- Thom Yorke
"The Eraser"
9/10
I usually dislike the hitparade and every single bit that’s connected to it, such as questions like “What’s your favourite band of all time?” Usually I’ve found that rubbish. But if I had to make an answer to that, at the moment my answer to that question would be: Radiohead.
BUT, then I’ld mean “half” of Radiohead. The glorious, colourful, melodic, rocking, intriguing half. The other (worse) half would be the overload-of-experimental, cold electronic, monotone part.
The neurotic bleeps and other noises like the monotone pianobeats, which Thom Yorke starts with in his first solo-album “The Eraser”, these sounds make me think of the worse. But, with the effort, after one time listening to the whole album, that same expectation seems to be clarified. These nine pieces of music (I couldn’t call it “songs” in the true context) are an advancement on the earlier experimental Radiohead, the band of “Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box”, “Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors” and “Hunting Bears.
Call me conservative or whatever, but honestly, this isn’t what I expected of his first solo-album, at first.
Thom York solo (he himself hates the term, but that’s what it’s all about) is simply saying Radiohead without the group, and with (more) electronics. Literally all of the tracks are ruled by the rattling of drumcomputers, and other percussions, brought forth out of machines.
And even so, sometimes he adds (like in “The Clock”) some verbal percussion to it as well.
But there are definetly highlights for sure with this record. “Analyse” is a very astonishing track, and very innovating. “Black Swan” is an example of a good mix of a nice groove, with the continuing of growing advancement throughout the three following songs.
“Cymbal Rush” is just like a fairy tale. So melodic, and the beauty lies within his themes, as usual: typical Thom would be about the environment (the amazing “It Rained All Night”), the political situations (“Atoms For Peace”), and suspicious death cases (“Harrowdown Hill” was the place where the body was found of David Kelly, but he committed suicide in his house)
, and also his remarkable love life:
‘When you walk in the room I start to melt, I start to follow you around like a dog. I’m a dog , I’m a dog, I’m your lapdog.’
Most critics from London studios have said that this album is very danceable. Danceable? If your name is Thom Yorke, and you dance like a motorized disturbed wallflower, then yes.
But why 9/10, you might wonder? Because “The Eraser” is a music album that’s on the grow. The first impression for me was just as a collector of outtakes, and demos of forgotten Radiohead-would-be-songs.
But after giving the effort, I simply adore this album, it’s like Thom Yorke finally shows what he’s really all about, and it’s prooven to be something beautiful.
I can already consider this record as one of the best of this year. I think I’ve listened to it toroughly about 15, 16 times, and I’m pretty surprised that at first I disliked most of the percussion work, and almost described it as annoying, BUT, a person can change.
One of the (without a doubt) most talented popmusicians of his generation has manufactured a peculiar, personal, adventurous album, which is certainly good enough for me to enjoy it to the max.