90's Jams #19: Radiohead "Let Down" (1997)

I’ll be the first to dismiss any pseudo-intellectual douchebag who might refer to a record as “Orwellian,” although in the case of OK Computer, I would be that douchebag. The term signifies contradictions of enormous magnitude, which Radiohead laid out in layman's terms 6 years later by kicking off Hail To The Thief with a song titled “2 + 2 = 5.” “Let Down” wasn’t the first case of dark and vicious lyrics accompanying such lovely arrangement and vocal melody, but the two have rarely remained such polar opposites while blending so effortlessly. Brilliant songwriting aside, what sets this in its own plane has so much to do with Nigel Godrich’s A+++ production job. Those bleeps and bloops at the end of "Let Down" have been officially listed as one of the reasons why headphones were invented.