Exit Music

Possibly one of the most interesting musical ventures of recent times Exit Music ‘Songs With Radio Heads' aims to transcribe Radiohead songs into yet uncharted waters. Pushing the boundaries of music is after all what Radiohead are expert at, so there seems to be a natural symmetry in the fact that other artists are coming together to give them a helping hand in continuing this artistic process.

Shawn Lee kicks off the album with a worthwhile but not too dissimilar if more celebratory version of ‘No Surprises'. Mark Ronson's jazz funk version of ‘Just' featuring Phantom Planet singer Alex Greenwald complete with full wind section was my particular favourite followed closely by Osunlade & Erro with their schizophrenic version of ‘Everything In It's Right Place'. ‘Morning Bell' lacked lustre and could be the background music in almost any Soho bar whilst Sa-Ra featuring The Sa-Ra All Stars must have got the wrong track (or the wrong end of the stick when asked to offer their interpretation) as it bore no resemblance what-so-ever to ‘In Limbo'. The Bad Plus joined the party with such a laid back haphazard ambient version of ‘Karma Police' you could almost picture yourself in a Parisian side street cafe with the smoke trailing from a cigarette as the intoxicated French pianist's interpretation hung ominously in the air. Matthew Herbet featuring Mara Carlyle continued the Parisian style theme with a chilled out ‘Nice Dream'. The Cinematic Orchestra closed proceedings eloquently with an orchestration of ‘Exit Music (For A Film)'. All in all one for the multitude of Radiohead fans to praise, argue and have a good old punch-up over when discussing the merits of each individual piece. My main criticism is why no ‘Fake Plastic Trees'?

Full tracklisting:

1. Shawn Lee - No Surprises
2. Mark Ronson feat. Alex Greenwald - Just
3. RJD2 - Airbag
4. Matthew Herbert feat. Mara Carlyle - Nice Dream
5. The Randy Watson Experience feat. Donn. - Morning Bell
6. sa-ra feat. The Sa-Ra All Stars - In Limbo
7. Pete Kuzma feat. Bilal - High & Dry
8. The Bad Plus - Karma Police
9. Osunlade & Erro - Everything In Its Right Place
10.The Cinematic Orchestra - Exit Music (for a film)