Exit Music - Songs with Radio Heads

People get confused about cover versions. They are a labour of love, not some sort of disrespectful treatment of the classics. Everyone involved in the Exit Music project love the music of Radiohead "Songs with Radio Heads" doesn't attempt to replace the originals as definitive versions. Instead, like the Futureheads cover of Kate Bush or the Slits cover of Marvin Gaye, this is an exercise in translating well loved tracks into a different genre.

Exit Music also taps into the dancefloor potential of Radiohead, long recognized by DJs ranging from Paul Oakenfold to the Scratch Perverts. The band themselves are devotees of both hip-hop and dance music, commissioning remixes from respected figures such as Madlib, DJ Shadow and Four Tet. With an increasing number of under the counter remixes beginning to surface, BBE thought it was time to collect together the finest hip-hop and dance cover versions of Radiohead songs. Ranging from gentle acoustic treatments to raw funky versions, BBE have taken the songs of Thom Yorke into realms even he couldn't imagine...

Mark Ronson and Alex Greenwald's (of Phantom Planet) energetic “Just” cover has made big noisealready, gaining praise and endorsements from Gilles Peterson to Kanye West. Pete Kuzma and Bilal's sublime “High And Dry” reworking has transformed the angsty hit into something smoothand soulful, while The Bad Plus give “Karma Police” the abstract jazz treatment, hinting at themelody here and there before the allowing exhaultant melody to shine through. The vast stylistic difference between treatments, from Osunlade and Erro's grooving “Everything In Its Right Place” to Cinematic Orchestra's brooding “Exit Music (For A Film)” for instance, shows how wide-ranging Radiohead's influence has been. This is a collection of some of today's best musicians celebrating the music that they love.