Strung Out on OK Computer: The String Quartet Tribute to Radiohead is a track-by-track retelling of the epochal album in string quartet format.
Eric Gorfain (violin),
Roland Hartwell (violin),
Piotr Jandula (viola), and
Richard Dodd (cello) accurately capture the dour mood of their subject, even without the benefit of
Thom Yorke's evocative voice and lyrics. In fact, given the subject matter of
OK Computer, to hear it played exclusively on instruments opposite to the album's technological nightmare is interesting, and even a bit unsettling. The musicians have their hands full with the source code of tracks like "Fitter Happier" -- after all, it's difficult to replicate computerized voice simulation with stringed instruments. But the quartet is at least able to lend their version of the pivotal song the same feeling as the original. "Paranoid Android" and "Karma Police" fare particularly well in this setting, their Baroque melodies becoming somber dirges, as if arranged for the funeral of a dead linux server. ~ Johnny Loftus