Author: Yorke, Thom

Format: Explicit Lyrics

Release Date: 11-07-2006

Details: Amazon.ca Some writers and fans have taken to calling this album Kid B, the (obvious) implication that it's the companion piece to Radiohead's masterpiece of electronic rock. And while The Eraser does compare favorably to that work, it's no longer ahead of its time, just simply of its time. We can't all be visionaries all the time, however, and it's understandable that Yorke wants to play with his computer more than he gets to with his rock and roll band. Looped bubbly bloops, sleight drones, and curious bleeps complement Yorke's distinctive vocals throughout. The album at times sounds like demo versions, as if they were an update of the way Pete Townshend used to do solo versions of all his songs for the Who. It's tough not to expect the rest of the band to come in and "complete" a particular song. But once you get used to the fact that this isn't going to happen, the album reveals itself as a delightful, occasionally brave work that's as playful as it is melancholic. --Mike McGonigal Product Description "Don’t call it solo," says Thom Yorke of The Eraser, "It doesn’t sound right". Here, then, is the first – hmm, let’s say one-man record from the vocalist of Radiohead, an excursion in electronic beats and synthetic textures hailed by many critics as a return to Radiohead’s 2000 album, Kid A. Strictly speaking, though, he’s right – it’s not solo: produced and "arranged" by long-time ‘Head producer Nigel Godrich, featuring processed sounds taken from full-band sessions, and featuring at least one song originally mooted for appearance on Hail To The Thief, it appears as much an opportunity for Thom to build on the ideas not fully realised on full-band releases. Rock fans may lament Radiohead’s shifts away from guitar, bass and drums, but it’s hard to deny just how well Thom’s voice fits amid the hissy cymbals and spectral synthesiser of ‘The Eraser’ and ‘Black Swan’. Guitar surfaces on the haunting ‘The Clock’, Thom singing "You throw coins in the wishing well" over warped, droning folk, while album highlight ‘Harrowdown Hill’ strikes a rare explicitly political note for Thom, a track themed around the death of UN Weapons Inspector David Kelly. --Louis Pattison

UPC: 634904020026

EAN: 0634904020026

Languages: English

Binding: Audio CD

Item Condition: UsedVeryGood