Note: This is the Radiohead frontman’s solo debut.
Also Note: The band hasn’t broken up. They’ve been touring in Europe and plan to record their seventh album soon for a 2007 release.
Sound: A haunting and hopeless electronic drone where Thom Yorke croons over skittering and staticky beats, fuzzy basslines, eerie synths and minimalist electric guitars. Tracks rarely develop into songs with chord progressions, bridges and choruses. Instead, intricate layers of sound evolve and devolve.
Heavy Rotation tracks: none
Medium Rotation tracks: “The Eraser“; “Harrowdown
Hill“; “Black Swan“
Recommended: The envelope-pushing instrumentation and the clarity of Thom’s vocals (compared to some of the more avant-garde moments of Kid A and Amnesiac) are positives, but this music is simply far less dynamic than Radiohead’s. It works well as background music (as long as you’re in a dark mood), or as a case study in production technique. Just don’t look for hits.
Grade: B-

(As posted 7/24/06 on davepowersmusic.com)
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