samertm · January 21, 2025 12:50 · abbywood1 · Jan 21, 2025
diff --git a/radiohead_essay.txt b/radiohead_essay.txt
 This might seem silly, but one of my favorite activities is analyzing my
 musical taste and my favorite bands.

 Radiohead is one of my absolute favorite bands, and I've been listening to them
 since I was a Freshman in high school. Radiohead has an interesting record as a
 rock band. They started out as a lite-grunge outfit, developed a more mature
 style and released an album at their height that combined the noises of
 Kraftwerk with their alternative rock roots. Then, as they were being hailed as
 the saviors of rock, they shocked the world by releasing two electronica
 albums. They returned to a guitar-based sound for their next two albums, and
 their latest album was another electronica effort.

 Two weeks ago, I was listening to their first electronica album, Kid
 A. Immersing myself in the music, I suddenly realized that there was something
 that linked together all of the seemingly-disjoint tracks on the album. Every
 song incorporated different electronic sounds in layers, and those layers were
 used to build and release tension throughout the songs. The most obvious use of
 the technique is on the song "How to Disappear Completely". Layers of music are
 introduced one at a time until the voice starts, and as the song progresses the
 layers are cut back and then built up again.

 As I thought about their use of musical layers, I realized that all of
 Radiohead's music fit into that framework, where all the "twists" were simply a
 new set of noises for the band to layer together and create their pop music. On
 the band's first three albums they created these noises with distorted guitars
 and electronic instruments; on their electronica albums they used electronic
 instruments; on their next two albums they mixed electronic sounds in their
 songs with distorted guitars, but they began to experiment more with voice as
 sound; and on their latest album they dived into electronica waters again, but
 this time they relied on the use of voice as music much more heavily. On a more
 speculative note, Radiohead's layered music might be a part of their appeal,
 because I've read that our brains search for patterns in music and we like
 songs that are "pleasantly surprising".[1] Our brains could be uncovering new
 sounds, melodies, and harmonies on repeated listens to Radiohead songs, and
 that could explain their lasting value and large influence.

 Being a fan of Radiohead is exciting partially because I can learn new things
 about their music six years after first listening to them.

 Source: [1] - http://news.sciencemag.org/2013/04/why-your-brain-loves-new-song
	This might seem silly, but one of my favorite activities is analyzing my
	musical taste and my favorite bands.

	Radiohead is one of my absolute favorite bands, and I've been listening to them
	since I was a Freshman in high school. Radiohead has an interesting record as a
	rock band. They started out as a lite-grunge outfit, developed a more mature
	style and released an album at their height that combined the noises of
	Kraftwerk with their alternative rock roots. Then, as they were being hailed as
	the saviors of rock, they shocked the world by releasing two electronica
	albums. They returned to a guitar-based sound for their next two albums, and
	their latest album was another electronica effort.

	Two weeks ago, I was listening to their first electronica album, Kid
	A. Immersing myself in the music, I suddenly realized that there was something
	that linked together all of the seemingly-disjoint tracks on the album. Every
	song incorporated different electronic sounds in layers, and those layers were
	used to build and release tension throughout the songs. The most obvious use of
	the technique is on the song "How to Disappear Completely". Layers of music are
	introduced one at a time until the voice starts, and as the song progresses the
	layers are cut back and then built up again.

	As I thought about their use of musical layers, I realized that all of
	Radiohead's music fit into that framework, where all the "twists" were simply a
	new set of noises for the band to layer together and create their pop music. On
	the band's first three albums they created these noises with distorted guitars
	and electronic instruments; on their electronica albums they used electronic
	instruments; on their next two albums they mixed electronic sounds in their
	songs with distorted guitars, but they began to experiment more with voice as
	sound; and on their latest album they dived into electronica waters again, but
	this time they relied on the use of voice as music much more heavily. On a more
	speculative note, Radiohead's layered music might be a part of their appeal,
	because I've read that our brains search for patterns in music and we like
	songs that are "pleasantly surprising".[1] Our brains could be uncovering new
	sounds, melodies, and harmonies on repeated listens to Radiohead songs, and
	that could explain their lasting value and large influence.

	Being a fan of Radiohead is exciting partially because I can learn new things
	about their music six years after first listening to them.

	Source: [1] - http://news.sciencemag.org/2013/04/why-your-brain-loves-new-song