“Video Tapez (f/ Del tha Funky Homosapien)” – Amplive
(Words/music: Radiohead, remixed by Amplive, available on Rainydayz Remixes, Self Released, 2008)

If The Beatles is the band that crosses generation gaps, Radiohead is the band that crosses gaps within my generation.  In high school, Radiohead was the one band that all of my friends, whether they were into metal, punk, jam bands, or Brit-pop, agreed on.  They are a musician’s band, a geek’s band, and (often forgotten) a hell of a rock band, so I understand this strange crossover appeal.  Of course Radiohead, like the Beatles, has its detractors (even if many do so just to be contrarians), but it amazed me in the late ‘90s to see so many people with different musical interests agree on such an odd band.  It helps that Radiohead constantly push the envelope – with In Rainbows alone, Radiohead turned the system backwards by self releasing an album digitally and then negotiating with labels to issue the physical product, not to mention several successful public remix campaigns spurred by the band releasing “stems” of different isolated instrumental tracks calling for remixers of all skills to take part. 

Looking back, Amplive’s Rainydayz Remixes collection seems inevitable – in addition to Radiohead’s history of innovation, Thom Yorke’s solo album The Eraser featured more distinct beats, lending a track to the “Us Placers” collaborations between Pharell, Kanye West, and Lupe Fiasco.  Even The Beatles, the other critic-proof English rock band, received a remix treatment that made its DJ famous.  The skeptic in me wants to think that Amplive took on this endeavor for similar ambitions, but that’s not the point.  Rainydayz Remixes turned out just as I imagined – some of the tracks are forgettable and some are interesting.  In particular, the remix of “Videotape,” here redubbed “Video Tapez,” might be the sole example of a remix that improved on the original. I hadn’t heard the In Rainbows songs in any of the live recordings before the album came out, but my friends who had seemed most disappointed with the mellowing out of “Videotape” when compared with its more dynamic live version.  Amplive takes the slow piano line and gives it a quicker, stuttered feel; this works especially well on Thom Yorke’s vocals, turning his mournful vocal into a viable hook.  I’m not saying this is what “Video Tape” should sound like (I like the In Rainbows version, specifically for that weird percussion at the very end), but it’s interesting to hear how someone who had an entirely different agenda for the album interpreted the song.  Judging from his Youtube “thank you” disclaimer, Amplive seems thrilled that the band (potentially) heard his remixes, and I’d be curious how Rainydayz Remixes and the remix sites for “Nude” and “Reckoner” will influence the band going forward.   It also makes me wish I did something with those “Reckoner” stems I downloaded.

More on Amplive: Allmusic | Amazon MP3 | Emusic | Last.fm