David Emery OnlineThom Yorke - The Eraser
21 December 2006
So, we’ve finally got to the end of my list of the best albums of 2006 – so far we’ve had:
20) Peaches – Impeach my bush
19) Ratatat – Classics
18) The Black Keys – Magic Potion
17) Mstrkrft – The looks
16) The Flaming Lips – At war with the mystics
15) Beck – The Information
14) Placebo – Meds
13) Arctic Monkeys – Whatever people say I am, that’s what I’m not
12) The Raconteurs – Broken Boy Soldiers
11) be your own PET – be your own PET
10) Metric – Live It Out
9) The Gossip – Standing in the way of control
8) The Knife – Silent Shout
7) Tapes ‘n Tapes – The Loon
6) Giant Drag – Hearts and Unicorns
5) Beirut – Gulag Orkestar
4) C.S.S. – Cansei De Ser Sexy
3) TV On the Radio – Return to Cookie Mountain
2) The Rapture – Pieces of the people we love
At number 1 is Thom Yorke’s debut solo album, The Eraser.
As soon as I first heard about this album I was intrigued – what was it going to sound like? Were we’re going to get an album of heavy techno? Or a Radiohead album with a different name on the cover? Or just Thom and a piano?
Luckily for us we got something even better.
Free from the inevitable constraints of being in one of the most well known bands on the planet Yorke gives us the album you can tell he’s always wanted to make. Stripped back from the layered Radiohead sound comes an album of beautiful songs, each accompanied by unexpectedly perfect music. It’s almost completely removed from the indie-guitar past of his previous works, and it’s all the more interesting for it, with a simple electronic slant weaving it’s way throughout.
Of course, we haven’t even talked about the lyrics yet.
Thom Yorke may well be one of the most accomplished lyricists alive today, and he’s on fine form on this record. Often accused of being depressing I find the lyrics far from that; they’re honest, and honesty doesn’t necessarily mean happy but I would rather take the truth over some sugar-coated lies any day.
When looking at the tracks it’s almost impossible to pick a favourite – they’re simply all too good. The opening track, “The Eraser”, starts of the album perfectly with a repetitive, pounding sampled piano refrain that builds into a haunting, beautiful climax. Other highlights include “And It Rained All Night”, which is probably the most “Radiohead” of all the songs on the album, and the singles “Analyse” and “Harrowdown Hill”:
Trying to pick tracks of this album as favourites does it a disservice however – every single track is special.
I’ve been (incredibly) fortunate to see Thom perform one of these songs live this year, and it’s amazing to see how he can take the songs from this album – which are predominantly electronic – and make them work with just him and a piano or guitar. Not only does he make them “work” though, he makes them work beautifully; transforming the songs into something completely different, completely stunning in their own way.
Nothing else came close for me this year.