In Rainbows (2007)

A Radiohead experiment: I never properly heard In Rainbows until I started on this set of reviews and was thus nearly wholly unfamiliar with it. As free downloads went in 2007, I found myself relatively indifferent to the big gesture by Radiohead. It was nice to see them acknowledge the ongoing frenzy of illicit downloading—decades of repressed resentment toward the grossly venal music industry erupting like volcanos. Of course it was also Radiohead’s calculated marketing move to participate directly if a little awkwardly in this phenomenon of the internet era. It was a better response than we got from Metallica and some others, although, in fairness, most people are prone to distemperate yelping when they think they’re losing money that belongs to them. At the time, I was working on downloading (“free”) stuff like Illinois Jacquet and Thom Bell box sets and all 60+ James Brown albums from the ‘60s and ‘70s. I did download In Rainbows (because why not? the elusive appeal of Radiohead prevailed as always and I still had not got to the bottom of it) but then there it sat lonely and neglected on my hard drive, no track (that I noticed) ever picked by shuffle. Eventually that hard drive failed and with it all charm for digital music files, blows against the music industry empire notwithstanding. In Rainbows is on streaming services now, of course, including a second disc with an EP’s worth of extra tracks from the same sessions, released later on a two-CD Japanese expanded edition package that now starts at $65 for a used copy. As usual for me and Radiohead—I’m sure my take is getting monotonous by now—I hear glimmers and shimmers of eccentric beauty welling up and randomly passing by. Nice, but the experience does not reliably recur. The music on In Rainbows seems to sink too easily into the background and very little distinguishes itself. I noticed one time, and as usual by random, that the album made a groovy background for a texting session. And, while very little from In Rainbows has made any lasting impression on me, at least I can report, for those looking for the quick version, that the most popular tracks appear to be “All I Need,” followed by “Jigsaw Falling Into Place” and then “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi.” When I listen to them purposefully, yeah, they sound pretty good. But even the cat stopping by to ask for food—which happens multiple times every day—can take me out of any spell cast by this album, the high points of it distributed so subtly as to be nearly nonexistent.

#670 on the Pop Thruster Best 1,000 Albums Ever list