Underground Sound: Music you haven’t heard—yet

By Jim Feighan
Collegian Reporter
August 30, 2006

This Week’s Band: Thom Yorke Featured
Album: The Eraser

“After years of waiting, nothing came.” Three years after the release of Radiohead’s sixth LP, Hail to the Thief, frontman Thom Yorke surprised the music world by announcing that he would be releasing a solo album entitled, The Eraser. And while The Eraser is very reminiscent of Radiohead’s more recent work, the album has a very different sound, proving that Yorke is more than just a singer.

The album begins with its title track, “The Eraser,” which samples and manipulates distorted piano chords to create the backbone of the song. Gradually, the song becomes a choir of Yorke’s harmonizing over random blips and electronic drum beats, while lyrics dealing with betrayal and disappointment envelope the listener.

“Analyse” follows next, suddenly throwing the listener into a whirlwind of rhythmic clicks and snare drum beats, while Yorke impresses with his intricate piano skills.

After “Analyse,” the album begins to devolve into a mess of edited guitar samples, endless backing vocals and Yorke as a human beatbox. Songs like “The Clock,” and “Skip Divided” are able to keep the listener’s attention, while other songs like “Atoms for Peace” and “Harrowdown Hill” sound more like filler songs that Yorke had lying around on his laptop.

In “And it Rained All Night,”it is evident that Yorke stays true to his roots, as it sounds like an exact mash-up between two Radiohead songs, “The Gloaming” and “Where I End And You Begin.”

One main difference between Yorke’s solo work and his role in Radiohead is that The Eraser primarily incorporates sampled and electronic percussions, making his music redolent of electronica artists such as Boards of Canada or Squarepusher. His choice to rely on drum machines becomes a double-edged sword though; while Yorke is able to spark curiosity and make heads turn with his unique percussions, the repetitive drum beats become boring quickly.

The Eraser closes with “Cymbal Rush,” a five-minute journey through Yorke’s past and his relationship with Radiohead. A grower at first, “Cymbal Rush” may be the most creative song on the album by mixing computer blips with a haunting piano coda.

Overall, The Eraser is a perfect example of how Thom Yorke is able to reinvent himself once more and evolve musically. While the album does tend to drag at places, Yorke’s dark lyrics, clear vocals and catchy piano riffs compensate for the weaker aspects. Besides, if you’re a Radiohead fan, you’re just grateful to get anything from the guys.

feighanj1@lasalle.edu