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BWMMWMHWN Otrn V i kn •vtSa*'. MUSIC BY RICHARD MARTIN Radiohead paints itself out of a corner with its new record, OK Computer. The Art of Rock lltl PREVIEW Big Stink 2: The Offspring, Candlebox, Radiohead, Cake, Meredith Brooks. The Dandy Warhols, Matchbox 20, Smashmouth, The Refreshments, GusGus, Cunninghams, Folk Implosion, Artificial Joy Club, Pond, Doughboys, The Vents Estacada Timber Bowl, Industrial Way, Estacada, 224-4400 12:30 pm Sunday, Aug. 3 $27.50 advance Radiohead's 26- year-old guitarist, Jonny Greenwood, says he never was part of Britain's fabled rave scene: "I was sitting around waiting for the Pixies and Throwing Muses to come over and tour, and excitedly talking at school lunch breaks about Kristin Hersh." Jonny and Colin Greenwood don't inspire the British tabloids the way Oasis' Gallagher brothers do. "Ifs more interesting to have articles about Noel punching Liam than about Colin cuddling me," Jonny says. The English band Radiohead has come to be categorized with a term that many musicians would consider unflattering: art rock. It's a tag that's been affixed to everything from King Crimson to Queen to Talking Heads, and like it or not, ifs the label writers have pinned on Radiohead. "What's art rock?" guitarist Jonny Greenwood shoots back across the phone from his home in Oxford, England, when asked how he feels about the description. Well, it's fancy arrangements, strange guitar solos, dramatic singing—how does that sound? "It doesn't sound like art, but it sounds like us," he says. The 12 tracks on Radiohead's new record, OK Computer (Capitol), are, in fact, artistic, though they're more like sketches than completed works. Since the quintet—Greenwood, his brother Colin on bass, Thorn Yorke on vocals and guitar, Ed O'Brien on guitar and Phil Selway on drums- released 1993's Pablo Honey and scored a pre-"Loser" slacker hit with "Creep," it has nurtured a talent for stark, meandering and often beauti- ful pop songs. Not pop in the Spice Girls sense, but in the sense of gripping melodic passages that stray from orthodox composition. This can lead to unfo- cused tracks that circle around like a poorly mounted gyroscope, but Radiohead's success asserts that the band knows its boundaries. In fact, the group's second album, The Bends, contained no mega-hits, yet it broadened Radiohead's fanbase to the extent that OK Computer debuted at No. 1 on the U.K. charts and, more shocking still, number 21 in the United States. Such anomalies have become com- monplace with Radiohead. After "Creep," many wrote off the band as a one-hit wonder, but they were wrong. The first single from OK Computer is the 6 1/2-minute "Paranoid Android," and it has nes- tled onto modern-rock radio playlists alongside terse, ska-inflected songs that sound like corny ad jingles in comparison. And despite lacking the good looks and infectious hooks of other feted Brit-pop bands, Radiohead has become a favorite among rock celebrities; Michael Stipe, Marilyn Manson, Madonna and Bono all attended a recent New York concert. Greenwood's assess- ment of that show hints at the secret to Radiohead's achieve- ments—its nonchalance. "It sort of felt like they were all behind us and excited by what we were doing," he says of the star-studded crowd. "It wasn't just a photo opportunity...there was none of the schmoozing or publicity-seeking going on." Rock stars, critics and fans alike have taken to the complex swagger of songs such as "Android," with its mellifluous intro, glam-guitar and a haunting wind-down that has Yorke crooning over choral backing before all hell breaks loose at the conclu- sion. Elsewhere on OK Computer, Radiohead goes on atmospheric excursions ("No Surprises" and "Exit Music [for a Film]"); and conjures U2's and R.E.M.'s once-pastoral rock ("Let Down" and "Karma Police"). According to Greenwood, his band's sprawling approach is born from restlessness with Brit-pop's status quo. "I think British music a couple of years ago was awash in this tiresome irony," he says. "It wasn't correct to be serious about being in a band—which is rubbish." Greenwood sees Radiohead as hav- ing more in common with acts that earnestly incorporate technology in their music, and, in fact, the electron- ically savvy collective Massive Attack plans to remix OK Computer to further stress this relationship. This might suggest the sort of overindulgence equated with the dreaded art rock, but Greenwood maintains that Radiohead simply jells as a band. "I think we're very impatient," he explains. "It takes patience to do 12 identical-sounding, hard-rocking, ugly, distorted-guitar rock songs. Patience is something we don't really have." Creeps No More: Radiohead broadens its sonic palette. The same goes for Radiohead's live performances, he says. While they might be expected to re-create spiny guitar solos and vocal layer- ing onstage, the five members instead sacrifice some of their albums' artfulness for old-fashioned spontaneity. "We're not ones for preparing and planning and rehearsing extremely hard," he says. "We enjoy fear and unpredictability. That's what touring is about. You know it's wrong when you have your set list on the back of a lami- nate and it's the same every night. I find that very depressing, and that's what a lot of bands do. So we just do the opposite." m A NORTHWEST PUB FULL SERVICE BAR 20 NORTHWEST DRAUGHT BEERS PIZZA BY THE SLICE OR WHOLE PIE DEEP DISH PIZZA CALZONES • SALADS • PASTA HOT GRINDER SANDWICHES 5 0 S W THIRD AVE. (CORNKR o r S W 3RD AND ASH) 223-1375 Mon-Thurs 11 am-Midnight Fri & Sat 'til lam • Sun 11 am-1 Ipm Discount Calling 9.90 per minute Price is all times of day to any- where in the continental U.S. S1.99 monthly fee applies. m LONG DISTANCE 1-800-390-3678 THE STAMP PAD Whrrr Evcryomc'* mm Artlmt Eclectic Mix of Over 2500 Imago* Inspiring Rubber Stamps and Supplies 3423 SE BELMONT 231-7362 Brought to vou bv Preaenta of Mind V M T BLDDM • SHIVERS S5 ODVONCE • 21 BND OVER •RIPPM MJEUST 1 • P L BHLLRDDM [H. BUHNSIPE PDRTLDND, URCHIN CONCERT LIKE; 778-5625 ^^^•^^Huiiinx.cajii iuuiui.incjnznni VTsrToJi WII sm n WWWJKCMINAMINVCOM M nun l » « ANRRAIAJUMOOMAMINOSMIN&COM MT or SHOW noun a (rail UIUOOM ncnn ama MM we Buy & Sell new & used alternative & independent LPs, CDs, cassettes & 7s All regular domestic used CDs '7" or less • T Shirts • Manic Panic/Punky Color Hair Dye • Lava lamps, black lights • Tons of makeup in great colors 1036 W. Burnside PDX OR 97209 Tel.503 227.1975 JULY 30. 1997 WW CULTURE 27
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BWMMWMHWN Otrn V i kn •vtSa*'.

