Tuesday, April 3, 2007

The other album out ... Sunday?

The "Airbag" single has always been the jewel in the Radiohead completist's crown. Billed as a mini-album, the seven-song disc came out after OK Computer in 1998 and quickly fell out of print.

According to Amazon, a limited edition re-release is planned for April 8, which is this Sunday and is the latest in a series of non-Tuesday release dates previously posted. So who knows what Sunday will bring.

Despite its collectors' appeal, the album has a lot working against it. When "Airbag," isn't followed by "Paranoid Android," there's immediately a letdown. And, like most B-sides, you can see why these songs were left off the album.

But the instrumental "Meeting in the Aisle" and the track "Polyethylene" stand out. Plus, it has some of Radiohead's trademark artsy/creepy liner notes, this time in the form of a questionnaire with check boxes next to statements like "What a clean city. I'm kind of sleepy," "We plants are happy plants," and "Everything I do/say is suspect."

Good Sunday reading. Jesus would approve.

Radiohead — Polyethylene (MP3)
Radiohead — How Can You Be Sure? (MP3) (Live version of B-side on "High and Dry" single)

1 comment:

TAPE DECK MOUNTAIN said...

I actually have this, had no clue it was rare.