Puddlegum

BEIJING - In November last year I got a call from a flustered Chinese magazine editor. ‘Would you be able to do an 800 word album review for our December edition?’ she asked, adding ‘by tomorrow?’.

Normally I would have turned this down as the money tends to be poor and the deadline was a bit abrupt, but the magazine in question was Rolling Stone China - re-named ‘InMusic‘ after a disastrous launch left them unable to publish under that name - and the album was Radiohead’s ‘In Rainbows‘. Ultimately the prestige of the publication and the immediate relevance of the album (I had it on rotation at that point) saw me sitting down the following day to churn it out.

It was only after I got my copy back that I started to wonder why they had approached me, a westerner, to review such an important album. I met for a coffee with my editor Lua Zhou to ask how it came about…

Lua Zhou: There is a problem with Radiohead. We talked about this in the editors meeting and we found that so many people love Radiohead but no-one has ever clearly said why they are so good. There is no clear answer, no clear review in the past. So I thought maybe I should find a foreign writer to write about it. Especially someone who has experience working in the western music industry, or who is a musician, because they are really a musician’s band - that way we can find out technically why they are good.

Ed Peto: Would none of your writers be more suited to write about Radiohead for the Chinese audience?

LZ: In the past I have given my writers a list of things to write about to make a perfect article: Relationship the musician has with label, what kind of instruments do they use, who is the producer and how have they influenced the music. They all say to me, ‘why do you want to be so technical?’, because Chinese writers are only used to writing things from their feelings.

There is no clear line between categories of music as the genres are not mature enough, it is not so clear what type of music you are playing so things are described in a more general way. Reviewers do lots of comparisons - Say compare this album to Kid A. I don’t think they can do as much technical analysis. Traditionally they don’t do this. They always start with a factual band introduction - which I normally cut - then go into the spiritual side, the meaning of the lyrics and how it makes you feel.

EP: Do you think genre awareness is important?

LZ: I think China is a real mash-up country. We just listen to different stuff. The record shops don’t tell us what is what, they just put all the records together and you take all different styles at the same time.

EP: So would Chinese musicians not understand genres and the recording process and be able to write technically?

LZ: Actually, I included a small interview with a Chinese rock musician after your review. He’s a guitarist from a band (Sound Fragment) that actually quotes some of Radiohead’s songs in their music. He gave me very short answers. He could not explain why Radiohead is good.

Do you listen to Radiohead? : Yes.
How did you hear about In Rainbows? : The Internet.
Why is it attractive to you?: Because they are Radiohead.
Are you satisfied with the album? What do you think of Thom Yorke’s performance?: Surprisingly wonderful experience.
What do you think of how they released this record?: Because they are rich, they can play with their record.

So, when you write about Jigsaw Falling Into Place, it sounds like a band who has very good control of their music, of their skill:

“It is back to the five-guys-in-a-room for album highlight and first single Jigsaw Falling In To Place. If ever there was a song to unite all Radiohead fans past and present this surely must be it. Starting with a simple acoustic guitar riff, then beefed up with bass and drums, then enter the vocals and backing vocals. There aren’t many acts in the world that can build this level of heat from the basics of band music. It just requires the change in vocal pitch to send this into the stratosphere, ready for the smooth middle section on 2.53, once again building to a second climax, now including strings, then winding down to a breathless finish.”

- Excerpt taken from original English draft of my article.

It takes a good technical explanation to show this. Chinese writers would never write like this, how Radiohead make the peak, how they control it with the voice.

EP: How would a Chinese writer describe that song then?

LZ: They would use an image to describe it. I think it is about the language. The Chinese language is more about scenery than English - more emotional. I think English is more technical. Colder.

EP: So what do you think are the advantages to writing in a more cold, technical way? Why do you want to influence your writers in this direction?

LZ: I think we need professionals. It is a basic thing, as a music journalist, you should know how the music is made and then you can go on to talk about the emotional side. Because anyone can write about emotions.
After we published this article I sent it to all of my writers and said ‘take this as an example of how western writers write about music’. I think they can do this if they just learn.

EP: Is that not telling them that they do not know how to write?

LZ: Japanese review writers also always talk about their personal life or feelings in the review. I don’t care about their personal life, all I care is if this album good or not, how did they make it, what type of sound it has. I guess this situation in Japan is similar to China.’

