THE CD SINGLE LUCKY DIP (15) : Radiohead – Knives Out

Between January 1996 and May 2003, Radiohead released seven singles in the UK all of which climbed into the Top 10.

Except this one:-

mp3 : Radiohead – Knives Out

It only reached #13 in August 2001. It came on the back of Pyramid Song and again had plenty of fans and critics scratching their heads at its lack of commercial appeal. There was no obvious catchy chorus and no real effort at sounding all that memorable on radio.

I reckon its one of the best things they’ve ever done. I could have sworn it was Johnny Marr playing on the record the first time I heard it…….indeed it sounded at times as if The Smiths had reformed with a new vocalist. Still does. Have a listen to the 40 second section that begins at about 2 mins 25 seconds and tell me you can’t make out some Manchester magic…..

The single was released across 2 x CDs.

mp3 : Radiohead – Worrywort
mp3 : Radiohead – Fog
mp3 : Radiohead – Cuttooth
mp3 : Radiohead – Life In A Glasshouse (full length version)

Again, all four tracks were quite different from what most fans were expecting. Here’s extracts of what it says about them on wiki:-

Worrywort is a slow and dreamy electronic song again featuring unique percussion effects or beat-boxing.

Fog is an ambient and melodic song, mainly bass-driven, and featuring some creative use of tambourine. This version of the song differs from Thom Yorke’s solo piano version sometimes played live. That brief live piano version was itself released as a b-side two years later, during the band’s Hail to the Thief era, at which point it was nicknamed “Fog (again).”

Cuttooth has piano and bass working collectively and fluently, with samples running in and out throughout the song. It is notable for having been mentioned 12 times in Ed O’Brien’s online diary of the studio process for recording Kid A and Amnesiac, leading fans to expect it as a centrepiece of the band’s new material, though the song would not make the cut on either record. Some of the lyrics of Cuttooth (“I don’t know why I feel so tongue tied / I don’t know why I feel so skinned alive”) were later used in the song Myxomatosis, appearing on the band’s 2003 album Hail to the Thief.

The full length version of Life in a Glasshouse found on the single is derived from the same performance as the version found on Amnesiac, but differs in that it lacks the opening electronic effect, and features slightly more soloing by jazz trumpeter Humphrey Lyttelton and other members of his band before Yorke begins singing.

So there you go.

 

JC