One can understand the American label Easy Star's choice to tackle Radiohead's "OK Computer". After the critical success of "Dub Side of the Moon", Radiohead's album was a choice dish in the label's new direction towards reggae readings of rock classics, sticking as close as possible to the original score. By its producers' own admission, the chosen one had to meet several criteria. It first had to have legitimacy among rock purists; it then had to be read overall, as a whole; above all it had to be translatable into reggae. "OK Computer" met almost all of them. Acclaimed by critics, it installed Radiohead on the roof of rock.
In fact, "Radiodread" is an unnatural marriage: its reggae reading is far less obvious than "Dub Side of the moon". For as much as Pink Floyd's music, very airy, leaves a lot of space, "OK computer" is overcrowded with guitars. It is hard, for Airbag, to leave aside its introductory guitar riff. We find it again, dressed in a one-drop. Disorienting effect guaranteed, for Radiohead fans and others alike. Horace Andy's vaporous singing stands out as a superb alternative to Thom Yorke's evanescent vocals. To remedy this difficult reggae translation, the guitars sometimes give way to horns, as on Paranoid Android or Let down, turned into a stunning ska by Toots Hibbert, who delivers the album's most fully owned cover.
The successes are not limited to these three tracks: Climbing up the walls, a piece of goldsmith's craft, ends in a fusion of horns, Exit Music fits the slow reggae pulse perfectly and the cover of Electioneering by Morgan Heritage sticks superbly to the original. The difficulty of the operation suggested a few misses. No surprises suffers from being framed by a binary rhythm and on The tourist, Skelly's (Israel Vibration) singing, condemned to follow Thom Yorke's flights, struggles to be heard and to sound true. An unnatural marriage in which rock keeps the upper hand over reggae, "Radiodread" is nonetheless a success. To be recommended to curious ears, Radiohead fans or not. One wonders what the next gamble of these singular Americans will be.
