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8 I Thursday, July 13, 2006 | The Red & Black
VARIETY
Yorke releases
first solo album
By JESSICA JORDAN
jjordan@randb.com
As Radiohead unwinds
from its month-long North
American tour, frontman
Thom Yorke releases his
debut solo album “The
Eraser,” all the while thwart
ing rumors that he is seeking
a solo career.
“I want no crap about me
being a traitor or whatever,
splitting up, blah blah,” he
said. “This was all done with
their (the band’s) blessing.”
The nine-track album
issued by the independent
label XL features Yorke’s lone
melodic falsetto vocals
against a backdrop of elec
tronic beats and loops.
With recordings dating-
back to 2004, “The Eraser”
was produced by longtime
Radiohead collaborator Nigel
Godrich and showcases an
array of tracks ranging from
ominous vocal/machine beat
arrangements to personal and
romantic melodies.
Direct and unwavering,
Yorke croons his traditionally
dystopian lyrics throughout
much of the album. “Analyse”
typifies what one might
expect of Yorke gone solo —
eerie rhythms laced with gen
tle foreboding melodies. “It
gets you down. You’re just
playing a part,” he broods.
Boasting a repetitively
clicking chorus of “this is f—
ed up” built on a catchy guitar
loop, “Black Swan” initially
comes across as the most
memorable song of the
album.
The sweet but odd lyrics of
“Atoms for Peace” make for a
bizarre sort of love song
where Yorke playfully sug
gests, “Peel all your layers off,
I want to eat your artichoke
heart” before lapsing into “No
more going to the dark side
with your flying saucer eyes.”
Recalling the post-Katrina
torrent of rain that blanketed
New York City, the tune “And
It Rained All Night” sports
ethereal synthesizer effects
and is vaguely reminiscent of
“Idioteque” (off “Kid A”) with
its relentless, pulsating bass
line and twitchy beats.
Throughout “The Eraser,”
Yorke maintains a small, tame
sound with tightly controlled
vocals that, perhaps purpose-
Comedian finally reaches fame
“Kyle Cease is easily the best comedian
youve never heard of”
THOM YORKE
Album: “The Eraser”
Grade: A-
Verdict: Not a Radiohead album,
but in all the right ways.
fully, refrain from climactic
conclusions.
Phil Selway’s precise
drumming is noticeably
absent from Yorke’s album —
as is the intensity characteris
tic of Radiohead songs.
Although the beats are
mechanical and the rhythms
repetitive, Yorke’s voice soars
into a new realm of clarity.
If he wanted to venture
into new territory alone by
producing a series of songs
that are pleasantly anticli-
mactic and leaving listeners
wanting more, he succeeded.
As Radiohead’s latest
album “Hail to the Thief” col
lects dust in stores three
years after its June 2003
release, Yorke’s solo project is
a fresh nugget of uncluttered
songs that might dispel antic
ipation of the rock collective’s
2007 follow-up.
By ALEC WOODEN
awooden@randb.com
Succeeding in the cut
throat stand-up comedy
industry requires a special
mix of talent and timing.
Young comedian Kyle
Cease has both in spades,
and he’s out to prove it
with his recently released
CD/DVD titled “One
Dimple.”
Cease’s talent is undeni
able, with impeccable timing
and delivery of his situation
al and observational humor
about the nuances of life as a
comedian.
The timing of the album’s
release is working in his
favor, as he is following
closely in the wake of the
rapidly rising popularity of
strikingly similar and wildly
popular comics like Dane
Cook and the late Mitch
Hedberg.
Kyle Cease is easily the
best comedian you’ve never
heard of.
Ironically, however, most
would recognize his face
from various B-list roles in
movies and TV shows.
His largest credit as an
actor thus far has been the
role of the nerdy and uptight
Bogey Lowenstein in the
1999 movie “10 Things I
Hate About You.”
Cease’s identification
with a younger generation is
his greatest asset and stems
from his early start in come
dy-
Officially, he began per
forming stand-up as a 7-
year-old grade-schooler and
his career blossomed with
out any roadblocks.
By age 18, he was the
youngest headlining comic
in the Northwest, earning
him the nickname “Kid
Comedy.”
Though now pushing 30,
Cease can reminisce with a
younger crowd about things
like original Nintendo and
early ‘90s Sunny Delight
commercials.
Some of the material on
“One Dimple” straddles the
borders of offensiveness, but
Cease delivers edgy jokes in
a good-hearted manner.
Also, his grittier jokes
are usually surrounded by
less offensive, but equally
effective, material.
The secret of Kyle Cease
is one that cannot possibly
be kept under wraps for
much longer. “Kid Comedy”
is taking off to an entirely
new level.
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