M U S I C BY R I C H A R D M A R T I N

Radiohead paints itself out of a corner with its new record, OK Computer.

The Art of Rock l l t l PREVIEW

Big Stink 2: The Offspring, Candlebox, Radiohead, Cake, Meredith Brooks. The Dandy Warhols, Matchbox 20, Smashmouth, The Refreshments, GusGus, Cunninghams, Folk Implosion, Artificial Joy Club, Pond, Doughboys, The Vents Estacada Timber

Bowl, Industrial

Way, Estacada,

224-4400

12:30 pm Sunday,

Aug. 3

$27.50 advance

Radiohead's 26-

year-old guitarist,

Jonny Greenwood,

says he never was

part of Britain's

fabled rave scene:

" I was sitting

around waiting for

the Pixies and

Throwing Muses to

come over and tour,

and excitedly

talking at school

lunch breaks about

Kristin Hersh."

Jonny and Colin

Greenwood don't

inspire the British

tabloids the way

Oasis' Gallagher

brothers do. " I f s

more interesting to

have articles about

Noel punching Liam

than about Colin

cuddling me,"

Jonny says.

The English band Radiohead has come to be categorized with a term that many musicians would consider unflattering: art rock. It's a tag that's been affixed to everything from King Crimson to Queen to Talking Heads, and like it or not, i fs the label writers have pinned on Radiohead.

"What's art rock?" guitarist Jonny Greenwood shoots back across the phone from his home in Oxford, England, when asked how he feels about the description.

Well, it's fancy arrangements, strange guitar solos, dramatic singing—how does that sound?

"It doesn't sound like art, but it sounds like us," he says.

The 12 tracks on Radiohead's new record, OK Computer (Capitol), are, in fact, artistic, though they're more like sketches than completed works. Since the quintet—Greenwood, his brother Colin on bass, Thorn Yorke on vocals and guitar, Ed O'Brien on guitar and Phil Selway on drums-released 1993's Pablo Honey and scored a pre-"Loser" slacker hit with "Creep," it has nurtured a talent for stark, meandering and often beauti-ful pop songs.

Not pop in the Spice Girls sense, but in the sense of gripping melodic passages that stray from orthodox composition. This can lead to unfo-cused tracks that circle around like a poorly mounted gyroscope, but Radiohead's success asserts that the band knows its boundaries.

In fact, the group's second album, The Bends, contained no mega-hits, yet it broadened Radiohead's fanbase to the extent that OK Computer debuted at No. 1 on the U.K. charts and, more shocking still, number 21 in the United States.

