So I’m listening to some late night Radiohead, and I revisit These Are My Twisted Words. I hadn’t listened to it in years and honestly did not think much of it.
BUT WOAH, guys! I think this song is secretly one of their best (this is as a qualified Radiohead fan through and through) and I think this song is an absolute guitar masterclass! The textures and rhythms in here are actually complex AF, and has some of the tightest playing Phil has ever done. I always slept on it but I think it’s gold! Thoughts?
Someone somewhere said this is like the evil twin of Weird Fishes, loved the idea
yeah, I see that. some people had this impression back when it came out too.
The guitars at the beginning and super similar, seemingly identical. It goes in its own direction but yeah
Ha, made the same comment.
You might say Weird Fishes is what you get when you un-twist his words
I think it's great as well. It's kind of hypnotic, the way the drums just go on, and the way the guitars are flowing and strongly panned left/right
Yesss so true! It’s so dark and twisted, like the name suggests, but so groovy, and punctual. The way the guitars flow around that metronome of a groove is amazing, and it sucks you in completely!
I actually got to see them play this song live back in 2017 and it was insane.
Also do most people know that it was originally released via BitTorrent back in 2009 and the Radiohead fan community had a hard time figuring out if it was an actual song from the band at first?
I actually remember having to torrent the song to get it and being super confused myself.
a friend sent it to me to check if it felt legitimate. the first few instrumental minutes were challenging, but as soon as the singing came on I was convinced it was them.
I do remember this. Makes it even more 'hidden'.
I remember people speculating a new album or EP called Wall of Ice was coming.
it came with several photo files of the branches for the art too right? and you could compile them in any order for your cover. super cool.
It's like evil 'Weird Fishes'. I really thought TKOL was going to be this style. I do love TKOL, but more like this would have been welcome.
Came here to say “Ugly step sister of Weird Fishes” lol
Yeah I put the live at reading where they opened with creep and my wife was surprised when it came in the encore. Very good song indeed
You described it perfectly. Absolute masterclass of a song and one of their best, quietly
Only Radiohead song without physical release btw (if we don’t count minidiscs [HACKED])
fuck, that's true. I would've jumped at the chance to buy a 12" if that ever happened.
not rue, there is also harry patch and daily mail/staircase never got a official physical single release
I knew I was forgetting others :) thanks for the reminder
edit: however, there's a Japanese promo for that single https://www.discogs.com/release/4983431-Radiohead-The-Daily-Mail-Staircase
The Daily Mail and Staircase are the exact same recordings as TKOL From The Basement. Harry Patch was included on some soundtrack Jonny made
It sounds like they would have had a lot of fun coming up with it too
it became an instant personal favorite as soon as I hit play. I was in the middle of a deep obsession with post-rock, krautrock and math rock, so gettin a mostly instrumental track by Radiohead going motorik beats + noodling guitars hit the spot a bit too precisely for me at the time. according to my last.fm I played it 111 times in a row that day (roughly 10h14m... so all day indeed lol)
it has stayed as one of my top Radiohead songs all these years, and every time The Smile did anythin close to it (like the second half of Under Our Pillows) it's been instant love.
...and I'm happy that I saw its live debut AND heard it being soundchecked in Buenos Aires earlier that year.
They randomly played this in Seattle in 2017 everyone lost it.
By the way the live version is better.
One of my favourites, grossly underrated along with In Limbo
Absolutely underrated
You might like these:
https://youtu.be/-bQKE2rHtv8?si=fA48Lgt2J325196q
https://youtu.be/k3AnX8T8AtQ?si=emdW8VZwyfXm6mnc
This might be my fav. Radiohead song of all time!
I love it, one of their most entrancing and dark sounding songs.
Here's one of my favorite Radiohead related videos on YouTube, about some old folks listening and reviewing the song. I don't wanna spoil much but I recommend listening to the last guy, its a truly redeeming conclusion to the video. Unexpectedly insightful.
https://youtu.be/YEWbS_KOjSw?si=rxW2OsNzy2xDv2ba
The intro is seriously my favourite of any song I know
Saw this live blew the mind:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ry90HwQCkZ4
All true. You can also check an old Pink Floyd song called ''Set The Controls for The Heart of The Sun" which is definetely an inspiration for TAMTW
I've been wanting them to do a post-rockish, math-rockish album since I heard it live in Prague in 2009. Best non-album A-side of theirs?
I vividly remember when it leaked on what.cd! I was on a trip in London and I melted my electricity converter downloading the torrent and putting it on my iPod. Totally worth it!
Yeah ok.