N.B: For any Chinese readers wanting to read Chinese music writers, here is a quick list of some of the better known blogs:

• Yang Bo
• Yan Jun
• Haofang
• Wang Xiaofeng
• Sun Mengjin

Thom Yorke is releasing remixes from the Eraser album. The remixes will be available as digital downloads at Boomkat.com. The update from Thom Yorke is as follows:

this
is a quick notE to Let YoU know thAT there will be shorttlY be a bunch of rmxs
of some of the songs from the ERAser album made available to download from boomkat.com.

on the 17th of Dec a BURIAL rmx of anditrainedallNight
a ModeSeleKtOR rmx of skipdivideD
& a VAriouS rmx of aNaLYse

on the 18th of Dec a FoURtet rmx of AtoMS for PEace
& two Christian Vogel rmxs of ‘Black sWAn’

on the 19th of Dec the SuRGEon rmx of the CLock
a rmx of HarrOWdown HiLL by THE buG
& a rmx of Cymbal RUsh by The FIEld

that’s it. apoloGIes for the disturbanCE. check themm out if you get amoment.

i Hope yours is a pEaceful CHRistmas.

thom yorke.

ISTANBUL - Hailing from New Jersey, Holler, Wild Rose! is the perfect combination of shoegaze, post-rock and ambient. Despite the young existence of this seven-piece, they have already been compared to several masters of these genres in a big way. Their debut Our Little Hymnal is one of the wonders came out in 2007; promising a winning music cemented with heart! A Hymnal that is encouraging, moving, somewhat provoking and gripping all the way.

Here, they have answered some questions for Puddlegum; about the band, album and music:

Holler, Wild Rose! is an interesting name for a band which captures attention right away. I know it is also the title of the first song in the album - Our Little Hymnal. So why did you pick this name? Is the same-titled song inspired by the band-name or the band-name came after the song was written?

First things first! The band is named after the song. We were originally called aDive, so many years ago. In a tumultuous and defining moment for our group, we decided to change the name to proclaim a collective vision, which the song best describes. At it’s core, Holler, Wild Rose! is an earnest declaration that we believe in joy and in promise; we hope to be their standard-bearers.

You are a 7 (6?) piece band. It can be considered to be sort of a crowded group comparing to many other bands today. What advantages or disadvantages does it bring, do you think? I have always thought “more people in a band” must motivate more creativity and energy but can it also cause a difficulty for consistency? Do you all contribute when a song is being written?

We are a seven piece band, but we can be as little as five; Our rhythm guitarist and organist perform whenever they’re available. I would agree that a greater number of players increases creative energy, but I believe the key to accessing it is in the way in which our different members interact. One positive for us: we’ve had several years to learn about one another! First and foremost, we are friends and family that love each other, and our priority is lifting our voices together in unison; no one in the group is waiting for their turn to show off and solo. Our shared goal is better songwriting, not riffs or showmanship. I can honestly say when you put your mates first, it’ll enrich your friendship and cultivate a fertile soil for mutual contribution.

How do you feel about the reactions to your debut Our Little Hymnal? Do you think it is received by the community that you were addressing to? Or do you have a specific target community in the first place? Who would/should listen to your music?

Overall, we feel the reaction has been a positive and encouraging one. We definitely didn’t have a target market or demographic in mind in releasing this album; we hope that the music will reach people from all walks of life. We played an impromptu concert in the NYC subway system in October, and the most fantastic thing was seeing families and businessmen and college students alike all taking time in their busy lives to stop and listen- hope transcends so many barriers!

Our Little Hymnal is like a 12 episode - story combined by “selahs”. All of the songs in the album appear to be “pieces” of a “whole”. Could you tell that it is a shared story of yourselves that you built up in the 4 year time before releasing this album?

It’s not a proper story, but maybe a collection of vignettes all caught up in the same continuum. The subject matter was culled from the real experience of love and loss and learning. We did spend alot of effort in maintaining a sense of balance and cohesion.

Will you follow the same concept for your following works in the future? Maybe a sequel to Our Little Hymnal?

No sequels please! I’d simply say that any collective work we create in the future will be created in the pursuit of honesty and wholeness. We’ll do nothing less than draw up from the depths of us, and hopefully the listener will discern our motive is true.

Before releasing the debut; one of your former songs “Victory Shine” appeared in a Backlight compilation album - “Other Songs and Dances Vol I”. When comparing “Victory Sunshine” to “Our Little Hymnal”; the dark - downtempo sound can be heard in both but still I felt a soft transition from electronic-ambient to slightly noisy shoegaze -post-rock. How would you explain this change over? And how the fans have received this slight change?

