46. I just can’t stop smiling
I.
The Smile is a project by Radiohead members Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood, together with jazz drummer Tom Skinner. Their second album was released this week: Wall of Eyes.
Prior to that, there were special events in eighteen cinemas around the world where you could listen to the album in surround sound. The EYE Film Museum in Amsterdam hosted one such evening.
There was a full programme. Not only did we get to hear Wall of Eyes, but the new video for the track Friend of a Friend was also shown. It’s brilliant. A class of bored children being made to watch a performance by The Smile. It’s ironic to watch that in a cinema packed with people who, so to speak, would kill for such a private concert.
The clip was directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, who made a couple of my favourite films, such as *The Master* and *There Will Be Blood*. He often creates videos for Thom Yorke’s projects. These were also shown at EYE. Such as the video for the Radiohead track *[Daydreaming](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTAU7lLDZYU)*. Or the short film *Anima*, which is on Netflix, but which was a whole new experience in a cinema. The ending still moves me. Then *[Dawn Chorus](https://open.spotify.com/track/3bXH9y487cnLfA6VWXefaB?si=6fbe7d9878984218)*, one of Yorke’s finest. A song about missed opportunities and choices from the past. About never having regrets. Don’t be discouraged, no matter how dark the night, in the morning it always gets light again.It’s a theme that apparently produces the most beautiful songs. Spinvis tackles the same subject in De Grote Zon:
> There was a proper storm here last night > > But it’s already clearing up > > You can hear the birds again > > You can still smell the rain > > […] > > I see, I see what you don’t see > > It’s orange-red and it’s coming towards us > > And everything is fine now > > Everything is okay > > Everything is okay > > > > --- > >
II.
Back to Wall of Eyes, as I’m digressing. During the film event, we heard all eight tracks, whilst Yorke and Stanley Donwood’s artwork came to life on screen with animations. These are now on YouTube, by the way. After the second track, Teleharmonic, I was already tempted to applaud in the raptly listening audience. The track is unlike anything Yorke and Greenwood have made before, without feeling completely alien. It’s impressive that, after decades of working together, there’s still so much new material in the pipeline.
The tracks on Wall of Eyes are once again so layered that they can be quite overwhelming on a first listen. One moment you’re listening to Yorke’s subdued falsetto and swelling strings, as if on a film soundtrack, the next to edgy guitar sections. Often, the compositions also shift within the same track. Alongside Teleharmonic, my favourite tracks at the moment are Friend of a Friend, I Quit, Bending Hectic and You Know Me!
On this second album, the three band members seem to have really found their stride. The music sounds a little less like Radiohead and a little more like The Smile. That makes Wall of Eyes a more balanced record than the previous one, on which a few remnants of Radiohead still cropped up. Radiohead, for example, played Skirting on the Surface live over ten years ago.
After the eight regular tracks on the album, we were treated to a bonus track at the cinema. It appears to be called Tiptoe but was not released on Wall of Eyes. Secret recordings made by fans in cinemas are constantly being removed from YouTube, but a snippet can be heard on Reddit.
Let me know what you think of Wall of Eyes! For me, this was a week of celebration.
---III.
Apple is opening up its usually hermetically sealed ecosystem a little. Admittedly, under pressure from the European Union.Brussels is introducing stricter rules requiring big tech companies to give competitors more space to ensure a level playing field. This will curb the power of Big Tech.
Apple is therefore ensuring that you will soon be able to download and install apps from outside the official App Store. This has been possible on Android phones for years, but was a real no-go at Apple. Everything in the announcement of this change made it clear that the company is not doing this of its own accord. According to Apple, this increases the risk of iOS devices being misused. Apps in the App Store are checked by Apple to ensure they are safe and virus-free. This becomes more difficult if apps are installed via a workaround.
Although the company does say it has put other security measures in place. For instance, apps are still scanned on the iPhone or iPad itself after a download. If malware is detected, the apps cannot be opened.
There is, however, a catch. Under the new rules, developers will soon have to pay half a euro per annual installation of the app, if it has more than a million users. Companies such as Spotify and Epic have already indicated that they do not agree with this. This is set to cost them a fair bit. However, there is also good news for these services. They will soon be able to opt for their own payment options, meaning they will no longer have to pay commission to Apple. And this means Fortnite can return to iPhones. The game was blocked by Apple when Epic introduced its own payment system a few years ago, which was against the rules at the time.
In any case, this concession by Apple to Brussels is likely to have further repercussions. The European Commission will undoubtedly scrutinise the new rules as soon as the new legislation comes into force in March.
PS.
Masters of the Air has started on Apple TV+. It is the final series in the war trilogy produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks. The two predecessors were Band of Brothers and The Pacific. This series once again focuses on a group of young heroes in the Second World War. Once again, brotherhood takes centre stage, and in the first two episodes you’re already treated to incredibly gripping aerial battles. Beautifully made; I’m looking forward to the rest.
---NASA is concluding the mission of its Ingenuity helicopter on Mars. The craft landed on the Red Planet almost three years ago and was due to carry out five test flights there, as flying on Mars is very different from flying on Earth. As it turned out, it ended up taking to the skies 72 times and broke speed and distance records. But now it’s all over, due to damage to the rotor blades.
Strange things happen online, but so do many wonderful things. Sometimes they come together, for example in the form of Lyle the Therapy Gecko. During the coronavirus pandemic, a man decided to paint his face green and don a silly costume. He started an online stream where strangers can call in with any topic whatsoever. Not that he’s actually a psychologist, but he can certainly listen and offer advice. After all, everyone wants to be seen and heard, even if it’s by a green man in a silly costume. Sometimes the conversations are about nothing in particular; sometimes people call to share emotional and bizarre stories. Vice did a lovely feature on him.
---I wrote that I wanted to read more comics and strip stories this year, and I’m working on that. Good news for comic fans is that there are all sorts of facsimile editions of classic comics. So you can read the very first adventures of, for example, X-Men, Batman and Superman in exact copies of how they used to be published (the real originals are unaffordable). I bought the first Batman comic in which the Joker appears. It features old-fashioned adverts in the magazine and, alongside the Batman stories, other comic strips as well. These comics used to have a Donald Duck-style layout, with shorter stories featuring all sorts of characters.
Dutch developer Koen van Gilst created Pong Wars. Two balls try to knock each other’s pixel blocks away from both sides, to gain as much territory as possible. You just keep watching, and I’m not quite sure why. Fascinating.
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