In 2007, when In Rainbows came out and it got a lot of attention because of the gimmick that was associated with it -ĭAD: At that point I couldn’t resist. But I didn’t do anything about it I just kept listening to Brad Mehldau and didn’t think too much about it. And I kind of liked them, I thought they fit well it always surprises me when I hear anything in modern music that fits alongside the Great American Songbook stuff.

So my first exposure to what their songs sound like was hearing the melodies when Mehldau played them. I mean, I knew there was a band called Radiohead out there, but I didn’t pay any attention because I don’t listen to much rock music. MEREDITH: Well, why listen to them at all, then?ĭAD: How it started was, back in the early 2000s, I was listening to a lot of Brad Mehldau piano trios, and he covered a bunch of Radiohead songs. I like them in a very specific set of ways, and it scratches a very specific itch for me. I don’t like them like I like Duke Ellington, or Cecil Taylor, or Sun Ra. But you do like them …ĭAD: I don’t like them like them. I’ve heard almost every one of their records, and I find absolutely nothing to latch on to. Usually what will happen is that someone will tell me to listen to a band, and I’ll listen to it and I won’t like it, then a few years later I’ll come to it on my own terms - it’s almost like I can only like something when it’s my idea. I’ve just never liked them, and I’ve given them a couple of chances. MEREDITH: You know my thing with Radiohead.

He also, historically, doesn’t take shit from me, so I figured I would ask him to explain why Radiohead is good, rather than sit here and write about why I don’t like them. He’s super smart– he’s a journalist and a tech wizard, and he’s also a huge music nerd. The only person in my immediate life who likes Radiohead is my dad, who also happens to be pretty much my best friend in the world. It’s not a value judgment on their personhood or anything - it’s just not for me. I barely know anything about their music, because I’ve never liked it. I have almost nothing to say on the subject of Radiohead.

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