One day, Sach O’s gonna grow wings.
One of the advantages of living in a communal hippie pad (along with all-you-can-eat hummus) is that someone will inevitably play good music that you’d never be caught dead bumping for fear of losing cool-points. True, the Easy Star All-Star’s Radiodread, a Jamaican-style re-imagining of OK Computer, could’ve been a dorm-room nightmare come to life but thankfully it falls under the elusive “just crazy enough to work” category– along with Tom Waits beatboxing and anything affiliated with George Clinton.
With all respect due to Sugar Minott, Morgan Heritage and The Meditations, the disc’s MVP is undoubtedly Toots & The Maytals’ devastatingly beautiful cover of “Let Down.” With the lofty goal of transforming Thom Yorke’s crushing despair into soulful gospel (over a ska beat no less), Toots Hibbert twists the Kafka-inspired downer about the pointlessness of life into a redemption song about a brighter future using nothing but a few well chosen vocal inflections. When Yorke sings about growing wings and chemical reactions, it’s buggy; when Toots Hibbert unleashes his take, it’s angelic. The results have me wondering how many other Radiohead songs could benefit from more direct production and soulful vocals. Just don’t get Mark Ronson involved.
Download:
Mp3: The Easy Star All Stars – Toots & The Maytals – Let Down
