Radiohead - TKOL RMX 1234567 (2011)

5/10

Too many average remixes spread over two discs becomes hard to enjoy

As perhaps the vaguest, hardest-to-grasp Radiohead album released, The King Of Limbs might seem like a prime candidate to be remixed extensively. And with Thom Yorke’s increasing presence in the electronic music scene, this made perfect sense; a compilation of remixes, hand-picked by the band, of songs from their last release.

What is incongruous with the original release, however, is the amount of music made available. At over 105 minutes, TKOL RMX 1234567 is almost three times as long as The King Of Limbs. Having multiple remixes of a song isn't uncommon for a remix album, but is there really any need for five mixes of “Bloom”? Considering this, it might sound like a tough ask to listen to both discs in a sitting. As it is, it’s hard enough listening to just one.

There simply isn’t enough to keep the listener’s attention. It was going to be a tough ask to find enough producers who could provide remixes of a high enough quality throughout, but the frustrating thing is that the big-hitters have been brought in but don’t pull it off. It might sound wise to place Caribou and Nathan Fake near the start of the first disc, but not when their mixes (of “Little By Little” and “Morning Mr. Magpie” respectively) are so mediocre, monotonous and lacking any real variation.

It’s not for want of effort but, perhaps, imagination. A post-dubstep/IDM sound can be found throughout; nothing wrong with that, considering the influence which current electronic music had on The King Of Limbs. And the finesse of, say, a Modeselektor production can’t be disputed. Their effort (entitled “Good Evening Mrs. Magpie”), suffers from the same syndrome afflicting a lot of these tracks; fine craft in the production combined with a drawn-out progression, overly repetitive beats and a failure to build on the source material. In fact, a lot of these mixes simply drown out the original track, an example being Altrice’s TKOL remix.

There are, however, a few highlights. Jamie xx is one of the few big names who satisfies with an ambient mix of “Bloom”, while Blawan’s thudding remix of that song provides some variation. Illum Sphere’s atmospheric remix of “Codex”, one of the original album’s best tracks, doesn’t progress as well as it could but is still pleasing. And the two remixes of the single “Lotus Flower” are excellent; the first, by Jacques Green, has a nice build-up with a generous helping of echo before a broken beat kicks. The second is quite a departure from this, with SBTRKT bringing his two-step and bouncy bass to play, and is probably the most dancefloor-friendly thing on here.

So while there are some good moments in here, they feel too few and far between to justify a double album. Too much of the music has a soulless, empty air about it and feels like it obstructs the presence of the source material, rather than morphing it. A remix album wasn’t a bad idea, but releasing this as a double-disc hasn’t paid off.


This was released by XL Recordings on 16 September 2011, available at the official website or Amazon.