Holy shit! I was prepared to be very underwhelmed by this recording. Instead, it overcame all my preconceptions and really impressed me.
The sparse, electronic direction that Yorke has taken on this record is a departure from the epic orchestration that Radiohead has been slowly churning out since Kid A. OK Computer makes it onto my top 10 without a second thought, (The bends is great too, and I think underated), and have listened without much pleasure to everything since then. This album renews my commitment to liking Thom and the gang.
Maybe it is because I was incredibly into electronic music in the past, or just that I am a minimalist down at heart, who knows. The point is that I am sold on this album as a valid addition to the indie catalog. The lo-fi samples mixed with crisp and clean percussion, the effected background vocals, the minimalist compositions, the lyrics, they all speak to me in a voice that says “i'm good, enjoy me!” and so I have been.
The problem with Thom Yorke and Radiohead as I see it: once you make an album like OK Computer where is there to go? OK Computer is an awesome example of the experimental rock album. There are only a handful of options now available to you: you either make it again (which is not cool so scratch that), go backwards and make a record that rocks harder, or go a step forward with something even more experimental.
Now, Radiohead may lay down some rocking tracks, but they certainly are not going to morph into another zepplin or who or black sabbath. Logically the choice is to go more experimental, and hope that the fans you have garnered with your previous albums will come along and enjoy the avant garde ride. They lost me in their transition and I do not really enjoy their newer works, but I do not fault them for it, I enjoy the idea that they are trying to push some musical envelope, I just do not happen to have enjoyed it fully. Perhaps now that I have taken the time to explain it all to myself I have the impetus to try. Rambling now aside, go and listen to The Eraser, I certainly will be, for days and months to come.