In Rainbows has to be one of Radiohead’s absolutely best albums, and there’s this bit in the song Weird Fishes/Arpeggi that gets me every time. The song follows a wonderful, almost unnoticable, crescendo that melds lyrics with added instrumental parts in a gorgeous way:

Turn me on to phantoms
I follow to the edge of the earth
And fall off
Everybody leaves
If they get the chance
And this is my chance

The whole song is great but this part in particular has it all, around 2 minutes in: Thom Yorke’s voice reaching the point where he’s gradually extending his notes further and further, Yorke again with ghostly backing vocals to match the longing dream of the lyrics and layered guitars galore. The drums too, a nice little switch from hi-hat to ride halfway through the verse for a little accent just as Yorke sings his of the earth.

The original live performance of the song in a more orchestral version has the same build-up and change of flow at this part but the recorded version has taken it to another level.