I don't dislike that B&S album. It's not their best, and I easily chose Kid A, but still.

Definitely ANTi KIG A for me. I would strike an unabashed vote for If You;'re Feeling Sinister though

If it was any of the first three B&S albums, at least I'd understand.

Thom Yorke's ghost weeps from the afterlife.

Me too. I don't care how many critics try to tell me how great Kid A is, I ain't buying it. I love this B&S much more than any of their other records and am not at all surprised at the results so far.

me too

i'll pretty much vote anything over RAGIOHEAG

This should be an easy one for people to decide on.

If you are some tortured soul who believes music exist to facilitate the high art 'concepts' of wretched middle class art students so that the full horror of life with a gardener and two cars in the drive can be explored via the musical architecture of abstract sounds and sonic experimentation, thereby creating a sort of sonic cathedral of miserablism and gloom, in the mistaken believe that it proves innovation, personal depth, culture and intelligence, when really its mopey pandering to the most commonplace of adolescent processes, then you should vote Radiohead.

If, on the other hand, you a normal human being who believes music should actually be a pleasure to listen to, in the form of well written, played, and above all, enjoyable pop songs, with wry semi-amusing lyrics; and that this music should come with CD booklet festooned with pictures of attractive young women in mini kilts, they you should vote Belle & Sebastian.

What's to understand? This album is better than those albums.

little from column a a little from column b.

So bands that get really successful should avoid doing anything remotely interesting and instead coast through the rest of their careers on bland pleasantness, having sanded off all of the edges of what made their music distinctive and worthwhile?

Right because no one wants to hear about rich people being sad or having any kinds of problems with the world. Why don't these criticisms get leveled at Gram Parsons more often? Oh, because he was a traditionalist, and therefore "authentic". Radiohead are "experimental" and therefore "contrived".

I can't really say that Radiohead excites me too much anymore, or even that I've listened to Kid A once in the past 3 years, but I just get so sick of this whole argument of "weird music is contrived, and conventional pop music is more honest". I'm not even gonna try to argue that Kid A was more vital, important, or whatever, or that it's a greater artistic expression. That B&S album is just dull sub-Smiths coffee shop music, and it baffles me how anyone would single it out from the enormous mass of this kind of stuff that's been released over the past 10 years as somehow one of the best examples of what this decade has had to offer.

Yeah, the Velvet Underground certainly wasn't arty or experimental, that's for sure.

Oh, but they weren't rich and/or sad, so it was OK.

anyone that thinks Radiohead are miserable or gloomy knows nothing about them.

Well from what I've read they definitely weren't rich, but whether they were sad, I guess that's debatable. I'd say their music was definitely chilly and not a pleasant cup of pop soup.

Also, I don't know if I think that Kid A is all that gloomy or sad. Like VU, I find it a bit chilly in terms of emotion but not depressing.

Yeah, I agree. Radiohead definitely doesn't do sunshiny pop with cute lyrics about cute girls doing cute things, though, so if that's what you need to keep from sinking into despair, they're definitely not for you.

Radiohead live has a rhythm section that is voracious, Tribal, and universal. 17 year old kids in Mexico City and Ho Chi Minh City instinctively rock to the chilly sound of the 21st century. High Art in and of itself doesn't fill stadiums in Mumbai.... but Radiohead could.

B and S are wonderfully.... sweet and clever.

B&S are much easier to swallow, especially for those that are afraid of musical experimentation.

by "musical experimentation" Dalen means creative hoo ha

for the record... bell and sebastian blow
i voted for the hoo ha

So did Dalen.

Hoo-hah means vagina, no?

He means Thom's reference to the hard work that goes into making an album:

"I'm tired of all the creative hoo-ha"

hoo ha could be vag as well i guess.

Winner.

(#2) Radiohead - Kid A