Between original and innovation: “OK X” (Radiohead tribute)

“A good song remains a good song.” When I recently stumbled across a free tribute album to mark the tenth anniversary of “OK Computer”, this saying kept running through my head. “OK Computer”, the epochal 1997 album by Radiohead. It was one of those albums that burns itself into your auditory canals, making you feel like it changes your life. Every time I listened to it, I noticed new sound structures hidden inside the guitar lines. It was an album that was so different from anything I had heard before, because most of my friends were still listening to Nirvana back then. And so I was a bit skeptical when I heard about the tribute album. Would they really be able to cover the songs of my favorite band without distorting them?

Now, I am also a very visual person. So, the first thing that caught my eye was the nice compilation artwork. I decided not to integrate the artwork because I am not sure about the legal basis. But you can easily view it on the original homepage. On a baby blue background, an unnaturally distorted Thom Yorke is smiling at us. His hand is beautifully integrated into the lettering. In my opinion, it is a bit overloaded in terms of typography – I do not understand the point of this blackmail letter style, which is more reminiscent of the Sex Pistols than of everything Radiohead stands for? Graphically, though, I have no complaints: a pair of headphones, beautifully scribbled in a childlike way, that merge into the word “Stereogum” in funny squiggles instead of dangling pointlessly in the air. And in the background, blue ornaments are reminiscent of the original artwork – an intelligent way to create something new without losing sight of the original.

The same goes for the music. I love Doverman’s version of “Airbag”: the song was already fantastic in the original, but the sweet echoes (of which instrument?) under the song structures give it a special charm. His rendition of the chorus really gives me goosebumps (his raspy voice as he sings “buuuuuhuuuuuuurst”…). It reminds me of Yorke’s singing, but it is rougher and gives the song a new twist. An intelligent way to create something new without losing sight of the original…

I could give many more examples… The chorus of “Slaraffenland” on “Paranoid Android”… The way you can make a drum’n’bass with vocals out of a very sad song like “Subterranean Homesick Alien” (Mobius Band)… But just listen for yourself.