Nice work David.

i'll agree that though it's been mentioned here and there, the talk talk comparison gets way less attention than it probably should.

the pavement/the fall comparisons were rampant right out of the gate with the release of S&E, though. including from the band themselves.

But no, in the case of "New Face in Hell" and "Fame Throwa," it's a straight-up rip, as shameless as Stone Temple Pilots ripping of Pearl Jam...weird...

As for the Fall, they were alot more post-punk pop than Pavement. I think the comparisons are at the lyricist level only. Musically, a different animal (especially btwn 77-84)...

Another hilarious comparison:

"Spin the Black Circle" and "Beyond the Threshold" by Husker Du

david's right--there are actual musical connections between the fall and pavement on slanted, and particularly the very specific new face in hell/jackals/false grails rip. most crits only pointed to the vocal delivery and stylings, but there were other musical similarities here and there, besides the one complete rip.

my point though, was that even malkmus and kannberg pointed that out themselves. "we are ripping of a fall song here!"

but they left the fall behind quickly thereafter.

the talk talk thing is more interesting, because you hear it posed more the other way around: 'if you like radiohead, you should check out talk talk.' later overviews of talk talk note radiohead, but reviews of radiohead to mention talk talk.

Lesson two: Kid A, Amnesiac = Who the hell are you and what did you do with Radiohead?

Lesson three: Hail to the Thief = Ok, I guess that will have to do

Lesson four: In Rainbows = ???

By the way, when's the last time you listened to Terror Twilight? It's so much better than you remember.

Not only, just primarily.

Pistols at dawn!

Not only did [i]The Bends[/i] legitimize a band from lumbering ridiculousness, a single-handed recovery move that almost never happens (and certainly needs to happen again), it also spawned Muse, who learned the right lessons from it and have been taking the whole thing, cover-band like, to even more unpretentious, over-the-top levels since.

One claming to be a Radiohead fan should at least be familiar with all of their work. There's nothing I hate more than hearing something like "Ohh yeah, I *love* Radiohead. Wait, what's OK Computer?"

The bassist for Talk Talk had a one-off group with Beth Gibbons from Portishead called Rustin Man. Sounds somewhat unsuprisingly like a cross between Portishead and Talk Talk. I enjoyed it...

As for Radiohead ripping people off, when I first listened to "The Bends" my first impression was wow! this Thom Yorke guy has really been a-listening to Jeff Buckley. And I can still hear that influence on "In Rainbows." Unsuprisingly again, I've never heard Mr. Yorke mention Talk Talk or Jeff Buckley in any interviews.

In a book about Jeff Buckley, Thom Yorke is noted as being in awe of Jeff's vocal style. I just thought the above scene was magnificent.