Fake Plastic Podcast Alternate Thursdays

To discuss the evolution of Radiohead, we must contend with their first hit-single, “Creep.” It was the song that catapulted them to stardom and to this day remains their most-streamed and most recognizable song. 
Although scorned by numerous Radiohead fans and even by the band itself, “Creep” is inescapable.
In this episode we’ll focus specifically on the reception of “Creep” on MTV — at their MTV Beach House Performance in 1993 and on an episode of “Beavis and Butthead.”
But before that: a little history behind “Creep.”

“Like Spinning Plates” may be one of the most experimental tracks Radiohead has produced. It appears near the end of their fifth studio album, Amnesiac. The tracks from Amnesiac were produced during the Kid A sessions. But rather than release a 20-track LP, the band decided to release the other songs a year later as a separate album.
Brad Osborn, assistant professor at the Kansas University School of Music and author of "Everything In Its Right Place: Analyzing Radiohead" will will take us on a musicological exploration of “Like Spinning Plates.” We’ll discuss its bizarre origin story, how it follows the theme of memory in the album, and most of all, its distinct timbre.

Today’s episode isn’t about a specific song. But it does serve as a belated preface to the theme of our first season: Radiohead and the press.
This season I’m interviewing journalists, authors, and musicologists. People on the outside looking in. And Baryney Hoskyns's Present Tense: A Radiohead Compendium encapsulates this theme. It’s the story of Radiohead from the critic’s perspective—an anthology of profiles, reviews, and other journalistic pieces about the band, their work, and their various solo projects. 
Like the book, this episode starts with the group's early performances in Oxford, tracing their efforts through each album cycle until the present day. This is Radiohead for beginners.

With a few exceptions, like “Lotus Flower” or “15 Step," all Radiohead songs are a bit sad in their own way. But that’s not to say that they’re only sad.
In this episode, Spencer Kornhaber of The Atlantic will uncover the unexpected humor of "Paranoid Android" and explain why identifying that humor is essential to fully understanding Radiohead’s work.

In our second episode we learned about the various timbres Radiohead uses to craft a unique sonic landscape. From the chunky guitar of “Creep” to the eerie synth of “Like Spinning Plates,” Radiohead is purposeful in the instruments and effects they choose to convey a message.
So what happens when you boil all of those timbres into one instrument?
The answer is Christopher O’Riley. Through his albums True Love Waits and Hold Me To This, Christopher weaves the distinct instrumental voices of Radiohead into one solo piano interpretation. The result is mesmerizing.
This is a special bonus episode. An interview with classical pianist Christopher O’Riley about what he learned about Radiohead from transcribing their music for piano. And why he believes that Radiohead’s music, like that of the classical greats, will stand the test of time.

After the tremendous success of In Rainbows, Radiohead fans expected an explosive follow-up record. Instead, they received 37 minutes—the band's shortest yet—of synthesized loops, rhythmic layers, and restrained vocals. For that and other reasons, The King of Limbs is often found near the bottom of fans' "Best Of" lists. But Deepcuts creator Oliver Kemp argues that the album is beautiful and inventive in its own right, and that "The King of Limbs: Live From the Basement" brings this innovation to the forefront.
This broadcast was released about ten months after the The King of Limbs and includes performances of all eight tracks from the record—as well as a few singles. Modeled after their previous live video album for In Rainbows, the sessions were produced by Nigel Godrich and televised internationally. Clive Deamer of Portishead joined Phil Selway to execute the album’s complicated polyrhythms, while a horn section was added to fill out the sound of songs like “Bloom” and “Codex.” Together, they breathed new life into these oft-maligned songs.