Kid A Mnesia

This article is about the compilation album by Radiohead. For the game, see Kid A Mnesia Exhibition.
Kid A Mnesia
Compilation album by
Radiohead
Released5 November 2021 (2021-11-05)
Recorded4 January 1999 – 18 April 2000
Studio
  • Guillaume Tell, Paris
  • Medley, Copenhagen
  • Unnamed studio, Oxford, England
Genre
Length1:28:01
LabelXL
Producer
Radiohead chronology
MiniDiscs [Hacked]
(2019) 		Kid A Mnesia
(2021)
Singles from Kid A Mnesia
  1. "If You Say the Word"
    Released: 7 September 2021
  2. "Follow Me Around"
    Released: 1 November 2021

Kid A Mnesia is a reissue compiling the albums Kid A (2000) and Amnesiac (2001) by the English rock band Radiohead. It also includes a bonus disc, Kid Amnesiae, comprising previously unreleased material. It was released on 5 November 2021 on XL Recordings.

Kid A Mnesia was promoted with a campaign on the social network TikTok, followed by singles and music videos for the previously unreleased tracks "If You Say the Word" and "Follow Me Around". It was released to acclaim, though reaction to the bonus material was mixed. It entered the top 10 of several national album charts and topped the UK Independent Albums Chart and the US Billboard Top Alternative Albums and Top Rock Albums charts.

Kid A Mnesia Exhibition, an interactive experience with music and artwork from the albums, was released in the same month for PlayStation 5, macOS and Windows.

Content

[edit]

Kid A Mnesia contains the Radiohead albums Kid A (2000) and Amnesiac (2001), plus a third disc, Kid Amnesiae, comprising previously unreleased material from the Kid A and Amnesiac recording sessions.[1] The albums are not remastered.[2] The "deluxe" edition also contains an art book and Kid Amnesiette, a cassette edition with five B-sides.[3] Radiohead recorded Kid A and Amnesiac simultaneously in 1999 and 2000.[4] They originally considered releasing them as a double album, but felt the material was too dense.[5]

"Like Spinning Plates ('Why Us?' Version)" is a piano arrangement of the electronic song "Like Spinning Plates".[6] "If You Say the Word" features "delicate" fingerpicking, a "foreboding groove", "chiming" percussion and ondes Martenot.[7] "Follow Me Around" is a solo acoustic guitar performance by Thom Yorke, with a "soaring" chorus and references to Margaret Thatcher.[6] "Pulk/Pull (True Love Waits Version)" is a "harsh, industrial" version of another song, "True Love Waits", which Radiohead used to create the Amnesiac track "Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors".[8] Kid Amnesiae also includes alternative versions of "Morning Bell" and the B-sides "Fog" and "Fast-Track",[1] and isolated string tracks from "How to Disappear Completely" and "Pyramid Song".[9]

Promotion and release

[edit]

On 1 April 2021, Radiohead joined the social media platform TikTok and began posting short videos featuring their character Chieftain Mews.[10] Over the course of several months, they posted more than 30 videos. In early September, Radiohead posted a comedic video in which Yorke and Radiohead's cover artist, Stanley Donwood, discussed the channel's declining engagement.[10]

Radiohead announced Kid A Mnesia on 7 September 2021, and released a digital single, the previously unreleased track "If You Say the Word".[11] A music video for "If You Say the Word" was released on 23 September. Directed by Kasper Häggström, it follows two men who capture people in the forest and bring them to London to become office workers.[12] "Follow Me Around" was released on 1 November, with a music video starring Guy Pearce as a man avoiding a drone following him in his home.[13] Radiohead released Kid A Mnesia merchandise including a bone china tea set,[14] and Yorke and Donwood produced two art books detailing the creative process of the albums.[3] In October 2021, Donwood and Yorke curated an exhibition of Kid A artwork at Christie's headquarters in London.[15]

