Thom Yorke
The Eraser Rmxs
Rating: 2.0
Label: Beggars XL Recording
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Although gems may warrant an occasional dusting to maintain their beauty and gleam, they are often better left untouched because fingerprints tend to be greasy. Thom Yorke's The Eraser is one such jewel; as enticing as it has been for artists to give Yorke's debut solo release a polishing with their own dusting rag, The Eraser Remixes borders on tedious. Simply put, the work in question didn't need it..
With remixes aplenty floating around after The Eraser's 2006 release, a compilation album was inevitable. Featured on this official release long awaited by diehard fans are prominent techno and electronica artists including Cristian Vogel, Four Tet and Modeskeletor. They distort and modulate eight out of The Eraser's nine original tracks ("The Eraser" is the only song snubbed, while "Black Swan" gets the double treatment).
Unfortunately, professionalism doesn't automatically generate quality. Often, the results are mundane and esoteric. "And It Rained All Night," "Analyse" and "Harrowdown Hill" all suffer from the same case of bland-initis. "Rained" and "Harrowdown" emphasize a heavy beat at the expense of the song's guts and melody. In an attempt to compensate for this, Yorke's vocal tracks are buttered in excessive echo, and stray bits of superfluous synthesizers are sprinkled in to fill the voids. Various's interpretation of "Analyse," though bold and bizarre, is too claustrophobic to enjoy. One-too-many production effects and start-stop beats mar The Eraser's chief hit.
For the most part, The Eraser was critically hailed, but there was one complaint that spewed out of many critics' mouths: the beats and synths are too minimal to buttress Yorke's often-falsetto voice. Thus, many songs sounded naked. This was never an issue with Radiohead's anthemic arrangements. Remixes' most (and perhaps only) noteworthy quality is alleviating this problem on a few tracks. A couple artists accomplish Radiohead's constant feat of providing the support to Yorke's voice. Modeskeletor and Surgeon's takes on "Skip Divided" and "Clocks" dress the songs with the denser beats and extra sounds they lack. They are as good as the originals. "Atoms For Peace" builds to a grandiose Radiohead-like climax, perhaps even outshining Yorke's subdued version.
Even so, these songs cannot outweigh Remixes's numerous blunders. What most symbolizes the album's instability are European techno-ist Cristian Vogel's two remixes of "Black Swan." The first transforms The Eraser's most funky tune into a bouncing jam and will be a swell addition to any DJ's dance mix. Unfortunately, his subsequent spin closes the album at its worst. Eight minutes of a goofy, repetitive and voiceless loop is a poor choice to end this already hit-or-miss collection. A couple songs will warrant an occasional listen, but do yourself a favor and enjoy Thom Yorke's original vision instead.
by Jory Spadea