Radiohead: TKOL RMX 1234567 – review

The handful of remix albums that justify their existence propose a series of intriguing what-ifs. But The King of Limbs was so deeply informed by leftfield electronica that it arrived almost pre-remixed. There's questionable utility in commissioning Four Tet and Caribou to rework songs that already sound a bit like Four Tet and Caribou. Furthermore, this unsequenced, unedited compilation of limited-edition vinyl releases feels less like an album than an info dump. You have to dig around in the predictable constellations of hiccuping beats, tremulous chords and spooked wisps of vocal to uncover rewarding efforts, such as Modeselektor's thrill-powered techno enhancement of Morning Mr Magpie or Altrice's six-minute meltdown (dare we say megamix?) of the whole album. Perhaps only letting Swedish House Mafia loose on Codex would constitute a genuine surprise in Radiohead world, but this set intensifies the dilemma of its parent album: ostensibly unconventional music that feels all too familiar.