News ·
Radiohead cut “Knives Out” to a duo and leave “Optimistic” unfinished
Radiohead cut “Knives Out” down to Thom Yorke and Phil Selway alone on Monday 4 October, Ed O'Brien writes in his studio diary on radiohead.com. After talk of new ways of working, the band had set it up as a five-piece and played it live. It wasn't happening, and O'Brien could feel it heading the way “Say the Word” had gone the week before). Yorke wanted more energy than the version recorded in Copenhagen in March, which floats along, as O'Brien puts it, so the song went to the duo.
They bang out seven takes & Nigel does his thing editing together the best bits from different versions. Bangin!
Ed O'Brien2
The next day, overdubs from Colin Greenwood on bass and Jonny Greenwood on guitar did not work. Someone put the Copenhagen version on, and Nigel Godrich loved its feel but did not think it quite good enough. Starting again looked daunting to O'Brien. It feels like we need a break. (not the holiday type – we’ve had enough of those) no, the watershed type.
2
Wednesday went on “Fast Track”, a band loop Yorke had roughed out in Cubase the night before. Godrich's method was to put down random material and keep only the really good parts, which O'Brien liked as a way of writing because it turns up things nobody could have contrived. Selway played an old jazz kit that once belonged to the great-uncle of Peter “Plank” Clements, the band's guitar technician.
Thursday 7 October was Yorke's 31st birthday, and O'Brien calls it a brilliant day. The band played “Optimistic” together live in a room about nine times, and the second-to-last take looked like the one to keep.
‘Optimistic’ is possibly my favourite ‘band’ song that is played together live in a room. Sounds fucking great.
Ed O'Brien2
Recording took a back seat that evening, but a small reunion of what O'Brien calls the congas still added their usual percussion to the song. Their last gig, he notes, was “Paranoid Android” at St Catherine's Court, the house near Bath where the band recorded it with Godrich in 1996-97.
On Friday, with everyone hungover, Godrich wanted to edit “Optimistic” because another take had a better ending. A head count of every song found five or six that could be finished fairly quickly, which O'Brien found encouraging. But of course we don’t want to do that yet – that would be far too pragmatic.
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This week went mostly on “Optimistic”, with talk in the studio of heads being smashed against the wall. Today it is still not finished. O'Brien admits it would be tempting to drop it for something new, but the band know they are not far off, and he wants it seen through because they need the confidence.
The fortnight in the studio (titles as O'Brien wrote them)
| # | Date | Song | In the studio |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mon 4 Oct | knives out | Five-piece live take stalls; Thom and Phil as a duo, seven takes, Nigel edits |
| 2 | Tue 5 Oct | knives out | Bass and guitar overdubs not working; the Copenhagen version played back |
| 3 | Wed 6 Oct | fast track | Band loop from Thom's Cubase arrangement; Roland guitar synth, background radio, an old jazz kit |
| 4 | Thu 7 Oct | optimistic | About nine takes live in a room; the congas on percussion; Thom's birthday |
| 5 | Fri 8 Oct | optimistic | Nigel edits for a better ending; Thom's loop to tape; head count finds five or six songs nearly done |
| 6 | Tue 12 to Fri 15 Oct | optimistic | Most of the week on it; still unfinished on Friday |
the video
Knives Out · The promo, directed by Michel Gondry.· Radioheadwatch on youtube →