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Airbag / How Am I Driving?

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Untitled

Airbag / How Am I Driving? is an EP from English alternative rock group Radiohead. The EP was released in 1998 specifically to the North American market. It includes most of the songs that had been issued as b-sides on Radiohead's CD singles from OK Computer in the previous year.

Background and recording

The contents of Airbag / How Am I Driving? differ slightly from the EP No Surprises/Running from Demons, released a few months earlier in Japan.

Despite its placement here, the song "Airbag" was never released as a single to radio stations. The same recording found on OK Computer also opens this EP, simply fading out rather than transitioning to the song Paranoid Android as it does on the full length album.

Among other songs, the EP includes "Meeting in the Aisle," which is Radiohead's first instrumental,[1] featuring programming by Henry Binns and Sam Hardaker who later went on to have success as Zero 7.

"Melatonin" is a synthesizer lullaby, and "A Reminder" builds up a minimalist texture prescient of Radiohead's later albums like Kid A and Amnesiac.

The sampled voices and crowds at the start of the latter song are a recording from the Prague mass transit system. The female voice of the metro's automated announcement system states "Finish getting on and getting off, the doors are closing" and that the next station will be Jiřího z Poděbrad.

"Pearly*" and "Polyethylene" are among Radiohead's best known b-sides, but only rarely played live since OK Computer.

An early version of the song "Palo Alto" had originally been entitled "OK Computer."

Though still dominated by anthemic guitars, to some extent the b-sides compiled on this EP bridge the gap between the progressive-alternative OK Computer and Radiohead's experimental future sound, much as the My Iron Lung EP of 1994 had foreshadowed The Bends and OK Computer.

Release and reception

On the EP cover, the number 1426148550 is given. It was a working U.K. telephone number, and the voice on the other end, which simply said, "Hello?" was that of Radiohead singer Thom Yorke. Fans could even leave a message, and some of the content was used in later productions. This number has been disconnected for years. Calling it, as of 2009, yields BT's standard "The number you have dialed has not been recognised" message. Yorke, in concerts at the time, joked that it is the number to call to report bad drivers.

Airbag / How Am I Driving? debuted at number 56 on the Billboard 200,[2] selling 20,000 copies in its first week.[3] Although only 25 minutes long, the EP gained the distinction of being nominated for a 1999 Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Performance[4], up against full-length albums by other artists.[5]

The EP was re-issued in the Netherlands and the U.K. in early 2007. Before its re-release, the EP had been a highly sought-after item by Radiohead fans outside of North America.[1] In 2009, the album was released by EMI on iTunes.[6]

Track listing

  1. "Airbag" – 4:46
  2. "Pearly*" – 3:33
  3. "Meeting in the Aisle" – 3:09
  4. "A Reminder" – 3:51
  5. "Polyethylene [Parts 1 & 2]" – 4:22
  6. "Melatonin" – 2:09
  7. "Palo Alto" – 3:43

All songs written by Radiohead.

Personnel

References

  1. ^ a b Goh, Daryl (2007-04-19), Just like honey, Malaysia Star, retrieved 2008-07-11 {{citation}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  2. ^ Randall, Mac (2004). Exit Music: The Radiohead Story. Omnibus Press. p. 181. ISBN 1844491838.
  3. ^ Basham, David (2001-12-06), Got Charts? Busta's New Beginning; Radiohead Might Have Been Wrong, MTV, retrieved 2008-07-11
  4. ^ "THE US GONG SHOW". NME. 1999-01-06. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
  5. ^ Sherman, Heidi (1999-01-05), The Miseducation of the Recording Industry, Rolling Stone, retrieved 2008-07-11 {{citation}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  6. ^ "Airbag/How Am I Driving? EP added to iTunes". ateaseweb.com. 2009-03-12. Retrieved 2009-04-18.
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