RADIOHEAD
and OK Computer

What can be said about this album - other than perhaps that it is one of the 
greatest albums ever recorded by anyone.  No other album has the same power 
to pull you down to the deepest depths of despair, or to raise you back out 
to the greatest moments of euphoria.  Filled with deeply moving and thought 
provoking music from the start, every single track pushes you into a 
different state of mind.  I have spent hours crouched in the corner of a 
pitch black room listening to this music, and equally I have spent hours 
leaping around that same room like a manic on speed as the intensity of the  
guitars washes over me.  It contains perhaps Radiohead's finest piece of 
work - the epic Paranoid Android - an eight minute roller coaster ride 
through despair, pain, misery, loneliness, suffering, doubt, and anger.  It 
is fair to say that every moment of this album is imprinted on my heart.

To say that Radiohead have had an effect on the inspiration behind Uplink is 
a profound understatement.  I would estimate that the music played while 
working on Uplink has been a pretty even mix between Radiohead and Pink 
Floyd at most times.  This music is a different form of inspiration than 
books like Neuromancer or films like Sneakers - a less direct inspiration, 
more of a creative push.  We were never trying to recreate any element of 
Radiohead music in Uplink (that would be impossible) but different things 
motivate different people. Perhaps more of their touch can be seen in the 
company name and ethos - Introversion Software.


PORTISHEAD

Yeah so its more deeply depressing music, but it means a lot to me. I once 
made an album called "Music to slit your wrists to", which was a collection 
of all the darkest, most depressing tunes I could get my hands on.  Then I 
realised that Portishead had already beaten me to it with both their studio 
albums.
The thing that makes their music so good (in my opinion) is Beth Gibbons' 
voice. I've never heard a singer that can emote so much misery in such a 
fractured voice.  Radiohead are bad, but at least they bring you out of it 
at the end. At least there is a glimmer of hope in there somewhere. 
Portishead music offers no escape - it is so uncompromising that I find I 
have to be careful when I listen to it, because it frequently destroys any 
motivation I might have.  It is quite simply spirit crushing. Perfect for 
those days when everything is going wrong and you just want it to get worse.


