Originally released in 2006, Radiohead tribute album Exit Music: Songs with Radio Heads returns to its original home at BBE Music. Featuring eclectic cover versions of Thom Yorke’s songs by Mark Ronson, Pete Kuzma, Alex Greenwald of Phantom Planet, Sia, Matthew Herbert, Sa-Ra, The Cinematic Orchestra, Osunlade and RJD2 to name but a few, the album gave BBE Music its first Top 40 single in the UK, and has gone on to become an enduring classic, paving the way for many similar projects in the years since (like BBE’s forthcoming David Bowie tribute Modern Love)...

Put aside all your preconceived ideas about cover albums. The term is normally synonymous with artists simply performing a fairly faithful copy of the original material. On Exit Music: Songs With Radio Heads the artists have each taken a Radiohead song, dismantled it (in some instances smashed it to pieces with a sledgehammer) and then painstakingly crafted something new and exciting in their own style which pays homage to the original.

Some are instantly recognisable, others not so much. But each and every song on this collection pays loving tribute to the original source material. At its heart it is an exercise in translating well loved tracks into a different genre. It's perhaps no surprise that the album opens with Shawn Lee's take on 'No Surprises' as the source material is instantly recognisable. I suppose this is the producers way of easing the listener into what is to come.

While I totally loved this release, as any fan of Radiohead should, I couldn't help notice that you can still pick up the original CD release online for under £1. So I'm trying to fathom why it's been reissued without any new material, artwork or enhancement of any kind.

Track list:

01. "No Surprises" — Shawn Lee
02. "Morning Bell" — The Randy Watson Experience featuring Donn
03. "In Limbo" — Sa-Ra featuring Sa-Ra All Stars
04. "High and Dry" — Pete Kuzma featuring Bilal
05. "Just" — Mark Ronson featuring Alex Greenwald
06. "Airbag" — RJD2
07. "(Nice Dream)" — Matthew Herbert featuring Mara Carlyle
08. "Blow Out" — LO Freq
09. "The National Anthem" — Meshell Ndegeocello & Chris Dave
10. "Karma Police" — The Bad Plus
11. "Paranoid Android" — Sia
12. "Everything in Its Right Place" — Osunlade featuring Erro
13. "Knives Out" — Waajeed of Platinum Pied Pipers featuring Monica Blaire
14. "Exit Music (For a Film)" — The Cinematic Orchestra

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Nick Smithson