Thom Yorke and Johnny Greenwood of Radiohead team up with MF Doom for this track from Lex Records’ Complex compilation. The track is available for purchase over at Lex’s website.

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It started, more or less, with 9th Wonder’s God Stepson. That is, an artist with a lot of passion, but hardly a name to go off of, pays homage to another artist they honor and tribute, by remixing their album (without the original artist’s permission of course). 9^th did this for Nas, and when the acapellas for Jay-Z’s The Black Album surfaced, a whole slew of copycats got the same idea, and thus, all of the colors of the rainbow were illegally inserted into the title of Jay’s supposed swan song (along with a ton of lousy remixes). While entries from Kno of Cunninlynguists (The White Album) and Kev Brown (The Brown Album, of course) were notable, one remix LP rose to the top, DJ Danger Mouse’s The Grey Album, which combined Shawn Carter’s vocals’ with Beatles sampled beats. In both cases – 9^th Wonder and Danger Mouse – two relatively unknown names had catapulted the start of their careers.

Amp Live has been around for ten years as a producer in the hip-hop game, as one-half of severely underrated Bay Area duo, Zion I. It’s taken the crew a while to get the recognition they deserve, but with the release of 2004’s True & Livin’, they dropped their first truly solid record. Still, while Amp was the creative force behind all of these beats, he had yet to be mentioned in the same breath as his peers, such as Evidence, Chief Xcel, Cut Chemist, or hell, 9^th Wonder or Danger Mouse.

Amp realized it was time to go above and beyond the call of duty, and chose to remix one of his favorite groups (without permission of course), Radiohead. With the digital release of In Rainbows (a.k.a. the best record from Radiohead since Kid A) last year, Amp decided to get in on the action be remixing select songs from it, and offering it for free download, just like the group did with the original version. While this seemed like a good idea on paper, it didn’t exactly fly with Radiohead’s publishing company, Warner, who was still mad at the group for dissing them and giving away In Rainbows for free. The remixes were complete, and ready to be released into the Wild West that is the internet, when Amp got a dreaded cease and desist letter from Warner…. just like Danger Mouse got from EMI regarding The Beatles samples. Hmmm….

But there’s nothing better for your career than pending legal action, especially if your music is hot to boot. Amp got the ‘net on his side, pleaded with the group on YouTube, sent them the remixes, exchanged talks, and, in the end, actually got permission to make it happen! Only available for free download (right here, mind you), Amp broke new ground in the world of do-it-yourself music industry.

So how does Rainydays Remixes hold up? Incredibly solid, actually, which makes it easy to understand why Radiohead approved it. A tightly knit, eight-song EP doesn’t waste time with filler, and succeeds in two areas – it proves that Radiohead is brilliant sample material (watch Kanye and Will.I.Am start to rape their catalog for hit singles next year), and that Amp Live is a dope producer.

The EP begins with “Video Tapez”, which finds Del The Funky Homosapien getting loose over the original song’s raining pianos, and a choppy version of Thom Yorke’s original hook. The sensual sounds of “Nude” are re-imagined as an uptempo, vibey joint called “Nudez”, where both Too $hort and MC Zumbi (of Zion I) deliver inspirational verses. Various bits and pieces of “Reckoner” are rearranged to form “Reckonerz”, where Jurassic 5’s Chali 2na rides Amp’s head nodding rendition of the track with ease. The vocals on each of the three hip-hop songs have two things in common; 1) each present positive, self-examining lyrics for the listener; and 2) these are all original vocal contributions – no mash ups or borrowed acapellas.

“15 Stepz” is the only other track that features new vocals, as soul singer Codany Holiday sings over the original album’s opening track, lending a much different feel to the song than Thom’s more abrasive approach. Meanwhile, each “Faustz”, “Weird Fishez”, and “All I Need” are essentially instrumental remixes, which find Amp souping up the tracks with tougher drums, while having fun with the sampler. “All I Need” stands out among these, giving it a heavy, DJ Shadow/Blockhead-esque sound.

Aside from being a great accomplishment – that is, remixing something illegally, but making it so dope that the artist lets you release it, Rainydayz Remixes works as an essential companion piece to In Rainbows, as well as a standalone project even if you’ve never heard of Radiohead. – Pizzo

      With a total of six scarily consistent studio albums in the can, Radiohead have become untouchable gods of rock music, naturally lending themselves to a tribute album of sorts in Exit Music: Songs For Radioheads. Forward thinking indie imprint, BBE, has tapped some of today’s most talented and under-appreciated artists to re-interpret a series of Radiohead classics, touching upon everything from Pablo Honey to Amnesiac (sorry, Hail To The Thief fans).

      The liner notes of the album read, “People get confused about cover versions, they are a labor of love, not some sort of disrespectful treatment of the classics. Everyone involved in the Exit Music project loves the music of Radiohead.” Listening to the album, this statement couldn’t be further from the truth, as this diverse group of musicians lends their signature styles to the songs of Thom Yorke and company. 

     Not exactly structured as an “album” per se, Exit Music may be hard for listeners unfamiliar with Radiohead to digest in one sitting. But taken on a song by song basis, there are several moments of brilliance included within. Producer Pete Kazuma enlists neo-soul vocalist Bilal for his chilled-out rendition of “High and Dry” (from The Bends), trading the original’s acoustic guitar backdrop for jazzy bass and handclaps that would make J. Dilla proud. RJD2 chimes in for a choppy, beat-driven take on OK, Computer’s timeless opener, “Airbag”, replacing Thom’s vocals with seemingly submerged keyboards. 

      Some of the more “experimental” covers take things in their own direction, while remaining, for the most part, faithful to the source material. ?uestlove and James Poysner’s Randy Watson Experience crafts a jazzy reworking of “Morning Bell” (from Kid A), transforming it into an almost unrecognizable nine-minute magnum opus, as Donn lends her breezy over Ahmir’s rhythmic drumming. The same can be said for the Sa-Ra Creative Partners’ crack at “In Limbo” (from Kid A), which overlooks the original’s lofty sinking feeling, and tries on schizophrenic, spaced-out Prince-inspired drum programming for size, for better of for worse. The Bad Plus lends an unapologetic balls-to-the-wall jazz reworking of “Karma Police” (from Ok, Computer), doubling the length of the original version, allowing them to stray the course – a lot. 

      But the best cover on here? It’s arguable – Osunlade & Erro’s treatment of the Kid A opener, “Everything In It’s Right Place” is so faithful to the original, but lends an entirely new level of depth to it, with hard-hitting sampled funk drums, didjeridoos, and a perfectly timed piano breakdown, not to mention dead-on vocals.  But winner of the bunch is Mark Ronson’s funky rendition of “Just” (from The Bends). Enlisting The Dap Kings on horns, and Phantom Planet’s Alex Greenwald on vocals, this is easily the most interesting re-interpretation on the record. Damn it’s good. 

      Longtime fans of Radiohead will appreciate this record, even if only at certain moments. For the casual listener or unfamiliar ear, Exit Music may sound like a jumbled mess of different sounds and styles, but after a couple of listens, they may find themselves accidental fans of Radiohead.