Radiohead gone to Ibizia? Surprisingly obsessive, minimal and gloomy, “The King of Limbs”, the eighth studio album by Radiohead now got a remix “brother”, the two-CD of “TKOL RMX 1234567″ which compiles a series of seven 12” vinyl singles/EPs, also released as digital downloads from the band’s website in both MP3 and WAV file types.
Dense and tense, “TKOL RMX 1234567” is not a friendlier version of some of the gloomy songs of “The King of Limbs” as some might expected, there are no dubstep, techno, house or euro-trance remixes, but quite gentle and full of consideration reassembles of the original tracks. I actually expected something more creative and less ambiental. Most of these 19 bands involved in this project seems to be quite intimidated by Radiohead and the appetite for experimentation with these songs seems to be reduced to simply apply their usual sonic tricks to the songs, eventually changing some rhythmic schemes and adding some additional sonic layers, but staying in the same weird and minimalist approach as the originals.
While I’m still not quite comfortable with “The King of Limbs”, this remix album only raise few more questions.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48jFD9cY7OI&w=545&h=399]
Singer Thom Yorke said: “I love that there is such a culture of remixing at the moment, all this flow of ideas. It may come outta the club scene but to me there is a lot more to it than that.” And obviously Radiohead aim beneath the dancefloor.
Might be my age, but I wasn’t able to listen both CDs by one round. Some of the remixes are quite twisted pulls, while others did not have enough nerve to keep attention focused. If “The King of Limbs” was minimalist and obsessive, “TKOL RMX 1234567” seems more tiresome and not so inspired. Still, I’m pretty sure, everyone will dig out their own favorites from these two CSs, as eventually I will chose my own after a few more attempts. But “TKOL RMX 1234567” didn’t worked at first, second and third listen and while “The King of Limbs” have that magic-hypnotic aroma, these remixes have not enough nerve, but keeps the tension high. Nothing really innovative or further revolutionary, not so tricky, but quite trippy.
Tracklist:
CD 1:
01 – Little By Little [Caribou RMX]
02 – Lotus Flower [Jacques Greene RMX]
03 – Morning Mr Magpie [Nathan Fake RMX]
04 – Bloom [Harmonic 313 RMX]
05 – Bloom [Mark Pritchard RMX]
06 – Feral [Lone RMX]
07 – Morning Mr Magpie [Pearson Sound Scavenger RMX]
08 – Separator [Four Tet RMX]
CD 2:
01 – Give Up The Ghost [Thriller Houseghost RMX]
02 – Codex [Illum Sphere RMX]
03 – Little By Little [Shed RMX]
04 – Give Up The Ghost [Brokenchord RMX]
05 – TKOL [Altrice RMX]
06 – Bloom [Blawan RMX]
07 – Good Evening Mrs Magpie [Modeselektor RMX]
08 – Bloom [Objekt RMX]
09 – Bloom [Jamie xx Rework]
10 – Separator [Anstam RMX]
11 – Lotus Flower [SBTRKT RMX]
The singles were released through XL Recordings on Radiohead’s Ticker Tape Ltd. imprint label, and are available for purchase from Radiohead’s The King of Limbs online store. They are also available through the band’s YouTube page.
Radiohead – Official Site
Radiohead – Official YouTube Channel
XL Records
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buXgcqqmqic&w=545&h=399]
