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"MK1"
As predicted by many of the forecasters (and confirmed by that one guy who received his discbox a week early)
"MK1," like its brother "MK2," is a quick instrumental track that
emerges out of the same piano chords Thom Yorke hammers on
"Videotape," the closer from In Rainbows, but the key
strokes are distorted with looping and topped by Yorke's windblown
vocals. Does this mean listeners should consider this eight-track
bonus disc as an extension or sequel to IR? Well, yes and
no, as you'll see. "MK1" bounces around the headphones and the
piano grows more discordant before finally launching into "Down Is
the New Up."
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"Down Is the New
Up"
A song fans have either loved or loathed since its first
performances in 2006, "Down Is the New Up" was once considered to
be the centerpiece of In Rainbows because the band posted
countless pieces of artwork by band designer Stanley
Donwood on their Web site that illustrated the title. In its studio
form, this piano-heavy slow funk song (think Hail to the
Thief's "Punch-Up At a Wedding") remains largely the same as
the live version until the 1:54 mark, when the most menacing violin
strings this side of a James Bond theme creep in, breathing new
life into the track. The strings hang around for the remainder of
the song, while Yorke does his best Prince impression during the
closing coda.
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"Go Slowly"
Unlike In Rainbows, where studio versions didn't differ
that greatly from their live counterparts, CD2's final takes are
completely transformed. "Go Slowly" still sounds like Yorke is
living the second disc of Pink Floyd's The Wall, but now
the track is awash with buzzing synths, xylophone and more
omnipresent guitar. Yorke's voice echoes until the climax, which
doesn't provide the expected massive full-band explosion, but the
song is vastly improved over its embryonic live version.
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"MK2"
Like "MK1," this is a short (fifty-three seconds) keyboard
instrumental. Whereas "MK1" was used to segue out of In
Rainbows, "MK2" (which sounds similar to other Kid
A-era ambient experiments) is used to temporarily lift the
listener out of the doldrums of "Go Slowly" and into the next
track, "Last Flowers."
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"Last Flowers"
Like In Rainbows's "Nude," "Last Flowers" is an OK
Computer outtake that the band has been tinkering with for
more than a decade. But while "Nude" has undergone numerous
mutations, "Last Flowers" has been stripped of all excess
production, with Yorke's voice taking center stage over simple
piano and occasional acoustic guitar. It's been said that the song
is especially personal for Yorke, and his voice cracks with emotion
halfway through the second time he sings "Houses move and houses
speak." The song wouldn't be out of place closing any Radiohead
album (many fans have admitted they'd prefer it end In
Rainbows) and proves that even without all the studio
wizardry, Radiohead's bare-bones songs still resonate.
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"Up on the Ladder"
After the radical reformation of "Reckoner" on In
Rainbows, Radiohead was expected to throw another curveball
with "Up on the Ladder," a song birthed out of the same Kid
A/Amnesiac sessions that produced the original, angrier
"Reckoner." While "UOTL" remains largely intact, the song has still
been altered, to wonderful effect. The ragged guitar riff still
dominates, only now the song has a backbeat that's nearly identical
to that of Amnesiac's "I Might Be Wrong." The band
revisits the keyboards from "MK2," too.
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"Bangers and Mash"
"Bangers and Mash," the grittiest, most thrashed-out guitar tune of
all Radiohead's 2006 live songs, reappears here slightly more
straitjacketed but no less chaotic, jerking between funk, punk, rap
and rock. The song sounds like an amalgamation of Deerhoof and
Liars, two bands Yorke openly admires, borrowing Deerhoof's
untypical song structures and the Liars' frenetic primal melodies,
with Yorke rant-rapping above it all. While drummer Phil Selway's
contribution was often buried in the reverb of In
Rainbows, his work on this CD shines through, as evidenced by
his ability to keep up with all of the genre shifts this song
attempts in a scant 3:20.
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"4 Minute Warning"
Mockingly referred to by fans as Radiohead's "Coldplay song" when
it first appeared in concert, "4 Minute Warning" has been
transformed from something that Chris Martin might have imagined
into a beautiful yet terrifying closing number. The song, which is
about the moments before nuclear warfare, is preceded by a minute
and a half of Eno-worthy buzz before the pianos and Yorke's
harmonizing kick in. The result is both a unifying anthem and a
perfect finale that'll keep fans satiated as they wait restlessly
for Radiohead to tour the U.S. next Spring.
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