Kid A Mnesia was released in vinyl, CD, cassette and digital versions.[3] It reached number one on the UK Independent Albums Chart, number one the American Billboard Top Alternative Albums and Top Rock Albums charts, and the top ten of several other national charts.[citation needed]

Kid A Mnesia Exhibition

[edit]
Main article: Kid A Mnesia Exhibition

Radiohead planned to create an art installation based on the albums, but this was canceled due to logistical problems and the COVID-19 pandemic.[16] Instead, a digital experience, Kid A Mnesia Exhibition, was released in November as a free download for PlayStation 5, macOS and Windows.[16] It was developed over two years by Radiohead with Namethemachine, Arbitrarily Good Productions and Epic Games.[16] It received positive reviews for its intersection of music, art and technology.[17][18][19]

Reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Kid A Mnesia
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic97/100[20]
Review scores
SourceRating
Classic Rock[21]
Exclaim!10/10[22]
The Line of Best Fit9/10[23]
Mojo[24]
NME[25]
Paste5.5/10[26]
Pitchfork9.2/10[27]
Rolling Stone[28]
Uncut[29]
Under the Radar[30]

On the review aggregator website Metacritic, Kid A Mnesia has a score of 97 out of 100 based on 10 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[20] The Mojo critic Danny Eccleston noted the influence of Kid A and Amnesiac on subsequent acts that had blended rock and electronic music.[9] In Rolling Stone, Rob Sheffield wrote that Kid A Mnesia was "a stunning collection making the case for both albums as twin halves of the same musical statement ... a monument of Radiohead’s bravest, boldest music".[28]

The Kid Amnesiae bonus disc drew praise. In the Times, Jonathan Dean said it was the reissue's "real gem". He praised the alternative version of "Like Spinning Plates", saying it demonstrated "a band hellbent on challenging what people thought they were", and described "Follow Me Around" as "a brilliant song made at the wrong time, by a band who had moved on".[6] The NME critic Andrew Trendell wrote that the bonus disc "feels like as much a complete album as you could hope for ... [It] not only offers a mood piece, but also a companion and secret history behind the making of two essential, landmark records."[1] In The Guardian, Phil Mongredien praised it as "a fascinating companion piece for two classic albums".[31]

The Pitchfork critic Jayson Greene found the bonus disc lacked the "revelatory quality" of the bonus material included in Radiohead's 2017 OK Computer reissue OKNOTOK 1997 2017, with no "bolt-from-the-blue alternate history that redefines our understanding of the band".[27] The Paste critic Saby Reyes-Kulkarni found the reissue disappointing, with "an assortment of half-baked leftovers".[26]

Track listing

[edit]

All tracks are written by Radiohead (Colin Greenwood, Jonny Greenwood, Ed O'Brien, Philip Selway, Thom Yorke), except where noted

Kid A
No.TitleLength
1."Everything in Its Right Place"4:11
2."Kid A"4:44
3."The National Anthem"5:51
4."How to Disappear Completely"5:56
5."Treefingers"3:42
6."Optimistic"5:15
7."In Limbo"3:31
8."Idioteque" (Radiohead, Paul Lansky, Arthur Kreiger)5:09
9."Morning Bell"4:35
10."Motion Picture Soundtrack" (song ends at 3:20; includes an untitled hidden track from 4:17 until 5:09, followed by 1:52 of silence)7:01
Total length:49:57
Amnesiac
No.TitleLength
11."Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box"4:00
12."Pyramid Song"4:49
13."Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors"4:07
14."You and Whose Army?"3:11
15."I Might Be Wrong"4:54
16."Knives Out"4:15
17."Morning Bell/Amnesiac"3:14
18."Dollars and Cents"4:52
19."Hunting Bears"2:01
20."Like Spinning Plates"3:57
21."Life in a Glasshouse"4:34
Total length:43:57
Kid Amnesiae
No.TitleLength
22."Like Spinning Plates" ('Why Us?' Version)5:04
23."Untitled v1"1:48
24."Fog" (Again Again Version)2:25
25."If You Say the Word"4:22
26."Follow Me Around"5:19
27."Pulk/Pull" (True Love Waits Version)2:46
28."Untitled v2"0:46
29."The Morning Bell" (In the Dark Version)2:00
30."Pyramid Strings"1:18
31."Alt. Fast Track"1:32
32."Untitled v3"1:16
33."How to Disappear into Strings"5:32
Total length:34:08

