Radiohead, The King of Limbs: This Fan Raves

"It's like I'm falling out of bed

From a long, weary dream

The sweetest flowers and fruits hang from the trees

Falling off the giant bird that’s been carrying me--"

- from "Separator", Radiohead

Heard melodies are sweet (sorry, John Keats), but music also "seen" is sweeter. For a musician's full magnificence to be experienced, one has to be witness to the performance. The auditory reception is enhanced--non-exclusively, of course, since people have different ways of appreciating--all the more when one catches these people in the act of making, creating the music. Imagination liberates, but we are, sometimes, limited by what we cannot see.

In the case of Radiohead, masters at their craft who have forever changed the sonic landscape with their music, and withstood the test of time and all other elements, this is especially true. I watched "Radiohead: King of Limbs Live at The Basement"--over at YouTube, where else--and was struck by some nameless sensation: quickened heartbeat, bliss surging up from the chest, or something of that nature. The passion, skill, and ease with which the band went at it, just doing their "thing", took my breath away. I experienced something similar with "Radiohead: In Rainbows Live in Japan", but "King of Limbs", because recorded in a smaller venue, offered a much closer, more intimate view. The years have not at all diminished the intensity that Thom Yorke not so much exhibits as exudes; the same is true where Jonny Greenwood is concerned (still ruthless, still insanely skilled); and of the rest of them, all as essential and as present as ever. Face contorted in intensity, mindless of all other things except the music; fingers caressing, plucking effortlessly at, and flying over guitar strings; fingers touching and striking keys; able hands, masters to drum sticks--what a spectacle, a thing of beauty!

Radiohead's lyrics have only become more cryptic, the music as beautiful and more complex. My favorite track from the album is "Lotus Flower", but I was blown away by Thom's performance of "The Daily Mail" (the phrase "king of melancholia" crossed my mind); "Codex" has a similar relish, though a bit toned down; the jazz barroom flavor of "Feral" and, by a little measure, "Little By Little" (I wondered if they were trying to pull a Miles Davis, with a 21st century flavor, of course); the percussion-led sensuousness of "Separator"; the acoustic, mellow air of  "Give up the Ghost"; the guitar-playing skills showcased in the rest of the songs.

The King of Limbs, like In Rainbows, features elements of electronica (in smaller doses) but the former, upon close inspection, chronicles Radiohead's absolute comfort in what they do, and highlights the poetry and talent that has been characteristic of their music from the very start. The King, for this fan, is sonic perfection. The effect of their music on me has always extended to the heart and the deepest recesses of the brain, but more so this album. I could only wish I were really there when they recorded the session--probably sitting in a corner, and certainly my cup of tea would have long grown cold, forgotten.

Imagine how much tea I've been consuming, waiting for the next album. Meanwhile, let the music play, and let me watch while it does.