Wrong" or the next track. Either way, it is completely parenthetical
to both songs.
Review from SXSW by Allstar: "I Might Be Wrong" then seemingly
came out of left field, with its bouncing, blues guitar intro
and almost country-western feel. Heads were bobbing and feet tapping
at Plush for the first time during the session, and had it not
been so crowded, some interpretative dancing may have broken out
as well. The tune, an interesting and expertly executed clash
of creaky, American roots rock and U.K.-based indie dance, ended
before the dust had even cleared.
06. Knives Out
(4:15) Lyrics
We first heard this song at the band's first webcast in 1999.
Thom has introduced the song live as being about cannibalism.
From Jam!: The most conventional performance on either "Kid A"
or "Amnesiac." Graceful guitar arpeggios and, by Radiohead standards,
a straightforward, full-group performance. Expect this one to
be the U.S. label's choice for first single.
07. Amnesiac/Morning Bell
(3:14) Lyrics
Why is "Morning Bell" on Amnesiac when
it was on Kid A? Thom says that the song is "barely
recognisable" and that it "sounds like 'Tales Of The
Unexpected.'"
Phil hinted on XFM recently that it is indeed the same "Morning
Bell" from Kid A but "not as groovy" and very "atmospheric."
From Jam!: A radically reconsidered version of one of "Kid A's"
stand-out songs. Gone is the piano-driven shuffle, replaced by
a dirgey, slow strum, although Yorke's lyrics and melody remain
essentially the same.
08. Dollars & Cents
(4:52) Lyrics
The band played this one a lot while on tour last year.
From Jam!: One of the tracks premiered on the band's brief touring
duties behind "Kid A," the recorded version seems less lurchy
than the live rendition. A string section rises and falls behind
Yorke's vocals, occasionally overpowering his singing, while the
rhythm section hammers out a tricky time-signature. It peaks with
Yorke's most impassioned vocal and then breaks down to guitar,
cymbals and synth squelches.
Review from SXSW by Allstar: A busy, cymbal-driven intro spilled
out next as "Dollars and Cents" rode a wave of outlandish instrumentation
in the same vein as Kid A, if not harsher. Standing out above
the sonic mess, however, was Yorke's bird-like call, which wailed
throughout.
09. Hunting Bears
(2:00)
Search parts of radiohead.com
and you'll find references to hunting bears and pictures of the
infamous "test bear" that has now become the band's
unofficial logo.
From Jam!: No vocals. A harsh, distorted guitar plucks out a few
tentative notes, which turns into what sounds like a tape-loop
of the same sound in repetition. Whooshing sounds -- like ocean
waves or distant passing traffic -- and the amplified sound of
fingers scraping down guitar strings, joined by subtle electric
piano. Weird.
10. Like Spinning Plates
(3:57) Lyrics
There are various
references to this song at radiohead.com.
From Jam!: Machine-gun quick, turntable-scratch-like noises, and
what sounds like backwards guitar notes define the rhythm, while
Yorke's voice sounds distorted, like the creepy dwarf from "Twin
Peaks." Is it about the hubbub of a musician's lifestyle finally
starting to wind down to a more manageable pace? Or is the spinning
plate Yorke sings about actually the fragile balance of the world
about to come crashing down?
11. Life In A Glass House
(4:35) Lyrics
Ah, the closing song... "Life in a Glass House" is an
old song that the band has used to soundcheck with. It even appears
on Meeting People Is Easy. As mentioned above in the Introduction,
Veteran jazz trumpeter Humphrey Lyttleton makes an appearance
on this song. Here's a snip from a recent Q interview with Lyttleton:
"They went through a few nervous breakdowns during the course
of it all, just through trying to explain to us what they wanted."
While thoroughly exhausted by the seven-hour session, Lyttleton
was full of praise for the band and their enigmatic singer and
lyricist. "The words were very surreal, rather like Procol Harumís
Whiter Shade Of Pale," he says. "I think Thom's
are slightly better, but they're coming from the same sort of
area."
From Jam!: Radiohead takes on traditional New Orleans jazz, complete
with unfocused horns, boozy rhythm, and Yorke wailing the modern
blues. At once the most conventional song on the album and the damnedest
thing on it.
Review from SXSW by Allstar: Last but certainly not least was "Life
in a Glass House," another surprise from a band from which nothing
seems surprising anymore. Beginning with an atmospheric loop and
clanging church-like bells, the song quickly morphed into a New
Orleans-style, big-band rumpshaker. Fueled by a horn section that
included a clarinet, a trumpet, a trombone, and who knows what else,
"Glass House" would have served well as a time-travelers glimpse
into the Third Millennium during a 1930s Mardi Gras ball. |
