Classic Radiohead covered
The Easy Star Allstars:
Radiodread
I don't know how many of you are into reggae and dub music, and I don't know how many of you are into Radiohead, but this surprisingly appropriate re-imagining of the legendary OK Computer will probably be enough to get most of you into either camp.
The Easy Star All-Stars, who gained notoriety in 2003 with their Jamaican interpretation of “Dark Side of the Moon”, have captured all the dark harmonies and creepy details that litter the 1994 classic, and anyone familiar with the album will be surprised at how well they work in a reggae setting. The paranoid fear that permeates OK Computer becomes, through translation, nicely chilled-out and surprisingly spiritual.
Now, this doesn't always work — the song “Let Down” is depressing no matter which way you look at it, so the All-Stars employ a singer with a much heavier accent to handle it. The result is masked enough to keep the optimistic flow of the album going, but no amount of Jah-love inflection pulls the spoken-word “Fitter Happier” out of its emotional abyss.
For the most part, each song features clever reinterpretations of the odd little details present in the original. The jangly guitars of “Electioneering” turn into Mellotron and move to the back of the mix, replaced by new horn parts and vocal improvisation. “Exit Music” gets a complete overhaul of everything but the vocals — dissonant piano and lazy bass combine with soulful vocal harmonies to create what is probably the high point of the album.
Unfortunately, the singles from the original album, “No Surprises” and “Karma Police”, feature no such innovation but rather are straightforward reggae covers. “Paranoid Android” has enough technical weirdness in it that messing around with it at all would seriously disrupt its house-of-cards construction, so it's mostly left alone as well. As a fairly hardcore Radiohead fan, I found this rather disappointing, but the songs hold up quite well in their new incarnations and remain quite accessible.
Now, I couldn't find this album anywhere in stores, so I had to resort to downloading it, and it took me the better part of a week to find it. If you want to check this album out, drop me a line and I'll let you know where I was able to find it.
If you know anyone who's heavily into reggae music, show them Radiodread — it has all the polish of modern dub but there's something insistently urgent about it that sets it leagues apart. You might make some new Radiohead fans, as well.
Questions? Suggestions? E-mail me at shotsinthedark@gmail.com
Radiohead Cover Playlist
- DJ GYNGYVYTUS — Skeet Spirit: A Crunk Tribute to Radiohead
Good for a laugh or two. Tracks include “Creepin (On Dat Ass)” and “No Sizzurprises”.
- The String Quartet — Enigmatic: The String Quartet Tribute to Radiohead
Not as good as you might think. Very precise recreations that add nothing to the songs.
- Plastic Mutations — The Electronic Tribute to Radiohead
You can't beat Radiohead at their own game, and this obnoxious album proves it.
- Christopher O'Riley — True Love Waits: O'Riley Plays Radiohead
Excellent classical interpretations of Radiohead's body of work, ranging from their straight up rock found on OK Computer to the more abstract tracks such as “You and Whose Army” from Amnesiac.
Radiodread
I don't know how many of you are into reggae and dub music, and I don't know how many of you are into Radiohead, but this surprisingly appropriate re-imagining of the legendary OK Computer will probably be enough to get most of you into either camp.
The Easy Star All-Stars, who gained notoriety in 2003 with their Jamaican interpretation of “Dark Side of the Moon”, have captured all the dark harmonies and creepy details that litter the 1994 classic, and anyone familiar with the album will be surprised at how well they work in a reggae setting. The paranoid fear that permeates OK Computer becomes, through translation, nicely chilled-out and surprisingly spiritual.
Now, this doesn't always work — the song “Let Down” is depressing no matter which way you look at it, so the All-Stars employ a singer with a much heavier accent to handle it. The result is masked enough to keep the optimistic flow of the album going, but no amount of Jah-love inflection pulls the spoken-word “Fitter Happier” out of its emotional abyss.
For the most part, each song features clever reinterpretations of the odd little details present in the original. The jangly guitars of “Electioneering” turn into Mellotron and move to the back of the mix, replaced by new horn parts and vocal improvisation. “Exit Music” gets a complete overhaul of everything but the vocals — dissonant piano and lazy bass combine with soulful vocal harmonies to create what is probably the high point of the album.
Unfortunately, the singles from the original album, “No Surprises” and “Karma Police”, feature no such innovation but rather are straightforward reggae covers. “Paranoid Android” has enough technical weirdness in it that messing around with it at all would seriously disrupt its house-of-cards construction, so it's mostly left alone as well. As a fairly hardcore Radiohead fan, I found this rather disappointing, but the songs hold up quite well in their new incarnations and remain quite accessible.
Now, I couldn't find this album anywhere in stores, so I had to resort to downloading it, and it took me the better part of a week to find it. If you want to check this album out, drop me a line and I'll let you know where I was able to find it.
If you know anyone who's heavily into reggae music, show them Radiodread — it has all the polish of modern dub but there's something insistently urgent about it that sets it leagues apart. You might make some new Radiohead fans, as well.
Questions? Suggestions? E-mail me at shotsinthedark@gmail.com
Radiohead Cover Playlist
- DJ GYNGYVYTUS — Skeet Spirit: A Crunk Tribute to Radiohead
Good for a laugh or two. Tracks include “Creepin (On Dat Ass)” and “No Sizzurprises”.
- The String Quartet — Enigmatic: The String Quartet Tribute to Radiohead
Not as good as you might think. Very precise recreations that add nothing to the songs.
- Plastic Mutations — The Electronic Tribute to Radiohead
You can't beat Radiohead at their own game, and this obnoxious album proves it.
- Christopher O'Riley — True Love Waits: O'Riley Plays Radiohead
Excellent classical interpretations of Radiohead's body of work, ranging from their straight up rock found on OK Computer to the more abstract tracks such as “You and Whose Army” from Amnesiac.
