Our Endless Numbered Days v. In Rainbows

I'll admit that Radiohead has been more prominent in my musical rotation than Iron & Wine. I own both albums, but for whatever reason, I've always treated I&W as background music: pleasant enough, with moments that occasionally bubble up into consciousness, but for the most part just hover "back there." I've no good excuse for treating it like this, though. And so this match-up was the perfect opportunity to sit down and give it the careful listen it deserved.

How did Endless Numbered Days fare? It's a well-crafted album; more than the nondescript soundtrack like I have often treated it. "Naked as we Came," a song I never really paid any attention to, is amazing ("one of us will die inside these arms/ Eyes wide open, naked as we came"). "Each Coming Night" held its own. Vivid images pop out throughout, complementing its hauntingly-beautiful melodies: "your mother is drunk as all the firemen shake/ a photo from father's arms" (cinder and smoke); "your brothers left here shaved and crazy" (sunset soon forgotten); "Love is a dress that you made/ long to hide your knees" (Love and some verses).

Other songs fared worse under careful scrutiny. "I want your flowers like babies want god's love"--no idea (fever dream). And I found the music of "free until they cut me down" to be entirely too bouncy for a song about lynching. A couple others just couldn't hold my interest, even when I was trying to pay attention. But all-in-all there were no major missteps. And overall, I have a greater appreciation for I&W than before.

But in the end, Our Endless Numbered Days couldn't overtake In Rainbows...at least to my mind. It's pretty hard to compete with an album that begins with "12 Step"--a song that I must have listened to more times than I want to admit and yet still want to hear again. (And how the heck do you manage to put "et cetera, et cetera" in a lyric and make it sound like it belongs in the song?) Same for "You are All I Need," demonstrating the genius of the classic layered build that is Radiohead's signature move. "Jigsaw Falling into Place," for me, demonstrates their ability to use repetition of relatively simple phrases--both music and lyrics--to create a nuanced and deeply textured whole. ("Just as you take my hand/ Just as you write my number down/ Just as the drinks arrive/ Just as they play your favourite song/ As the magic disappears.") Radiohead at its best. "Videotape" is positively haunting ("this is one for the good days/ and i have it all here in red blue green").

Not all is beauty and light on this album. "Faust Arp" has its moments, but I've never managed to get excited about it. Same with "House of Cards" ("The infrastructure will collapse From vaulted spikes" never rang authentic for me). These two songs form a sonic trough that bog the album down towards the end.

The bottom line: both are good albums, each with their great and less interesting moments; but for my money, In Rainbows' highs are higher and more numerous, and its lows are still interesting. (And bonus points for the OK Computer mash-up; it may be a figment of the imagination of Radiohead geeks, but it works--for me at least.)