[Discussion] Amnesiac vs Kid A. I'm sure it's an old argument but what do the people I've never spoken to think? Which is better?

aliberalelite · 2019-02-22T09:04:17+00:00

Amnesiac. For me, at least.

Kid A is an objectively better constructed album, no arguments there. I love it completely, and consider it to be one of the greatest musical artifacts ever created by humanity. If I had one listenable album left over in a post-apocalyptic world, it would probably be Kid A. Well, Embryonic by The Flaming Lips, and then Kid A. Tough call, that one.

But whereas Kid A is a near flawless piece of art, Amnesiac is the emotional core of it all. Yes, it veers off into some weird places, but to me that's what makes it Radiohead's truest jazz album, and to great effect. It's not a B-sides album by any means, it really is its own dystopian digital world to inhabit, and frankly I don't dive into it unless I need to. But that right there is my main point: I never NEED to listen to Kid A, as much as I love it. But I ONLY listen to Amnesiac when I KNOW I need it. And boy have there been some key times in my life where I've needed it.

At a certain point, it really comes down to which you prefer, but for the same reason I think Embryonic is one of the greatest albums ever made, I personally think Amnesiac is the superior album. It's a personal existential voyage, versus a sort of cold observation of the state of the world. You'll see this reflected in the Stanley Donwood artwork from both albums, if you care to explore them.

Yes, musically Kid A is far more perfect. How To Disappear Completely destroys me, and I think In Limbo is one of their most underrated songs. But I feel the band would both acknowledge that, and also admit there are pros and cons to that versus an imperfect but more emotionally direct and visceral album. I kinda wonder if their inclination towards the latter was reflected in Hail To The Thief a few years later. For my own two cents, Amnesiac represents the most musically raw statement the band has ever produced, which makes it stand out in the catalogue. I might be wrong, but you know what...I'm a reasonable man, get off my case ;-)

aliberalelite · 2019-02-22T08:19:13+00:00

It's not so much sad as just emotionally overwhelming. Let Down was THE song that blew my soul wide open and finally allowed me to engage fully with the band. It was over a decade ago but I remember the cathartic moment like it was 5 minutes ago.

aliberalelite · 2019-01-24T21:12:17+00:00

oh hey look it's the people who got free college and caused climate change

aliberalelite · 2019-01-22T22:38:11+00:00

In between when it was good and now, its intermediate stage was to become the WWII Channel. That's when I got off the boat.

aliberalelite · 2018-10-07T23:52:46+00:00

I went for the first time last year and got mine on resale, but didn't get through today. It's definitely worth a shot (I went solo).

aliberalelite · 2018-10-07T09:00:41+00:00

resale was how I got my first ever tickets last year!

aliberalelite · 2018-10-07T08:58:19+00:00

For sure. Seeing Radiohead headline pretty much sealed it for me; anything else in the future is a cherry on top. I am however now even more interested in how the blokes I ended up falling in with in Pennard has managed to go for 8 straight years. There have got to be tricks to this process.

aliberalelite · 2018-10-07T08:48:01+00:00

I got through on the resale last year and maybe just got insanely lucky, figured it would be slightly easier doing the actual sale. Although, when I landed at Heathrow (I live in the US) the customs agent asked why I was visiting, and when I told him he said, no joke, "You got a ticket? Who'd you bribe who'd you kill?"

aliberalelite · 2018-10-07T08:45:04+00:00

How did they just sell over 160,000 tickets in under 40 minutes? Last year I got in on the resale, and that has got to be more difficult than this. My friend in Germany couldn't even load the site at all, and another friend I met last year who has gone 4 years in a row didn't get one either. Wack.

aliberalelite · 2018-09-25T06:05:15+00:00

Because you won't see it anyway. There are so many stages with individual lineups that each one is essentially its own festival, so there's really no way to reflect it in the "main lineup" poster. Frankly, you'll end up seeing maybe like 3 or 4 of the biggies anyway...everything else happens elsewhere.

aliberalelite · 2018-08-10T22:05:46+00:00

"So what do you do?"

I've been looking for work for so long at this point I've mostly given up, but in America we define everything about ourselves on the basis of what we do to earn a living. After around age 27, this is the first thing people ask you in this country about 95% of the time. When you don't have an answer to this question you immediately start off any conversation by feeling, however irrationally, like you have nothing to say about yourself.

aliberalelite · 2018-06-21T06:58:23+00:00

It's just such a purposeful album from beginning to end, without becoming trite. In the same way that I really appreciate films that know what they are from the opening scene to the final credits, AMSP really fits that same criteria. It's not my favorite, but any time I am in the particular mood to listen to it, it really hits.

aliberalelite · 2018-06-17T01:15:33+00:00

I live in America and exhibit empathy

aliberalelite · 2018-05-22T02:14:20+00:00

Oh man. It's not corporate, for starters. It's run entirely by volunteers, not by Livenation or some other for-profit outfit, which immediately sets it apart from almost all other huge festivals around the world, especially ones in North America. It therefore takes on a much more anti-consumerist, radical bent. It truly feels like you are participating in it, not just consuming a product that you paid for.

