Colin Greenwood / Radiohead thread

chuck norriss · #1 02-07-2012, 08:07 PM

Listening to The Bends today. Great bass work. Planet Telex--what a great opener. My Iron Lung is brilliant & in good taste. Reminds of Larry Graham during that song.
National Anthem on Kid A rules. You suck if you haven't played that song or How to Disappear Completely on your bass. Colin rules. He's the quiet steady battleship.

Odd there's nothing here on TB re: him, but he's one of my bassistist icons. Some of my best friends hate Radiohead. I'm not sure why we're still friends.

I've never seen them live because they always sell out quickly & I'm poor so forget it. Have you caught them live? Where when how was it? All I can do is Radiohead - The King of Limbs live from the basement 2011 - BBC on Vimeo
albeit this album isn't their best representation.

Aaaand I'm writing to myself again. Good night TB people.

CrashMiller · #2 02-07-2012, 09:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chuck norriss

You suck if you haven't played that song or How to Disappear Completely on your bass.

Maybe lets ignore that line...

But ya, Colin Greenwood is most definitely a solid bassist that goes unsung. He often sets the whole mood for songs, such as "Climbing up he walls," or even "Karma Police" (Probably have listened to OK Computer 150 times through). I think it could be simply because he is surrounded by the awesomeness that is Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood. Also, Radioheads complex style usually means he isnt laying down anything flashy, but rather trying to give the song a background feeling or mood.

squarewave · #3 02-07-2012, 10:43 PM

I dig him too, and the Live From the Basement performance is really cool.

Triangle · #4 02-07-2012, 10:58 PM

I really liked the In Rainbows from the basement. Solid album.

chuck norriss · #5 02-08-2012, 11:29 AM

I wonder in their songwriting process if he starts a song then everyone goes crazy with layers over it, or if the rest of them are crazy and he creates order from the chaos. Especially wit the last two albums. But yes, CrashMiller, he does set moods. And I really appreciate both of these Live From the Basement videos.

DONZI97 · #6 02-08-2012, 11:36 AM

Solid player with some groove, and great Pbass tone using both pick and fingerstyle. Good Stingray tone in the early days also. His lines serve the songs well, great style. Him and Dan Maines from Clutch are my two favorite modern Rock/Alternative bassists, because they are not flashy but both have a hell of a groove.

chuck norriss · #7 02-08-2012, 11:57 AM

Radiohead - Live From the Basement 2011 - Video Dailymotion

This one sounds a lot clearer.

Curmei · #8 02-08-2012, 01:08 PM

Caught them live on the Kid A tour, and going to see them in Atlanta on the 1st. I just really like the songwriting overall - though not the biggest fan of some of Thom's more electronic tracks.

I thought I had read that the bassline from Anthem was something Thom York had written a long time ago, but could have very well just made that up in my head.

chuck norriss · #9 02-08-2012, 02:33 PM

Lucky.

I see him not so much as a groove player than one who creates context. Does that make sense?

MetroBass · #10 02-08-2012, 05:17 PM

One of the few privileged enough to own a real Shin-e and Chunky Cheese. I like his style but really pretty much a behind the scenes player driving the rhythm.

chuck norriss · #11 02-08-2012, 05:34 PM

Found this on the interwebs
The King Of Gear; a site for Radiohead's Gear
might be of some value.

Skitch it! · #12 02-08-2012, 05:48 PM

I'm not sure if they still use Nigel Godrich, he has a great rep with them for his knowledge. I've always liked Colin Greenwood's playing, there is some great stuff going on there. I've always had a fondness for the sound and line on 'Climbing up the Walls', great track. I saw them on the OK Computer tour, would like to have seen them on the Kid A tour as well.

notlob · #13 02-09-2012, 02:27 PM

One of my favorite players. He seems to always play the perfect part, never steps on the other band members toes...pretty much does everything right all the time. I think he's a bigger part of that band than he gets credit for, everybody focuses on his brother and Thom Yorke (not that they don't deserve it), but I'd imagine they would be a totally different band without him.

