Radiohead’s Kid A Meant to Be Listened to With… Radiohead’s Kid A?

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Radiohead Kid A
Bloggers are blogging that certain songs on Radiohead’s 2000 album Kid A can be, er, enhanced by playing two copies of the CD together, one of them delayed by 17 seconds. Some fans are claiming Thom Yorke has said this mysterious phenomenon is “intentional.” As someone who’s gone on record as being amused by unlikely juxtapositions, I’m game for this: okay, internet, try me.

The Modern Age has three sample tracks posted, and I gave them each a listen. “Everything in its Right Place (17 Second Delay Version)” comes out, um, muddy and ridiculous; “Kid A” actually does synch up on the beat, but still just sounds like two songs playing at once; “Morning Bell” not only syncs up, but, I’ll admit, actually sounds kind of cool. Hmm. What could it mean?

Despite my mashuppy history, I’ve never actually tried watching The Wizard of Oz with Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, although at a party this weekend, the hostess had Hitchcock’s “Vertigo” on the TV and a mix CD on the stereo, and when Interpol’s sparse, haunting “Pioneer to the Falls” came on, they seemed to go together pretty well. And no, there was nothing funny in the brownies. Anybody have any other secret musical juxtapositions they’ve enjoyed, either sober or not?

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