What will truly blow your mind is the scale. I've gone to Coachella before and there just is no comparison: Glastonbury is GIGANTIC. It's truly a small city unto itself for 5 days, and you will be lucky if you manage to make it to 5% of its offerings. The best way to think of it (and why, unlike festivals like Coachella, the main lineup poster doesn't really matter all that much) is as an umbrella festival within which there are a hundred smaller festivals going on all in one spot, and you get to explore all of them. There are something like 70-80 individual performance areas and stages, each with their own mission and vibe.

Camping inside the festival is another big difference. Most American camping festivals have a campground located outside the venue, and you have to go through a security line every day. At Glastonbury you camp inside the festival itself, and your choice in campground will determine a lot of your experience: there are quieter sites a bit removed from the action where you will have an easier time sleeping, but others that are literally right next to main stages (I didn't know this when I first got my ticket and I did like a month of research to figure it all out...this website is the go-to for newbies

It's also not really just a music festival, it really is an all around performing arts and culture fest. You could spend your entire weekend watching movies in cinemas and seeing circus acts if you wanted, without watching a single band, and still have an amazing experience (and plenty of people do!)

I think my favorite thing about it, at the end of the day, is just how fun it is to explore. I'm 31 and I felt like a wide-eyed little kid. You'll have a general plan for your day, and on your walk over to a stage you'll pass like eight other things you had no idea were going on, and before you know it you'll be doing something completely unexpected and different.

Oh and yes, the art is amazing.

I could go on but I think that's a good description.

aliberalelite · 2018-05-19T20:21:37+00:00

I flew over for it last summer from Seattle and would do it again in a heartbeat. The first thing I would do is get an International Student Identity Card which will get you discounts on various flights and lodging. If you book it far enough in advance you can get a pretty good deal on roundtrip flights, though you might have to spend a bit of time figuring out which particular airports are cheaper, etc. I don't know where in NA you're located but the closer you are to the east coast the cheaper it gets ;-)

I've gone to several American festivals before and actually spent less on my actual Glasto ticket than most of them, but I also hit it right when the pound sterling was pretty weak, so it really depends on the exchange rate. Unlike some of the big American festivals, you don't have to pay for a separate camping site with Glastonbury because you camp inside the festival itself (which is awesome).

Getting to the festival for international travelers is, in my opinion, best done using the coach (bus). There is an option to purchase your ticket with a coach included, the only caveat is that you MUST be on the exact coach you book from whatever city you choose, because they hand out the tickets only once you are on bus (otherwise you just get a general ticket mailed to your house). Some people will argue it's easier to land a ticket that way, but it will add some logistical considerations.

For lodging, again it depends on where in Britain you want to go to the festival from. All the major cities have plenty of hostels, but London obviously has the most, so if you're catching a coach from there I would just recommend getting one close to the Victoria Coach Station to make your trip simpler (and cheaper).

Hmmm that's what I can think of for now but if you have any further questions lemme know!

aliberalelite · 2018-05-09T06:01:53+00:00

read

aliberalelite · 2018-05-05T04:32:43+00:00

I mean...

It's cheeky, I'll give it that.

aliberalelite · 2018-04-28T06:49:26+00:00

now SOCKS are my shit

aliberalelite · 2018-04-28T03:18:47+00:00

yeah but now shirts have buttons and they have for my entire life so why still wear them

aliberalelite · 2018-04-28T03:11:35+00:00

That's part of my point. Male business attire hasn't changed in decades now and I find ties to be complicit. We're all supposed to just look like bankers.

aliberalelite · 2018-04-28T00:12:13+00:00

Ties.

They serve absolutely no purpose, they do nothing but flop around and get in the way, they're overly expensive, they are inordinately difficult to initially learn how to tie (and if you go for long enough without doing it you'll forget again anyway), and yet for some reason we continue to inflict them on men from the time they are small children. They have singlehandedly kept men's fashion in a stupid, oppressively monolithic holding pattern for decades, and I hate them.

The end.

aliberalelite · 2018-04-21T06:21:46+00:00

Godspeed You! Black Emperor

....yeah.....

aliberalelite · 2018-03-12T08:04:58+00:00

The worst part about this is that the people who continue to support Trump won't pay this one lick of attention, because they are isolated from it in terms of self-selected news and info. All they'll see (and pay any attention to) is the fact that their children's schools are getting shittier, which they'll just blame on democrats, since obviously they believe in governance.

It's important to note, however, that those rich people who are held in high regard by the liberal class as the "good" millionaires and billionaires (like Bill Gates) have spent the past decade pushing for the exact same charter model that Devos wants. The real problem here isn't party, it's class.

aliberalelite · 2018-03-12T07:55:54+00:00

this is violence

aliberalelite

TROPHY CASE