Victory Shine was a wonderful chance for us to branch out and show the breadth of our sonic palette. We wrote and recorded it during the time we were writing Our Little Hymnal, so it’s definitely not a representation of an earlier writing phase for us. I would say, though, that we made a conscious decision not to indulge our electronic appetites in the recording of the album, for the sake of aural continuity.

You have been compared to plenty of inspiring names in the music business; from Jeff Buckley to My Bloody Valentine, Sigur Rós to Thom Yorke, David Bowie to Explosions In The Sky… Personally, you remind me of Galaxie 500 too! Have these names inspired you making your music, what are your inspirations? And what do you listen in general?

Those names are such pillars of alternative music, you’d have to live under a rock not to be influenced by them! With so many members, we could probably open up a little record shop of all our inspirations: folk, gospel, hip-hop, classical, rave, electronic, jungle, drum n”bass, just to name a few!

Are there any plans on making a music video for any song in Our Little Hymnal?

We have an amazing storyboard and script for Marylawn Hair. Now we’re just trying to come up with a budget- never easy. In the meantime, we believe the music itself can stand on its own, without visual interpretation.

Can we expect a European tour in the near future?

We would love nothing more than to spread our joy across the pond- we’ve had such positive European response, it’d be a shame not to be able to tour there. Hopefully we’ll be eastward bound in the latter half of 2008.

How the word about Holler, Wild Rose! is being spreaded? Where would you put “internet”, “tv”, “radio”, “press” in the way of publication?

Internet was the primary and is the invaluable medium. We’ve secured radio promotion, and the music is being played on over 100 independent stations in the US; that’s not including online radio broadcasts and satellite radio. Traditional magazine press has been a slower foray, though we’ve been featured on numerous blog reviews. Television is an arena we have yet to break.

Holler, Wild Rose! - Sun Vines
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Thom Yorke and Ed O’Brien sat down with Steve Lamacq for an interview on BBC Radio 6. This was Radiohead’s first radio interview since they released In Rainbows.

Thirty-eight minutes into the interview, Thom Yorke mentioned Puddlegum’s Binary Theory and the Golden Section Theory (also known as the Golden Ratio) that was discussed in the ensuing comments.

Several minutes later Steve Lamacq asks Radiohead about the idea of “shuffling” In Rainbows, which might have stemmed from the 10 and 01 playlist.

Listen to the interview on BBC 6, available until 11/26.

Here is a short transcript from the hour long interview:
(thanks to Babs for helping us transcribe.)

