Present Tense: A Radiohead Compendium

by Barney Hoskyns

Following the band from 1991 when Ronan Munro reviewed their gig at the Jericho Tavern in Oxford for the local music paper, to a Times Literary Supplement article in May 2016, this book is a compilation of interviews and articles on Radiohead. It includes reviews of the albums from Pablo Honey to the digital release of The King of Limbs and Thom Yorke’s work with Atoms for Peace.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction

320 pages, Hardcover

First published February 7, 2019

Reviews

[drdrwhite · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book provides the occasional insight into the band and I also found it enjoyable to read some of the reviews of albums when they were first released. Overall you'll probably enjoy it as much as you enjoy any music journalism - there's plenty of pontificating and waffle, but also some real gems.

[Craig McQuinn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I should probably listen to this band one day.

[Shane · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are some excellent pieces in this selection of writing about Radiohead, culled from the archives of music journalism website, Rock's Backpages. Clare Kleinedler's 1996 Q&A is illuminating, Will Self's 2003 stroll round Oxford with Thom is entertaining and Simon Reynolds on Kid A opens with a fascinating meditation on British rock music.
Elsewhere, though, there is too much filler. Mark Greif's essay, which the editor, Barney Hoskyns, says "may be the most extraordinary thing ever written about the group" has been anthologised already at least twice, including once in another collection of Radiohead writing.
Ronan Munro's early writing on the band is indeed prescient but whether an editor with more material to choose from would have put in three of his pieces is debatable. As is the inclusion of three pieces from Wyndham Wallace, who is competent but not as talented a writer or as perceptive a critic as some of those who appear just once, such as Paul Lester, Nick Kent or Hoskyns himself.
It's in the final section of the book, covering 2007-2016, where the sparsity of the Rock's Backpages archive becomes clear. A search of the website reveals that Hoskyns has thrown in pretty much everything the site has. The only In Rainbows review available is one from a critic who seems not to have listened very closely; it's only true that "Yorke has never written a more direct love song than [...] All I Need" if one listens to the chorus and none of the other lyrics. Meanwhile, the King of Limbs review comes from the BBC website, rather than a major music publication, and is by a writer so little-known that even Hoskyns has forgotten to include him in the list of contributors. There's no review of A Moon Shaped Pool at all because, well, Rock's Backpages hasn't got one.
Making up numbers - why else include them? - are a review of one of Phil Selway's solo albums, which even the writer admits is not great, and a review of Thom Yorke's side project, Atoms For Peace. Neither of Yorke's solo albums merits a review.
Radiohead obsessives will find lots to enjoy here but those seeking a complete overview of the band's career won't find one. In hardback, this costs £20 in the UK. It isn't worth half that. Wait for the paperback.

[Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Это просто хороший сборник интервью моей любимой группы.
Самое приятное в этой книге – это чувствовать эволюцию Radiohead по изменяющемуся отношению прессы к их творчеству.

[Gulnaz Davletshina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Полюбила Radiohead еще больше 🩶

[среда јуниор · Rating 5 out of 5]

greatest band in the world

[Mathew B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read!!

Learned some new things about Radiohead:
- initially named “On a Friday”
- name then changed to Radiohead, based on the Talking Heads song
- all band members are super educated and have differing personalities but it all somehow gels all together perfectly.

Would recommend this to fans of the band, I think seeing Thom Yorke live this year inspired my purchase.