Track Review ⊙ Daily Ops Home
The Roots :: "Atonement"From Game Theory (Def Jam; 2006)
Because I will probably not get a chance to say this otherwise:
On “Atonement,” the Roots sample Radiohead. An abysmal idea, one concocted in the fever dreams of a novice music fan, a 12-year-old that likes the Roots because they play their own instruments and likes Radiohead because a music mag tells them to, daydreaming, “What if a rap band (sic) sampled Radiohead, totally the world’s best band (sic), and then rapped on it? That would have to be the best thing ever, by definition.” But sampling is more complicated than that, and the Roots couldn’t have found a worse candidate for samplage than Radiohead, a band whose entire oeuvre has been memorized by, like, Generation A-Z at this point, and a band with such pristine, song-oriented production that an extrapolation seems destined for awkwardness. The Roots sample Radiohead. Ugh.
In theory, the track gets an F. Fuck that, an F-. In practice, though, “Atonement” is an outright jawdropper: “You and Whose Army” is the smoke curling through this succinct, gorgeous track. But the sample isn’t embellishment; the whole song is built off those guitar strums and chord changes. Over top, accordions wheeze, strings whine, women coo, and Black Thought stumbles wine-drunk through the cobblestone streets, his flight leaving in a few hours, head full of memories and regret and rueful longing. ?uestlove refuses to let the track’s monstrous, mournful melody carry the weight, keeping the rhythm lively and switched-up. Yeah, it’s one verse sandwiched between two choruses — I’d call it unfinished if it weren’t so focused, so compact and deeply thought. In truth, it’s short because the Roots are unwilling to flaunt the candlelit beauty they’ve created, and because, on the album, they’ve got other places to go yet. “Atonement” is not the best track on Game Theory, the Roots’ forthcoming out-of-nowhere triumph, but it is one of the highlights of the album’s jaw-dropping second half. Sure, other tracks hit harder, some showcase a newfound emotional pull, or musical invention, or lyrical concision… but this one samples Radiohead. And, against every odd in the book, they fucking kill it.
Thanks for letting me share.
Clayton Purdom :: 1 August 2006q |
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