Notes

[edit]
  • "Idioteque" contains two samples from the Odyssey record First Recordings – Electronic Music Winners (1976): Paul Lansky's "Mild und Leise" and Arthur Kreiger's "Short Piece".

Personnel

[edit]

Radiohead

[edit]

Additional musicians

[edit]
  • Orchestra of St John's – strings
  • Horns on "The National Anthem"
    • Andy Bush – trumpet
    • Steve Hamilton – alto saxophone (credited simply as "alto")
    • Martin Hathaway – alto saxophone (etc.)
    • Andy Hamilton – tenor saxophone
    • Mark Lockheart – tenor saxophone
    • Stan Harrison – baritone saxophone
    • Liam Kerkman – trombone
    • Mike Kearsey – bass trombone
  • Henry Binns – rhythm sampling on "The National Anthem"
  • The Humphrey Lyttelton Band ("Life in a Glasshouse")

Technical personnel

[edit]
  • Nigel Godrich – production, engineering, mixing
  • Radiohead – production
  • Dan Grech-Marguerat – engineering (track 21)
  • Chris Blair – mastering (tracks 1-10)
  • Bob Ludwig – mastering (tracks 12-21)
  • Gerard Navarro – production assistance, engineering assistance
  • Graeme Stewart – engineering assistance

Artwork

[edit]
  • Stanley Donwood – pictures, design ("Landscapes, Knives and Glue")
  • Tchocky – pictures ("Landscapes, Knives and Glue")

Charts

[edit]
Chart performance for Kid A Mnesia
Chart (2021) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[32] 3
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[33] 31
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[34] 9
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[35] 17
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[36] 34
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[37] 11
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[38] 6
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[39] 29
French Albums (SNEP)[40] 42
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[41] 7
Irish Albums (OCC)[42] 3
Italian Albums (FIMI)[43] 29
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[44] 7
Japanese Hot Albums (Billboard Japan)[45] 14
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[46] 5
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[47] 23
Portuguese Albums (AFP)[48] 8
Scottish Albums (OCC)[49] 3
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[50] 24
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[51] 10
UK Albums (OCC)[52] 4
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[53] 1
US Billboard 200[54] 12
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[55] 2
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[56] 1
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[57] 1