VixCosmicHippo · #14 02-09-2012, 02:35 PM

I really really love his playing. The line on "Airbag", just sparsely placed... Brilliant, it adds so much to the feel of that song (I actually read that he was planning to add more to it later in the recording progress but never did, I personally think he made the right decision). And Thom Yorke said something along the lines of, the bass line in "Exit Music" makes the song, and I completely agree. It adds such a dark twisted feel to the song, it really adds such a different feel to the song, AND I LOVE I!!!! But that's really what Colin is a master of. He doesn't necessarily create the most technically amazing lines, but there are few bassists who can add as much to the music as he does. The infamous riff on "The National Anthem", the simplistic upright playing on "You and Whose Army?", the line that creates the whole feel in "Nude", and of course everything on OK Computer is as close to perfect as you can get.

Definitely an underrated musical mastermind. And definitely a huge influence to me, and one of my favorite bassists.

**mjac28** · #15 02-09-2012, 02:36 PM

I love this guy also just got thru playing "creep" one of my all time favorite songs

chuck norriss · #16 02-09-2012, 03:09 PM

He reminds me of the way Sting used to play with The Fuzz (The Police).

Curmei · #17 03-02-2012, 07:09 AM

Caught Radiohead in Atlanta last night. Great show. They had the bass way up in the mix at the beginning of the set, which was Ok by me, but may have put off some other listeners. Things settled later in the set, though.

Hadn't seem them since Kid A, and they still sound great.

Tampabass · #18 03-02-2012, 08:41 AM

Colin played his Fender P pretty much all night Wednesday at their show in Tampa. If/when he made a change, I couldn't see it, as he stood behind drummer Phil Selway the entire show, as opposed to standing out front.

Is he playing other basses, live, these days?

I already knew this, but the show reconfirmed it: He and Selway do so much to define the sound of that band, in the way that they lock in together and drive so many interesting, sometimes complex rhythms. They used a second drummer on at least half the songs, which really added to the rhythmic drive and urgency.

Overall, the show was pretty impressive, although I liked their 08 show in Tampa more, as it was a much smaller venue (where I felt more enveloped by the sound) and there was a heavier emphasis on "In Rainbows," easily my favorite Radiohead album. I'm not so keen on "The King of Limbs"

Curmei · #19 03-02-2012, 10:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tampabass

Colin played his Fender P pretty much all night Wednesday at their show in Tampa. If/when he made a change, I couldn't see it, as he stood behind drummer Phil Selway the entire show, as opposed to standing out front.

Is he playing other basses, live, these days?

I already knew this, but the show reconfirmed it: He and Selway do so much to define the sound of that band, in the way that they lock in together and drive so many interesting, sometimes complex rhythms. They used a second drummer on at least half the songs, which really added to the rhythmic drive and urgency.

Overall, the show was pretty impressive, although I liked their 08 show in Tampa more, as it was a much smaller venue (where I felt more enveloped by the sound) and there was a heavier emphasis on "In Rainbows," easily my favorite Radiohead album. I'm not so keen on "The King of Limbs"

Same in ATL - I didn't see him change basses. Show was really good, but I agree about the vibe. Last time I saw them was at Suffolk Downs in Boston - outdoors - and I much preferred that atmosphere. However, Thom sounds really great, and for the size of the arena, they did pretty well connecting.

I loved the way the were able to play songs in timings other than 4/4, but do it in such a way that the crowd wasn't put off or confused - they make it sound 'natural.'

alecduncan · #20 03-02-2012, 03:00 PM

Colin's one of my primary influences, and his tasteful playing really makes Radiohead themselves.

Some of my favorite bass tracks from Radiohead:

"(Nice Dream)" from The Bends
"Airbag" from OK Computer (extremely awesome to play along with)
"There There" from Hail to the Thief
"Lotus Flower" from King of Limbs (bass makes the song, hands down)
"Seperator" from King of Limbs