Songs of the Day, 2/18/11 and 2/19/11

Let's just take a moment to talk about being a teenager in the mid to late 90s. I woke up to popular culture in 1995. It was too late for Nirvana - Kurt was gone, so MTV and all of the media outlets were calling Seattle officially over. My So Called Life had been canceled, not that it mattered, since I was too young to "get it" the first time it aired. Slacker came out in 1991 and had already ridden it's wave back into obscurity. I spent my early teenage years feeling like I was a weird kid born just a few minutes too late.

It was like the kids two or three grades above me were having this amazing experience being weird, wearing flannel, awkwardly blinking at boys, and kids my age were discovering Tommy Hilfiger and waiting patiently for Britney Spears to define their sexuality for them. And boy, what an awesome ride that was going to be for them.



Anyways, 1995 was the year that Radiohead delivered The Bends. As a weird kid longing for the inclusive promises of being part of 'Generation X', Radiohead didn't exactly give you that - but it made it okay to be a weird kid for a very long time. It made me believe there was meaning and something valuable about being on the edges - of pop culture, of sounds, of meaning, of whatever. (Come on, I was in middle school!) This record -- and OK Computer -- made up the soundscape for most of my teenage awakenings. Like, I don't think I'd ever thought much about sex and sexuality until one of my teenage friends told us proudly about how much she fantasied about Thom Yorke. (Wait, what, do *I* need to fantasize about someone? DO I NEED TO FANTASIZE ABOUT THOM YORKE?!?! Answer after weeks of soul searching: He is not my type.)


So for Friday, I give you a song that may have saved my teenage life:



(I'm sorry that's such a low quality version. Here's the link to the officially sanctioned one, but those fucks will make you watch an ad.)

And unless you've been living without electricity for a few days, you know Radiohead released a new album this week. I mean today. I mean yesterday. Whatever.





So why all the Radiohead? Why am I thinking about Radiohead? Because tonight a group I play with (The Seattle Rock Orchestra) is doing our tribute to Radiohead, at the Moore Theater. You know, come and stuff. It's going to be epic.




Also, this is making the rounds.