Radiohead - "Skttrbrain" (Four Tet remix). The song is a perfect match for Four Tet, first of all. The original is stretched-out and whinsome, Yorke's voice like a piano playing gently in an empty room. Four Tet adds in jumbles of percussion, a more flickering guitar, bells and steampunk sounds. All of a sudden, Radiohead's barren, boring tune has this thick inner life: it's like we're hearing the thump and ooze of Yorke's lovesick robot heart. Organic and fascinating and a much, much better track than the original.
Jim Bryson - "Sleeping in Toronto". A review of Bryson's new record, The North Side Benches will be posted soon on tangmonkey, but here's the album's most radio-friendly cut, a sing-along bit of anti-Toronto propaganda. it comes as part of a long line of Canadian pop-rock with a slight country twinge, but Bryson does it better (imho) than Kathleen Edwards or Blue Rodeo. His voice is so lovable, his "ba ba bas" so serious-but-fun. Like old-school Wilco, with the Beatles-prog removed.
Oh - ILM is inadvertently doing this astonishing Rough Guide thing, with CD-length introductions to every genre/artist conceivable, and new ones being added every hour. Look here. (I've only done one so far.)
Posted by Sean at January 15, 2004 10:54 PM