Atoms for Peace | ||
| Allmusic Biography : The nameless lineup that became Atoms for Peace made its public debut at Los Angeles, Californias Echoplex on October 2, 2009. Thom Yorke, joined by longtime Radiohead associate Nigel Godrich (Ultraísta) and Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers), as well as session veterans Joey Waronker (also of Ultraísta) and Mauro Refosco (Forro in the Dark), performed the entirety of Yorkes 2006 album The Eraser and some fresh material, including a song titled "Judge Jury and Executioner." Additional Los Angeles dates, a brief tour across the U.S., and an appearance at Coachella followed through 2010. By that point, they had named themselves Atoms for Peace -- the title of a track from The Eraser, named after a 1953 speech delivered by then-U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The first release to bear their name was a 300-copy 12" on the 50 Weapons label, released in July 2012; an Atoms for Peace remix of Other Lives "Tamer Animals" appeared on the A-side, while the groups own "Other Side [Stuck Together Mix]" was on the B-side. Their first true single, "Default," followed that November on XL, with its parent album, the subdued yet rhythmically knotty Amok (including "Judge Jury and Executioner"), issued the following February. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 1 Title: Amok Released: 2013-02-25 Tracks: 9 Duration: 44:35 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Before Your Very Eyes… (05:47) 2 Default (05:15) 3 Ingenue (04:30) 4 Dropped (04:57) 5 Unless (04:40) 6 Stuck Together Pieces (05:28) 7 Judge Jury and Executioner (03:28) 8 Reverse Running (05:06) 9 Amok (05:24) |
| Amok : Allmusic album Review : Thom Yorkes Atoms for Peace involves longtime Radiohead engineer/producer Nigel Godrich (Ultraísta) and bassist Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers), as well as two session veterans in drummer Joey Waronker (R.E.M., Ultraísta) and percussionist Mauro Refosco (Forro in the Dark). For their first public performance, back in 2009, they performed Yorkes Godrich-assisted 2006 album The Eraser in its entirety, as well as some fresh material. Over three years later, theyve come up with this, a product of jam sessions formed -- by Yorke and Godrich -- into a uniform nine-track album. It sounds more like a fleshier successor to Yorkes first solo album than it does a first step, and its presented that way, from Stanley Donwoods woodcut illustrations to the bands name -- the same as a track title on The Eraser. Due to the nature of the recording process, the material is more about sounds -- rippling rhythms, more specifically -- than songs. Attempting to discern the organic from the mutated and the processed is a fools errand yet part of the appeal. Listeners will be either unnerved or fascinated by the use of Fleas low-throbbing lines, which add warmth, rarely propel, and are sometimes obscured beneath piles of shifting percussion. Given all the thick layering of sounds, Yorkes words -- normally enunciated and mixed in such a way to enable transcription with only a slight headache as a reward -- tend to act as another element rather than as a focal point. The lyrics probably werent written at the bassists house after some drunken pool playing. Theyre in typical Yorke character, consisting of vaguely conveyed altercations and conflicts: "You got me into this mess," "I couldnt care less," "But its eating me up," "They try to jump me," "Go back to where you came from," "Im like the wind and my anger will disperse." In other words, this is another Thom Yorke solo album, and it sounds really nice on decent headphones. | ||