Specious Logic

Not satisfied to merely make music that’s fantastically good, Radiohead has repeatedly ventured out of the boundaries of traditional guitar rock to other branches of music: from electronica on Kid A to jazz on Amnesiac to blues, now, on In Rainbows. But they’ve also been exploring other approaches to creating new music: like the backwards-singing melody of “Like Spinning Plates”:

That’s what the band actually played and Thom Yorke actually sang. He had to learn these reversed lyrics so that when the recording is reversed, it becomes English again (along with a seriously cool backing track).

Even more fascinating is Kid 17. People discovered (who knows how) that 2 copies of Kid A played 17 seconds apart produces beautiful harmonies and cool effects:

After this discovery, there was much speculation over whether this was planned or not, and while Radiohead didn’t admit to it, they certainly didn’t deny it.

Well it appears that they must have planned it, given recent events. Puddlegum announced that it had found evidence of a “TENspiracy” involving In Rainbows:

Ten years after OK Computer shocked the world, Radiohead released In Rainbows on October 10 (10/10). Though no one was expecting the album to be released until 2008, Radiohead announced In Rainbows just ten days in advance. In Rainbows, which consists of ten letters, has ten tracks, and would be downloadable from a rumored ten servers.

Yes, very suspicious. But what does it all mean? Puddlegum’s guess:

We have come to believe that OK Computer and In Rainbows were meant to complement each other. During the writing and recording process of OK Computer, Radiohead used the working title of Zeros and Ones. If OK Computer is represented by 01, and In Rainbows is represented by 10, then we have 01 and 10. In binary code 01 and 10 complement each other.

However, the connections to OK Computer are much weaker than the evidence suggesting a “TENspiracy”, and I think I’ve found a much stronger connection to the number 10:

Yes, that’s 2 copies of the opening track, “15 Step,” played with a 10 second lag. Thom Yorke in harmony with Thom Yorke. And it’s not just on the opener; the entire album works with this 10 second lag. Here’s the closer, “Videotape”:

Simply stunning. To create music that’s endlessly listenable is hard enough as it is. To create it so that it can also be heard with itself? Mind-blowing.

And what about the proposed connection to OK Computer? Perhaps. There are certainly some alluring lyrical references between the two, as well as some related musical content. But I think vague connections would not have elicited the following response from “someone associated with Thom Yorke”:

“The meaning behind all of this is right in front of our faces, we’re just overlooking it. [Thom] has been expecting an article much like this one for a couple of years, as have I. But I’m willing to wager he’ll have fun waiting a few more. On the other hand, it seems to annoy him that no one ‘gets it’ yet, given the mountain of clues.”

Well I think this might be part of the thing that Thom has been waiting for people to “get”:

It’s “Climbing Up The Walls” with the same 10 second sync! And again, it works with many other songs (”Subterranean Homesick Alien”, “Airbag”). But this is where I can climb no further: the “TENspiracy” breaks down on some songs (”Karma Police”, “Paranoid Android”), which don’t seem to work at all, no matter what the sync.

So have we finally, after 10 years, discovered Radiohead’s true intentions? I don’t know–but I’d be thrilled if we haven’t. Imagine rediscovering Radiohead classics in 10 years with more such revelations! For now though, I’m more than satisfied with my two new Radiohead albums: In Rainbows and In Rainbows.

Tags: in rainbows, kid 17, radiohead, sync, tenspiracy

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