Such anomalies have become com-monplace with Radiohead. After "Creep," many wrote off the band as

a one-hit wonder, but they were wrong. The first single from OK Computer is the 6 1/2-minute "Paranoid Android," and it has nes-tled onto modern-rock radio playlists alongside terse, ska-inflected songs that sound like corny ad jingles in comparison. And despite lacking the good looks and infectious hooks of other feted Brit-pop bands, Radiohead has become a favorite among rock celebrities; Michael Stipe, Marilyn Manson, Madonna and Bono all attended a recent New York concert.

Greenwood's assess-ment of that show hints at the secret to Radiohead's achieve-ments—its nonchalance.

"It sort of felt like they were all behind us and excited by what we were doing," he says of the star-studded crowd. "It wasn't just a photo opportunity...there was none of the schmoozing or publicity-seeking going on."

Rock stars, critics and fans alike have taken to the complex swagger of songs such as "Android," with its mellifluous intro, glam-guitar and a haunting wind-down that has Yorke crooning over choral backing before all hell breaks loose at the conclu-sion. Elsewhere on OK Computer, Radiohead goes on atmospheric excursions ("No Surprises" and "Exit Music [for a Film]"); and conjures U2's and R.E.M.'s once-pastoral rock ("Let Down" and "Karma Police").

According to Greenwood, his band's sprawling approach is born from restlessness with Brit-pop's status quo. "I think British music a

couple of years ago was awash in this tiresome irony," he says. "It wasn't correct to be serious about being in a band—which is rubbish."

Greenwood sees Radiohead as hav-ing more in common with acts that earnestly incorporate technology in their music, and, in fact, the electron-ically savvy collective Massive Attack plans to remix OK Computer to further stress this relationship. This might suggest the sort of overindulgence equated with the dreaded art rock, but Greenwood maintains that Radiohead simply jells as a band.

"I think we're very impatient," he explains. "It takes patience to do 12 identical-sounding, hard-rocking, ugly, distorted-guitar rock songs. Patience is something we don't really have."

Creeps No More: Radiohead broadens its sonic

palette.

The same goes for Radiohead's live performances, he says. While they might be expected to re-create spiny guitar solos and vocal layer-ing onstage, the five members instead sacrifice some of their albums' artfulness for old-fashioned spontaneity. "We're not ones for preparing and planning and rehearsing extremely hard," he says. "We enjoy fear and unpredictability. That's what touring is about. You know it's wrong when you have your set list on the back of a lami-nate and it's the same every night. I find that very depressing, and that's what a lot of bands do. So we just do the opposite." m

A N O R T H W E S T PUB

FULL SERVICE BAR 2 0 NORTHWEST DRAUGHT BEERS

PIZZA BY THE SLICE OR WHOLE PIE DEEP DISH PIZZA

CALZONES • SALADS • PASTA HOT GRINDER SANDWICHES

5 0 S W T H I R D AVE. (CORNKR o r S W 3RD AND ASH)

223-1375 Mon-Thurs 11 am-Midnight

Fri & Sat 'til lam • Sun 11 am-1 Ipm

Discount Calling

9.90 per minute

P r i c e is al l t i m e s of d a y to a n y -w h e r e in t h e c o n t i n e n t a l U . S . S 1 . 9 9 m o n t h l y f e e a p p l i e s . m L O N G D I S T A N C E

1 - 8 0 0 - 3 9 0 - 3 6 7 8

THE STAMP PAD

W h r r r Evcryomc'* mm Artlmt

E c l e c t i c M i x o f O v e r 2500 Imago*

Inspiring Rubber Stamps

and Supplies 3423 SE BELMONT

2 3 1 - 7 3 6 2 Brought to vou bv

P r e a e n t a o f M i n d

• • V M T BLDDM • SHIVERS

S5 ODVONCE • 21 BND OVER •RIPPM MJEUST 1 • P L BHLLRDDM

[H. BUHNSIPE • PDRTLDND, URCHIN CONCERT LIKE; 778-5625 ^ ^ ^ • ^ ^ H u i i i n x . c a j i i iuuiui.incjnznni

VTsrToJi W I I sm n WWWJKCMINAMINVCOM M nun l » « ANRRAIAJUMOOMAMINOSMIN&COM MT or SHOW noun a (rai l U I U O O M ncnn ama M M

we Buy & Sell new & used alternative & independent LPs, CDs, cassettes & 7s

All regular domestic used CDs ' 7 " or less

• T Shirts • Manic Panic/Punky Color Hair Dye • Lava lamps, black lights • Tons of makeup in great colors

1036 W. Burnside PDX OR 97209 Tel.503 227.1975

JULY 30. 1997 WW CULTURE 27