In Rainbows

对于一个不懂任何技术的Radiohead fans，他们音乐中变幻的节拍和效果带来的快感只有感官刺激。然而我要说，Radiohead满足了在我的审美观中，对于美妙事物的所有幻想。冰冷刺骨但不黑暗，仿佛丛丛众众的冰棱中反射出的彩虹，仿佛漂浮在浩瀚星空中的身体，这一切的一切，纯粹地架空在宇宙中，除却内心的感觉，没有其余任何的支撑点。有时候Radiohead会让我想起曾经度过的漫长而清冷的无眠夜晚，有时候则是睡梦中残破的梦境。
　　
我们是生活在后现代中的人群，世界是这样微不足妙。还记不记得初听到《OK Computer》时的感动。他们就是我们的妄想狂机器人，黑暗中隐秘的光线，爱这张专辑的人，是不是和我一样，都会迷恋上对于太空和时间这样永恒广阔的事物。它会让我有一些想到不久前看过的电影《The Fountain》。从《OK Computer》到《In Rainbows》，在《Bodysnatchers》和《Jigsaw Falling Into Place》里我隐约听到之前的狂躁，但更多的时候，那些尖锐的冰棱和呼啸的冷风渐渐融化为虚幻的光，然而神经质依旧，动人依旧。譬如《All I Need》中清亮的金属碰撞声，Radiohead也有这样短暂的平静和抚慰。
　　
Radiohead不仅仅是伟大而已，沉入深海抑或浮于宇宙，有彩虹般的美妙幻想陪伴我。

by Andy Kellman

In Rainbows, as a title, implies a sense of comfort and delightfulness. Symbolically, rainbows are more likely to be associated with kittens and warm blankets than the grim and glum circumstances Radiohead is known for soundtracking. There's a slight, if expected, twist at play. The band is more than familiar with the unpleasant moods associated with colors like red, green, and blue -- all of which, of course, are colors within a rainbow -- all of which are present, and even mentioned, during the album. On a couple levels, then, In Rainbows is not any less fitting as a Radiohead album title than "Myxomatosis" as a Radiohead song title. Despite references to "going off the rails," hitting "the bottom," getting "picked over by the worms," being "dead from the neck up," and feeling "trapped" (twice), along with Radiohead Wordplay Deluxe Home Edition pieces like "comatose" and "nightmare" -- in the same song! double score! -- the one aspect of the album that becomes increasingly perceptible with each listen is how romantic it feels, albeit in the way that one might find the bioport scenes in David Cronenberg's eXistenZ to be extremely hot and somewhat unsettling. Surprisingly, some of the album's lyrics are even more personal/universal and straightforward than anything on The Eraser, the album made by Thom Yorke and Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich. "I'm an animal trapped in your hot car," from "All I Need," has to be one of the saddest, most open-hearted metaphors used to express unrequited love. "House of Cards" begins with "I don't want to be your friend/I just want to be your lover/No matter how it ends/No matter how it starts," and the one with the worms includes "I'd be crazy not to follow/Follow where you lead/Your eyes/They turn me." This effective weaving of disparate elements -- lyrical expressions commonly associated with the band, mixed in with ones suited for everyday love ballads -- goes for the music as well. The album is very song-oriented, with each track constantly moving forward and developing, yet there are abstract electronic layers and studio-as-instrument elements to prevent it from sounding like a regression. In Rainbows will hopefully be remembered as Radiohead's most stimulating synthesis of accessible songs and abstract sounds, rather than their first pick-your-price download.