The reputation which Amnesiac has gained as the inferior little sister of Kid A (released a year previously) is unfair: Radiohead’s fifth studio album is as engaging as any of their records. The album marks the band’s change of direction towards electronic music, but also hints towards a number of other styles (including jazz, classical and krautrock). Ambient noises compete for space with string pedals and erratic percussive noises, and Thom Yorke’s vocals are manipulated to create a strangely hollow mood. ‘Pyramid Song’ is a classic example of the band’s ability to create a sense of intensification while maintaining a slow burn throughout the song, and Yorke deemed the song “the best thing we’ve committed to tape, ever”. The band maintains their ability to lead the listener in unexpected directions, showing that their new sound definitely doesn’t affect their edginess.
However, if you liked Amnesiac, then you’ll love Jonny Greenwood. Outside his role as Radiohead’s lead guitarist and keyboardist, Greenwood is also an acclaimed film composer. His first solo project was the soundtrack for the 2003 film Bodysong, and he has gone from strength to strength ever since. In 2006 Greenwod won the coveted Radio 3 Listeners’ Award at the BBC British Composer Awards for Popcorn Superhet Receiver (inspired by the music of Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki, with whom Greenwood has recently released an album). His film scores show evidence of his talent as a multi-instrumentalist (he plays viola, harmonica, glockenspiel, ondes Martenot, banjo and drums)
Even though he counts the soundtracks for There Will Be Blood (2007), We Need To Talk About Kevin (2010) and The Master (2012) among his credits, his score for the 2010 film Norwegian Wood is arguably the most fascinating. The film is a realisation of Haruki Murakami‘s coming-of-age novel of the same name, and Greenwood’s score draws upon an appropriately moody palette. The score is a melting-pot of influences which ranges from Korngold-esque sweeping strings to minimalistic guitar riffs, severe string counterpoint to orchestral white noise while retaining an underlying sense of melancholy.
It is definitely worth exploring the music of Jonny Greenwood outside of the cinema and away from Radiohead.
