4. RadioheadKid A
I’m one of those people that basically came to Radiohead through Kid A. You go to a Radiohead gig and you can divide the audience in terms of the post-Kid A people and the OK Computer, Bends people. That was my access point, and I kind of stayed a fan of that band ever since. That record has a really special place in my heart because you can feel the courage of experimentation. We can debate how groundbreaking that record actually is, but I’m not someone who’s interested in pioneering experimentation for the sake of it, I respect it in the context of an artist’s journey. You can feel in that album a band existing outside of their comfort zone and starting to discover new things. Again, I have huge respect for that because it comes at a price and requires a lot of faith. I listen to that album and can almost feel the uncertainty of some of the band members, it has that sort of energy that’s really exciting. I imagine Thom Yorke getting into Warp’s output and wanting to find a new way of writing music, but also trying to persuade his bandmates that that’s the thing to do. It might have been quite painful and quite confounding. I think it’s always a testament to a group who are able to go through a process of any meaning or depth behind a common vision and then deliver that. It’s no small achievement.
That’s why I think whatever happens with how music is released and consumed people will continue making records, because there’s something of real value in going through a process like that; making a coherent statement and paying that price. That kind of investment stands for something and means something and moves culture along.
