Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears; I come to talk about Radiohead's basement sessions, not spend an entire entry sucking Radiohead dick. Let's be honest, if I were left to my own devices, I would probably spend most of this entry rambling on and on about how phenomenal, consistently talented, and refreshingly ingenious they are. However, most of you probably already know this; and the rest probably do not want to read another metaphor about dick-sucking.
Radiohead may have been the best thing to hit my ears since little Jessie Epperson's skillful tongue back in high school. The video above is proof. While we may be familiar with drinking our troubles away to "Nude"; or rocking out naked on the air guitar to "Bodysnatchers," we now have the special treat of watching Radiohead concoct these creations up close and personal, and marvel at the magic of the entire process. This is most likely how the children who got to tour Willy Wonka's chocolate factory felt.
Being allowed into Willy Wonka's factory gave those kids (probably just Charlie; not so much the kids who came out with horrible physical deformities) a greater appreciation of the candy, the process of making the candy, and the genius behind the candy. Along the same lines, Radiohead's basement sessions provide a greater appreciation and insight into both the band and the music. These guys are grooving, jamming, and bantering with one another in an intimate little room with cups and coffee mugs littering the tops of instruments and amps. Jonny takes a drink from his cup; Thom casually strums his guitar while shaking his head to the beat; then suddenly and magically, "House of Cards" dances across the airwaves. With the coziness of a college band practice session combined with their typical effortless artistry, Radiohead carries on in this manner for the duration of the hour-long set.
Most of the songs on the setlist are from In Rainbows plus a few additional gems. Relative to the sound of Radiohead's studio-recorded albums, the basement sessions suffer no losses in quality; only gains.
