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Ask a bunch of 10-11 year olds to draw what they think of some Radiohead and what do they think about it?
The kids consent to this experiment, if only because Mitsi tells them to. They do, however, immediately request that we play Sean Paul or 50 Cent instead.
"This is not hip-hop," Mitsi says. "I'm not asking if you like it."
She doesn't have to ask. They don't.
We begin with Hail to the Thief, Radiohead's latest, a critically adored and hopelessly muddled platter of art rock weirdness. The kids shift restlessly as "2+2=5" sputters into guitar-and-drum-machine gear.
When Thom Yorke's famously tortured croon first surfaces, the whole room starts giggling.
Giggling.
For the first few songs, the kids hardly move, scarcely even changing facial expressions. One girl plants her head on her desk face-first. The "hold your head in your hands and look completely confused" look is extremely popular.
I think that forcing children to listen to Hail To The Thief for the purposes of an article is a bit ethically dubious, but, y'know, whatever. They need to learn that music's not always fun.
There's a few of the resulting pieces on the page, but what I want to know is, where does this come from?
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