Atoms for Peace: Thom York’s Latest Linear Equation
Atoms for Peace – Amok
By Astro De La Rosa
Anything from Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke creates deserves your attention. Atoms for Peace is his latest musical collaboration and this time around he’s working awith super producer Nigel Godrich, along with Flea from the Red Hot Chilli Pepers and two percussionists.
At five feet tall, Yorke walks a thin, contradicting line between organic and electronic music. Whether the sounds are created “on the fly,” or placed carefully in editing and post production, there’s a sense of appeal that stems from music combining multiple diverse elements.
Every song on “Amok” is a linear equation resulting in an album of off beat-shuffles and layers of vocal harmonizing. Yorke’s falsetto notes dance joyously among more floor orientated rhythms. Flea refrains from his typical slap, playing the bass with a sense of backbone. As a result, Amok trails onward with many highs and only a few lows. – (7/10)
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpVfF4U75B8]Astro’s review also appeared in the print edition of Savage Henry, a music and culture magazine in Northern California.