Steve>> ‘Fessing up time. The first time I heard this record, and you know me, I always give you an honest opinion, ‘fessing up time. The first time I heard [In Rainbow] the thing that I found really strange was that there was no… there didn’t seem to be a center to this record. Didn’t seem to have a certain sense of a focus. If you go back to Hail to the Thief, lyrically there’s various sort of themes running through it, fatherhood, maybe the political landscape outside of the family home, and there was something kind of holding it together. Less so with this record, do you think?
Thom>> No.
Steve>> Right.
Thom>> But only because… No, the center is Reckoner, I think.
Steve>> Do you?
Thom>> Yeah. `Cause that’s where it goes into a space of its own. The central point, because we separate like ripples on a blank shore, it’s… that that’s the center. Everything’s leading to that point then going away from that point.
Steve>> So literally it’s quite like dropping the pebble in a pool?
Thom>> For me anyway, yeah. And then I tell you what though. We did something, we were talking to somebody this morning, and there’s all these mad theories on the net, I mean I don’t… you know, I’m not one of these people who ever reads them, but someone read one out to me. It’s all about 10s, and apparently mathematically that is the center point.
Ed>> Isn’t it the golden section theory?
Thom>> Yeah, the Golden Section Theory. So if you’re really, really, really, really stuck for something to do, you could always read up about that.
Steve>> Musically though as well, you’ve mined various seams with different albums. Tested different parts with what the band is about and what it’s capable of doing. This one feels like you’ve gone down the mine, but found different seams. You’re working on different parts, stretching different parts of your music. Instead of going particularly in one direction, I think.
Thom>> Really? Huh. I think there was less of trying to follow an aesthetic and more trying to sort of be true to the songs themselves, and what was going on with the words, and so on. Ed was big on the words on this record. He kept sort of focusing back on that.
Ed>> That to me is that I kind of, you know for me music, with music in the last four years I
personally went through a phase of not really being able to listen to music, sort of four years ago. And the thing that I came back to was a song. A song is lyrics. You know a song is a singer, and that’s 80% of it, and the music is like 20%. It’s the thing that backs…
Thom>> Can we discuss that with the publishers later? *laughter* Sorry, carry on…
Ed>> Well it’s about half and half with this thing. And that was the thing for me, was like the notable thing when we reconvened, there were these lyrics, and sort of really latching onto lyrics. Because I felt like they were sort of universal. There wasn’t a political agenda. There was a… it’s being human, it’s being, you know? There’s a lot of humanity in that.
Steve>> I think that’s the intimacy. That’s the connection.
Ed>> Yeah, you know, I was getting a buzz hearing the lyrics. And that being like, you know, on a genuine, sort of very profound level. I think what you’ve done on the Eraser as well, that the voice for us, the hearing it, the voice is upfront as well. You didn’t pull the voice back. And so the voice was upfront. So that was really good to hear. That was like, wow, we need to do that. And it was just getting the songs right, and getting the background right to the vocal and to get these lyrics heard because that’s basically what it’s about.
Steve>> Had the experience of doing the Eraser, did that shape how you approached or contributed to this record?
Thom>> Oh, it kind of threw me a bit initially, because…
Steve>> All of a sudden there were these other blokes in the road! *laughter*
Ed>> Disagreeing with you!
Thom>> Understatement number eight!
Ed>> Life was a bit trickier!
Thom>> Yeah! Hang on a minute! So yes. Let’s answer the question. No need to elab-o-rate!
Steve>> So coming back to the … I don’t know whether it’s something to do with continuity but I mentioned that we were talking about the album to one of your mega-fans, and she was saying actually that this is the first Radiohead record which works on shuffle.
Thom>> Oh really?
Ed>> That’s cool.
Thom>> I’m glad we wasted those two weeks putting it together! *laughter*
Steve>> After you were saying about constructing it, and the track listing must be like this, and it works on shuffle.
Ed>> Or maybe that you just have to find the right ten songs that you can shuffle to make it work.

Two months after In Rainbows was released, Radiohead streamed live videos of the band celebrating, djing, and performing several of their songs.

The band performed Jigsaw Falling Into Place, with video cameras attached to helmets, as Thom Yorke sang into an EV RE20 microphone. Reckoner followed, as well as a cover of Unravel by Bjork.

http://www2.radiohead.tv

During the video stream, Thom Yorke held a mic and called Johnny over “for moral support,” and then said:

“Hello, yes. This is thumbs down, because it’s [thumbs down], and we are here. We’re going to play some music if we can still stand up. This is our way of celebrating the fact that we finished a record.

What else? We’ve been doing some stupid stuff for a couple of weeks knocking some things together. Don’t expect any quality level because there is none. Except for of course the professionals are involved, and there are a couple here because frankly we need them.

It’s very nice to have everybody here. I can’t let you listen now, I’ll do it later. I’ll write it down. Please help me out by [Johnny pokes Thom with a broom handle]… Play the bloody video!”

Periodically throughout the video stream, these words were looped:
NO FLIES ON ME
THE OPEN ROAD
FREE MARKET
FAINTLY AMUSED
ALREADY SUNK
SKIN CANCER
SHREDDED WORDS
LAND-GRABBING
DEAD ENDS
BLACK HOLE
PACKAGING
SYMPATHY
TRAFFIC JAM
WILL CALL LATER
JITTER
BEGGING BOWL
MISUNDERSTANDING
COBWEBS
YOUR HUMBLE SERVANT
WILL YOU PLEASE EXPLAIN
FIGHT AMONGST YOURSELVES
NOT BEING COOL
LITTLE BY LITTLE
REPOSSESS
VACUUM
MIRACLE OR MISTAKE
CUL DE SAC
HEARSE
MOSHI MOSHI
TROUBLE FOCUSSING?
NOBODY VISITS
NOBODY COMES
MUSIC IS NOT YOUR FRIEND
SOLD OUT
TUPPENNY SWANK
DEN OF INIQUITY
POROUS
IT’S A FUCKING NIGHTMARE
I MAY BE SOMETIME
REGRET AND PHYSICS
GAME THEORY
CELLS REBEL
INSECT PERSUASION
SHOCK WAVES