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Thom Yorke :: "Atoms For Peace"From The Eraser (XL; 2006)
The Eraser is half of a decent acoustic blues record given
questionable sheen by an unquestionable producer. Especially
"Harrowdown Hill" which, despite its good/x-filey intentions, sounds
like an outtake from Michael Jackson's History (specifically a
cross between "Stranger in Moscow" and "They Don't Really Care About
Us") with its skittish robotic ant colony picking the bones of a
should-have-been chunky guitar riff (which closes the song in ten
brief seconds, pleasure delayers get your grind on). Don't ask me how
I know about the Jackson comparison, I just do.
"Harrowdown Hill" is an example of The Eraser's overpopulation
of minimalist measures, but the record should get over anyway, if not
because Thom Yorke Is Important, then because Thom Yorke Is
A Brilliant Singer. Evidence (aside from everything Radiohead has
done, of course, but especially how he turns a lot of Hail To the
Thief's atunality into actual decent, if crappily-tracklisted,
songs): "Atoms for Peace." This is the opposite of "Harrowdown Hill." There's no immediate subject matter, no direct political point of
reference, and it's the longest, most loose, sparse, wandering,
noodling, clumsily-arranged track on the record: every instrumental
element does its best to ignore all of the others, as if Godrich
didn't realize his blips were autistic. Yorke therefore doesn't sound
like his words are being viced out of him (or that he's singing from
the garbage dump on the Death Star), and his up-front range-scaling
verses contain gorgeous, simple vocal flourishes that reflect this.
This sounds much more like a comedown from "Kid A" than the sound of
suffocation. Robots don't need to breathe, and, without the proper
programming, won't sympathize with those that do.
Aaron Newell :: 8 July 2006 |
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