Radiohead - The Best Of

Parlophone

If butter and raisin cookies are so bad for you, then why are they so good? Hmmm, cookies. A similar question is posed by this compilation: yes, it looks lovely, and will put a spring in your step and a bounce in your heart, but it leaves a bitter chocolate aftertaste. How could you not wish to own a collection like this, you may ask, where almost every track punches you and makes it feel like a sweet kiss? Well, because it’s yet another attempt to fill corporate coffers, unsupported by the very band whose name is written on the sleeve.

Everybody knows how wondrous Radiohead are, so you don’t need me parping about the shimmering brilliance of ‘No Surprises’, ‘Planet Telex’ and ‘2+2=5′. Their old label knows that too, which is why this blatant grab for your cash looks and sounds so appealing. But if the music is sublime, the ethics are less so, which is why it evens out at half marks. It’s not what the band would have wanted. Ross Thompson

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DOWNLOAD: ‘KARMA POLICE’, ‘THERE THERE’, ‘THE BENDS’.
FOR FANS OF: PIXIES, DJ SHADOW, AUTECHRE.

Issue #52 - Very Bro-some

Featuring Panama Kings, ASIWYFA, an investigation into DIY touring, details of what over 25 of the finest NI bands are up to in 2009 and much more.