Corporate Love Breakdown - The Radiohead Bluegrass Tribute

I'm wary of tribute albums, regardless of their nature or genre. I'm especially wary of the ones made in tribute to bands that've only been around for a few years or put out just a couple of albums. Seriously, do we need a Pickin' on John Mayer CD? Especially when it doesn't sound all that different from how he played anyway (the one advantage of that CD is that it does remove one of the most annoying aspect of John Mayer's music: his singing. Now if we could just remove the rest of the music and replace it with something interesting)?

I remember when the tribute album trend started. It began with symphonic tributes to 60s and 70s acts: the Beatles, Yes, the Moody Blues (distinctly lacking the spoken-word poem crap), etc. It was fairly tasteful if kinda bland. There didn't seem to be a point to it, unless you happened to own a grocery store and needed some new muzak.

But we've broadened our horizons since then. It's not all string quartets and philharmonic orchestral tributes (though those are still in ample evidence, I fear). No, now we're bending genres and styles even further.

Which is why when Michelle and I found a CD that referred to itself as a bluegrass tribute to Radiohead, the British-guitar-rock-turned-electronica-experimenters-turned-general-badasses, we were curious. Off-puttingly curious. "It can't possibly work," we said; and "we have to have it! Just for the kitsch value!"

And thus it came as a shock when, upon hearing the CD, it turns out this stuff is actually really good.

The album itself is actually a really interesting exercise in blending slight electronica touches to bluegrass instruments (guitar, fiddle, mandolin, and banjo). The results are definitely listenable and recognizable, but the musicians responsible for this record have made each song their own. incorporating the fuzzed-out bassline from "The National Anthem" into a bluegrass version of the song is unsettling at first, but it ultimately works. The folks playing this songs have not only a firm grasp of their instruments, but a real reverence and understanding of the source material. "2+2=5" comes across as just as sinister when the vocals are played by a fiddle as they do when Thom Yorke sings them. "Fake Plastic Trees" is touching and sad as the original. "Knives Out" comes across as a plaintive dirge rather than a sinister threat. "Myxomatosis" is just as bizarre and creepy as the Radiohead version, and the heavy exhalation thing that one of the musicians does ups the weirdness factor in just the right way.

This collection isn't for everyone or for listening to all the time. It is worth a listen, but it's probably not of interest to anyone except those who really like Radiohead and bluegrass and wondered what the two would sound like together. Despite being aimed at such a small niche population, it's an interesting and almost fun collection.