Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Radiohead



I think it was 2002 when I first started posting on a Detroit Tigers message board. Somewhere along the way, I started talking to a guy named Jay. We'd talk Tigers here and there, and we met up a couple times to hang out. I remember watching an illegal copy of Kicking and Screaming on his projector. After hanging out for a very short time, I began to realize we had little in common outside of the Tigers. He was really into his music. In fact, he was a Radio Head fan. My interaction with him on a whole was quite awkward for me. I could never pinpoint why, but there was just something odd about him.

Fast forward to 2006. I'm living in Maryland, and I meet a guy named Kyle. He's a Michigan transplant, so immediately, we have the midwest connection. We talk, we hang out a bit, he introduces me to Fargo. He's all about cycling and eating organic, and as time passes, I realize ... we have very little in common. And then, I find out ---He's a Radio Head fan. Suddenly, I see many similarities between Kyle and Jay. I wish I could explain what it is, but they both have a certain way about them --- a way of thinking, a way of being music snobs, but still nice people.

It's at this point that I decide people who are Radio Head fans are strange. They are their own breed. I start making a list of things that flag a Radio Head fan ...

  • Organic/green/into health and fitness of some sort
  • Music Snob
  • Cultured
  • They think on a different plane --- I'd like to call them philosophical, but I'm not sure if that's the right word. Almost hippy-ish.
  • They like Wes Anderson films
  • Usually like other obscure bands that all fit into a certain genre, i.e. Arcade Fire

That doesn't seem like a very good list, but trust me, it's true.

I'm on another message board, and I met a group of friends who were all Radio Head fans. They were the epitome of music snobs. They were all about Life Aquatic and Arcade Fire. I met one other Radio Head fan named Greg. It only took one day of hanging out with him to realize he and I could never be friends. Nothing in common.

Why am I talking about this now? I shall tell you. Mark has a friend named Markus. He seems like a nice enough guy. I've talked to him on occasion. But even in our short encounters, there's something about him, something I can't explain. Something almost odd, but not really--just different. Yesterday, I was looking at his facebook profile, and suddenly everything made sense. I saw in his music interests: Arcade Fire. And then I knew. He is a Radio Head fan! I was sure of it.

So I asked him. He replied, "Do I like Radiohead? Was that a serious question?" I then explained to him that I can always pick out a Radio Head fan. I'm not sure if it's a gift, or if it's just really obvious.

He also said something like, "Let me guess. You listen to contemporary Christian music."
*music snob CHECK

I asked if he also liked Wes Anderson films. "Do you even need to ask?"
*Wes Anderson fan CHECK

This concludes today's research in Melissa's Radio Head Theory Project.


Do you know any Radio Head fans? Am I off? Dead on? What say ye?

6 comments:

Coral said...

ha - I don't even know who Radiohead is. I've never seen Life Aquatic, and I have no clue who this Wes Anderson person is.

So what kind of music do I like? How good is your gift? :)

MadMup said...

I like one or two Radiohead songs, and I looooooove Wes Anderson movies.

What does that mean?!?

Kelly said...

this is really funny! while i'm not a radiohead fan exactly, i do like some of their songs. i thought their performance at the grammy's was the best one of the night. but i hate wes anderson films. i don't get them.

Brian Arnold said...

As someone who likes some (but not all) Radiohead music, with a bit of a perfectionist streak in me - seeing you write "Radio Head" instead of "Radiohead" drives me bonkers. ;)

I can't say I'm a big fan of Wes Anderson movies. I liked The Life Aquatic alright, but can't really say I've liked (or even seen) much else of his work (I didn't like Tenenbaums all that much at all).

Also, there's some great modern Christian music out there. I'm a little out-of-touch now but I have a number of CDs. The WOW collections are always great.

Brian Arnold said...

Oh, also, Arcade Fire has a couple of good songs, but I can't say I like it all. I own the album you showed in the post, but not the newer one, and really, I kind of wish I'd only bought a single or two instead of the whole thing.

Danny Douglas said...

Um, who is Radio Head?