Thom Yorke - The Eraser
Track List :1. The Eraser
2. Analyse
3. The Clock
4. Black Swan
5. Skip Divided
6. Atoms For Peace
7. And It Rained All Night
8. Harrowdown Hill
9. Cymbal Rush
Six years after its release, 'Kid A' occupies a unique place in the discography of Radiohead. Function of the person who you ask, this is either the time they learned to fly without being weighed down by the leaden rock corpse, or the day they sank off the guitar and drifted up their own collective arsehole. However, 2001's' Amnesiac 'and 2003' Hail To The Thief 'sees step back from its icy fingers, but its influence has remained - a ghost presence of synthesizers, mechanical rhythms, and eerie, inhuman dislocation.
Far from being a full-band effort, though, one always had the feeling that it was Thom Yorke, who was the architect of Radiohead likely to manifest electronically. A big fan of Warp Records and acts as Plaid Autechre, it was Yorke who seemed keen to lay the instruments and launch himself across the stage of the synthetic rush of "Idioteque." Jonny Greenwood Given the recent revelation in NME he played "More than ever, the guitar", perhaps it was inevitable that Thom would be a way to evacuate its calls.
What, then, as a mere soundtrack employment - 'Black Swan' scores credits at the close of Richard Linklater the upcoming sci-fi flick A Scanner Darkly - slowly grew up in 'The Eraser'. First things first: this is not "solo" record ( "I do not want to hear that word," writes Thom). This, however, is not simply Thom difficult. Nine tracks arranged by Thom long-term contracts with producers Radiohead Mr Nigel Godrich, plus occasional instrumentation - albeit warped, filtered, digitally twisted in the shape - slaughtered sessions Radiohead, 'The Eraser' is less a splinter project than a chance Thom to play for the dictator With master tapes, rewire Radiohead in his own vision.
Forget if: the first thing 'The Eraser' reminds you how remarkable, how utterly unique is the voice of Thom. Freed from Radiohead titanium heaviness, here, we climbed unhindered. "The more you try to erase me," he sings, more than washing out chirruping pianos and data streams of the title song, "The more I figure." It quickly became obvious that we are many years Lighting petulant grunge of sea urchins that gnashed its way through "Creep".
Musically, the "Kid A" acolytes will be familiar ground. There's nothing here as immediately gripping as "Idioteque," but the song that punches - tractor-beam synths, percussion hissy, mechanical propulsion - form the backbone of the record. Nevertheless, "The Eraser" works best when crisp digital live together grit: mowing bass night at the shimmering 'And the rain It All Night, "while" The Clock "finds Thom singing," you throw coins into a wishing well "atop droning guitar reminiscent US freak-folkers Six Organs of Admittance.
Social awkwardness? Romantic obsession? A stinging criticism of Tony Blair? It is an irony that, as Yorke's lyrics have improved, they have become more cryptic. That's why "Harrowdown Hill 'is the key moment of his first album. Apparently dating from the" Hail To The Thief' sessions, it has a seemingly innocuous, but the patch of wilderness in the outskirts of Oxford, who won a sinister meaning in 2003 when the police discovered the body of Dr David Kelly, the weapons expert whose name has been leaked to the media by Blair, head of spin, Alastair Campbell. Out of context, the lyrics are Thom usual enigma, in the context, they are his most explicit policy to date, the last testimony of a man hounded to death by his enemies unspoken and unknowable. "Do not walk on the plate as I / You will be taught," says Thom, more staccato twangs of live bass and synthesizer gray leaves. "Do I fall or was I pushed?" Request - he, on several occasions. And then, finally, the sharpness fades for a final coda: "It's slippery, slippery slope / I feel slipping in and out of consciousness," a guitar before boarding, ringing in the ironic salute. This is not just an album highlight, but a key moment in the discography of Radiohead.
Like "Kid A", "The Eraser" divide Radiohead fans. Some will mourn its lack of viscera, its coldness, its reluctance to rock. But it is yet another revealing glimpse Yorke in the downtown cryptic world, and one who has the courage not to hide its political message in the code. "Kid B"? Yeah, okay - but Radiohead will never make another album, like her, and as a twin is the equality of all bits.
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