Radiohead: Hail to the Thief (Capitol)

"IS THAT BACKWARDS?" a colleague asked of the music I was playing as he passed by my office. "That's not backwards," I replied; "it's Radiohead." The first time through the art-rock commandos' sixth album, you might not notice that the slippery grooves, jarring transitions and otherworldly soundscapes largely emanate from guitars, electric bass, drums and pianos played conventionally, so confounding has the band's aesthetic shell game become.