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c Trendell, Andrew (4 November 2021). "Radiohead – Kid Amnesiae review: a haunting secret history of two classic records". NME. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  2. ^ Reyes-Kulkarni, Saby (2 November 2021). "Radiohead repackage Kid A and Amnesiac into an unnecessary new box set with throwaway extras". Paste. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
  3. ^ a b c Kreps, Daniel (7 September 2021). "Radiohead reissuing Kid A, Amnesiac with previously unreleased music". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  4. ^ Smith, Andrew (1 October 2000). "Sound and Fury". The Observer. London. Archived from the original on 26 December 2003. Retrieved 17 March 2007.
  5. ^ Yago, Gideon (18 July 2001). "Played in Full". MTV. Archived from the original on 15 July 2014. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  6. ^ a b c Dean, Jonathan. "Kid A Mnesia shows that the future is still Radiohead". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
  7. ^ Hogan, Marc. "Radiohead - "If You Say the Word"". Pitchfork. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  8. ^ Vozick-Levinson, Simon (3 November 2021). "'Some sort of future, even if it's a nightmare': Thom Yorke on the visual secrets of Kid A and Amnesiac". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  9. ^ a b Eccleston, Danny (December 2021). "Twin Peaks". Mojo. 337. Bauer Media Group: 102.
  10. ^ a b Waite, Thom (4 September 2021). "Thom Yorke jokes about Radiohead's 'embarrassing' TikTok numbers". Dazed. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  11. ^ Bloom, Madison (7 September 2021). "Radiohead reissuing Kid A and Amnesiac with new album of unreleased songs: listen to "If You Say the Word"". Pitchfork. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  12. ^ Strauss, Matthew (21 September 2021). "Radiohead Share Uncanny New "If You Say the Word" Video". Pitchfork. Retrieved 23 September 2021.
  13. ^ Martoccio, Angie (1 November 2021). "Radiohead's 'Follow Me Around' is a holy grail for fans. 20 years later, it's here". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
  14. ^ Langford, Jackson (30 November 2021). "Radiohead are selling Kid A Mnesia teapots, teacups and saucers". NME. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  15. ^ "Radiohead's Thom Yorke is co-curating a Kid A artwork exhibition". NME. 22 September 2021. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
  16. ^ a b c Stanton, Rich (18 November 2021). "Radiohead's freaky-looking Kid A Mnesiac exhibition-game-thing is out (and free!)". PC Gamer. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  17. ^ Peters, Jay (18 November 2021). "Kid A Mnesia Exhibition is an unsettling and beautiful Radiohead art exhibit". The Verge. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  18. ^ Richards, Will (18 November 2021). "Radiohead's Kid A Amnesiac exhibition is as untraditional, warped and magical as the band itself". NME. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  19. ^ Parkin, Simon (12 December 2021). "The best video games of 2021". The New Yorker. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
  20. ^ a b "Kid A Mnesia by Radiohead Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  21. ^ Aizlewood, John (5 November 2021). "Radiohead's Kid A Mnesia: astonishing then, astonishing now". Classic Rock. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
  22. ^ Hudson, Alex (4 November 2021). "Radiohead's 'KID A MNESIA' Still Feels Terrifyingly Relevant". Exclaim!. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  23. ^ Oinonen, Janne (3 November 2021). "KID A MNESIA proves even Radiohead's identity crises were a breeding ground for innovation". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  24. ^ "Radiohead: Kid A Mnesia". Mojo. December 2021. p. 102.
  25. ^ Trendell, Andrew (4 November 2021). "Radiohead – 'Kid Amnesiae' review: a haunting secret history of two classic records". NME. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
  26. ^ a b Reyes-Kulkarni, Saby (4 November 2021). "Radiohead repackage Kid A and Amnesiac into an unnecessary new box set with throwaway extras". Paste. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
  27. ^ a b Greene, Jayson (5 November 2021). "Radiohead: Kid A Mnesia album review". Pitchfork. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
  28. ^ a b Sheffield, Rob (4 November 2021). "Radiohead's finest hour sounds better than ever". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
  29. ^ "Radiohead: Kid A Mnesia". Uncut. December 2021. p. 40.
  30. ^ Saalman, Austin (5 November 2021). "Radiohead Kid A Mnesia XL". Under the Radar. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
  31. ^ Mongredien, Phil (7 November 2021). "Radiohead: Kid A Mnesia review – two classic albums, plus surprises". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  32. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Radiohead – Kid A Mnesia". Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  33. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Radiohead – Kid A Mnesia" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  34. ^ "Ultratop.be – Radiohead – Kid A Mnesia" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
  35. ^ "Ultratop.be – Radiohead – Kid A Mnesia" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
  36. ^ "Radiohead Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  37. ^ "Danishcharts.dk – Radiohead – Kid A Mnesia". Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  38. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Radiohead – Kid A Mnesia" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  39. ^ "Radiohead: Kid A Mnesia" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
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  41. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Radiohead – Kid A Mnesia" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
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  44. ^ "Oricon Top 50 Albums: 2021-11-15" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
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