Right, I’ve had a damn good listen to Kid A and here’s a very brief review:

Firstly, a quote from a review in this months issue of ‘The Crack’ (a listings magazine here in Newcastle, UK) - “Apparently, the ‘Head’s next tour is to feature no logos, no branding, and no gimmicks - good to see the band have carried this noble gesture over into their latest album by including no tunes”. The review in this months Mojo is equally as negative, calling the album “awful”. On the other hand, I’ve read some amazingly positive reviews about it. When an album derrides critics in this way, it usually means it’s gonna be alright.

I bought the record from a small but very popular independent record shop called Spin in Newcastle. I don’t why, but I was expecting it to be sold out or something… but no, there it was, a big rack full of ’em in fact. So, after taking it home and listening to it a few times, I can’t really fault it, it’s just Radiohead making noise and bringing us a few surprises along the way. It’s a much broader album than previous releases, mixing a few radio friendly songs (including ‘Optimistic’ and ‘Morning Bell’), with ambience (‘Treefingers’), and some crazy saxophone/horn arrangements (‘The National Anthem’). I’d say they’re still one step ahead of the rest of the mainstream cak and I recommend it.