Radiohead - TKOL RMX 1234567

Originally released as part of the 12\" singles collection in support of Radiohead\'s The King Of Limbs, the two cd set culling remixes from a wealth of electronic artists. The electronic treatment seems a natural fit for the eight mesmerizing album cuts, but the nineteen tracks here are a mixed bag of chopped and reconstructed versions frequently resulting in forgettable blobs with a few rare moments of brilliance.

By the numbers, there are five remixes of \"Bloom\", three of \"Morning Mr. Magpie\", two each of \"Lotus Flower\", \"Separator\", and \"Little By Little\", with the remaining three tracks each only getting the DJ treatment once each. Though \"Bloom\" gets sliced at the most, perhaps the biggest issue with the collection is that only one of the stabs at it does anything interesting. Harmonic 313\'s gurgling, aquatic retelling is a bland listen with Thom Yorke\'s vocals largely buried in favor of dramatic organ swells.

Mark Pritchard\'s version fares slightly better, eventually culminating in a cool 8-bit melody, but the repetitive stomp and grind beat grates on your nerves for the entire six minutes, with the monotonous vibe of Blawan\'s slithering take similarly wearing out its welcome while grinding the vocals down to a slow motion groan. Jamie xx\'s two-minute, atmospheric take is too brief and forgettable, despite the cool cascading effect on Yorke\'s vocals. The best of the \"Bloom\" bunch is easily Objekt\'s retelling, riding a stomp-clap hip-hop beat and pulling the shuttering vocals in and out playfully for an energetic listen full of shifty, interesting rhythms.

Things start great, with Caribou\'s take on \"Little By Little\" ripping the song apart and piecing it back together for a dazzling listen full of enchanting strings flickering through a bass bumping beat as Yorke\'s achy vocals creak around the track. Jacques Green\'s version of \"Lotus Flower\" is similarly alluring, fueled with a clunking beat as Yorke\'s vocals slide through a humming synth, leaning hard on the repeated melodic line, \"There\'s an empty space inside my heart\". Altrice\'s cool collage of the album, \"TKOL\", does a nice job offering peeks at the melodies of each song strung together for a shimmering, lo-fi winner.

The cluttered mess of syrupy synth, broken melody, and clomping beats on Brokenchord\'s \"Give Up The Ghost\" and the overstuffed layers of methodically hammering drums that seem to be fighting the song on Nathan Fake\'s \"Morning Mr. Magpie\" are two of the clumsiest efforts. More often, songs simply overstay their welcome with a meandering atmospheric vibe that never really goes anywhere, as with the understated ticking beat and droning wave of synth on Four Tet\'s \"Seperator\". Illum Sphere\'s monotonous drippy keys nearly do the same with \"Codex\", but the effect-laced vocals in the distance and their come and go use of the melody saves it from being a complete waste of time.

The moments that work well, like SBTRKT\'s jittery beat fitting Yorke\'s achy melody well on \"Lotus Flower\", are simply too few and far between. The stuttering, piano-laced beat of Anstam\'s \"Separator\" and Modeselector\'s \"Good Evening Mrs. Magpie\", ripe with thumping tribal beat and wavering vocals rolling into a 2AM club thumper, remind you of what a great idea this was on paper, but the electro-chill treatment of The King Of Limbs rarely lives up to the promise of the concept. It turns out Radiohead are plenty mind-blowing and experimental on their own, with the chopped up attempts to recreate the songs frequently coming off as unnecessary messes.



Disc 1

1. Caribou - Little By Little Rmx
2. Jacques Greene - Lotus Flower Rmx
3. Nathan Fake - Morning Mr Magpie Rmx
4. Harmonic 313 - Bloom Rmx
5. Mark Pritchard - Bloom Rmx
6. Lone - Feral Rmx
7. Pearson Sound - Morning Mr Magpie Scavenger Rmx
8. Four Tet - Separator Rmx

Disc 2

1. Thriller - Give Up The Ghost Houseghost Rmx
2. Illum Sphere - Codex Rmx
3. Shed - Little By Little Rmx
4. Brokenchord - Give Up The Ghost Rmx
5. Altrice - TKOL Rmx
6. Blawan - Bloom Rmx
7. Modeselektor - Good Evening Mrs Magpie Rmx
8. Objekt - Bloom Rmx
9. Jamie XX - Bloom Rework
10. Anstam - Separator Rmx
11. Sbtrkt - Lotus Flower Rmx