Kid A

(EMI)

On their fourth album, the boys from Oxford have made the semi-ambient soundtrack to a spacewalk. They've lost interest in conventional song structure - melodies, guitar chords, the singing of choruses (unless it's made unintelligible through computer processing) - and created an atmospheric soundscape of jazz, electronica and avant-garde improvisations; all synthetic, floating, somewhat lacking in substance. At what point does praise for progressiveness give way to an admission that at times it's downright hard to listen to? This month's exclusive interview in Q magazine hinted at a group of musicians, who, unable to agree on direction, have reached a musical dead end. But with an immutable brilliance so beautifully illustrated in past efforts, why did they decide to voyage trans-cosmos to begin with, compelled to make pop so experimental? Apparently, frontman Thom Yorke became so disillusioned with rock stardom after OK Computer's popularity and the requisite soul-wrenching world tour that he convinced the group to join him in exploration of disjointed electronica. The only logical conclusion can be that York was going to make sure this follow-up would elude success and thereby negate his international demand. To great dismay, he may have reached his mark.