The Afterword

Musings on the byways of popular culture

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An Evening Of Radiohead – coming to a cathedral near you?

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Just a quickie. A few weeks ago my wife and I went to Guildford Cathedral to see Let Me In Presents An Evening Of Radiohead. Not the real Radiohead of course. But a band of about 10 fans of the band including a string section who have been touring cathedrals with their show. It was celebrating the 10th anniversary of A Moon Shaped Pool. They did almost all the album plus a lot of OK Computer, and an eclectic selection from Kid A, In Rainbows, The Bends etc plus Spectre. It was absolutely fabulous, stunningly good and if you’re a fan of Radiohead then they are still touring the UK (St Albans and Beverley) and touring widely again in early 2027. Go see them, you won’t be disappointed.

End Credits Music

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I watched Crime 101 the other day. Pretty good. I enjoyed it. Best of all was Sault performing Glory over the end credits. The bass line brought the film to a firm conclusion and the song’s soulfulness kept me engaged enough to watch the thousand names scroll by and gently brought me back to the real world.

It struck me that choosing the music to play over end credits is a tricky art. Radiohead have paid tribute in Exit Music (For A Film). The best example I can think of is David Bowie’s Heart’s Filthy Lesson underlining the shock revelation at the end of Se7en. Stunning.

Any other ideas?

Fire the canon!

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Fairly sound article in The Guardian today questioning the future of the ‘rock canon’ – ie it won’t be rock, it won’t be one canon, it won’t be just albums. An intriguing question unanswered is of course how you do draw up any kind of list once the album is not the gold standard.

In the ultimate aggreation of all best albums lists ever Kid A is no 6. I’m with him when he says that’s baffling.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/aug/29/why-the-old-pop-music-canon-is-finished-greatest-albums-digital-age

Three Albums To Soundtrack Your Life

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My first real exposure to Pop music was a gift for my fifth birthday, With The Beatles. We had no record player but the gifted brought one round whenever she babysat. I was entranced by those songs, transported by their fresh, wide-eyed excitement. I’d dance myself to sleep. My aunt was a skilled babysitter.

By the time I was eighteen, it was Songs In The Key Of Life, a wondrous, sprawling album, covering every aspect of life. It was cool, sophisticated and definitely very grown up. It was music to dance to, to fall in love to, to pray to, to drink to, to laugh to, to flirt to, to stand up and be counted to, to man the barricades to. It had jazz, rap and soul. Even a crying baby couldn’t spoil it.

Today, I’m recovering from a really difficult year. A Moon Shaped Pool documents a car crash of the soul but has splinters of hope. I listen to it and marvel at how far Pop music has come since my childhood. Radiohead have effectively created a Classical Song Cycle rather than a Rock record. Its ebbs and flows transport me just as much as With The Beatles » Continue Reading.