When Radiohead announced their first tour in seven years in September, it created a ripple of excitement now crashing over Europe in a wave of stadium shows. The midpoint of the tour, which has just left London and finishes in Berlin on 12 December, is as good a time as any to collect some of the best Radiohead cover versions committed to Spotify (an honourable mention goes to Amplive’s Video Tapez, which features Del Tha Funky Homosapien dueting with Thom Yorke: you can find it on Youtube).
Listen to the Observer’s playlist of the week here.
Weird Fishes by Lianne La Havas
A strange, haunting fan favourite from In Rainbows (2007) is given a gorgeous makeover by the singer and guitarist Lianne La Havas, whose languid vocals, doubled and harmonised, float over her band’s kinetic backing and sink to the sonic seabed. A full fathom five-star cover.
Just by Mark Ronson featuring Alex Greenwald
Did you ever yearn to hear 1995’s rock-out anthem reimagined with tight, punchy horns, funk guitar licks, slinky bass and swinging percussion? Almost certainly not – but Mark Ronson, having honed his vintage sound on Lily Allen’s Alright, Still and Amy Winehouse’s Back To Black, did a cracking job on Radiohead’s Just. I dare you to resist.
Everything in its Right Place by Christopher O’Riley
The distinctive Rhodes sound that Yorke uses on the glitchy opening track of Kid A (2000) is replaced by classical piano in a clever arrangement that strips everything back to one keyboard but retains the momentum, nuance and claustrophobic power of the original.
Let Down by Easy Star All-Stars and Toots and the Maytals
The reggae band behind Dub Side of the Moon tackled the songs of Yorke & co on Radiodread in 2006. This is the standout track, with Toots bringing real depth of feeling to the classic rootsy backing of horns and guitars. Anyone for a melancholic skank?
Arpeggi by Kelly Lee Owens
We end where we began, with the Welsh electronic wizard offering a completely different reading of the piece of music that appeared on In Rainbows as Weird Fishes/Arpeggi. Owen’s arpeggiated synths have an analogue, human warmth – combined with robotic rhythms, her sound is propulsive and addictive. One feels Yorke would approve.
Illustration by Charlotte Durance