Black and white rainbows

Though I'm making up for it today, please pardon my recent bout of laziness in posting. My excuse? I just got out of a seven-year relationship, the worst relationship of my life. That's right boys and girls, I quit my job!

Like all relationships, this one had its ups and downs. We learned a lot from each other but now the time has come for me to peace out and move on to a bigger and brighter future.

You know what else is big and bright? Rainbows. What do rainbows have to do with anything, you might ask? I'm glad you asked. Rainbows have to do with Radiohead and their week-old release (yes, I am I slowly getting back on the ball) In Rainbows.

What's genius about in In Rainbows? The distribution. The band opted to sell the records themselves on their website rather than going through a label. Even more shocking, fans could name their price. I entered a nice cool five pounds into the text field, nothing happened.

I tried for hours, all morning. Then a friend IM'ed me saying he'd just gotten his download over email. He offered to send it to me and I agreed; my patience had run out and I needed to hear it.

So what's the verdict? Radiohead is probably my favorite band. The Bends, OK Computer, Kid A and Amnesiac are some of the best albums in existence. Hail to the Thief had its moments. Rainbows however are kind of black and white for me.

I'd heard at least half the album because I saw Radiohead twice in Spring 2006 and downloaded a copy of their Boston live show from Bradley's Almanac. Those shows were amazing. Hearing these songs a year and a half later instead of something new is a letdown. It's boring. I wish they'd gone a different direction after Amnesiac. The follow up efforts just seem more and more watered down and mundane, normal, if you will.

I found the Pitchfork review amusing, and not altogether pretentious. The rating? Like the album, you decide. We even agreed on one point: the album acoustic version of "Videotape "was anti climactic. Why does the live version that I have sound so much better?

Maybe they're saving all the good stuff for the box set? A different version of the album? Here's to hoping.