Computer lay the seeds for Kid A; but
here, for the first time, is a full realisation of OK Computer’s fears. Rather than mourning the passing of what has come before, Kid A warns of what is yet to come; Radiohead, like Leonard Cohen, have seen the future. And, like Cohen, they know
it's murder.
And why dissect the state of the 21st century psyche, its fear of the future, its obsession with the twin evils of death and sex, with the dead, stagnant music that lies behind us? Better, surely, to immerse yourself in the future and all its dangers, bask in
faceless stardom, climb inside your mental and physical isolation from the rest of the world. Everyone hooked up to computers, like digital IV feeds.
Thus, Kid A, for the most part, deserts rock. ‘The National Anthem’ is
a fierce, brutal slice of (DJ) Shadowy >