Amok

The debut album from Atoms For Peace, the experimental-rock supergroup headed by Thom Yorke, and featuring Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers) on bass, Nigel Godrich (Radiohead producer) on keyboard, Joey Waronker (REM, Beck) on drums and percussionist Mauro Refosco (also of RHCP and Forro in the Dark). According to rumor, the band formed when they all got smashed one day while listening to Fela Kuti. (I couldn’t make this stuff up if I wanted to.) While immediately recognizable for its similarities to the dystopian beauty of 2000’s-era Radiohead and Yorke’s first solo album, it’s different enough to be a fresh listening experience.

In summary: it’s fantastic. Whether you want it to chart on KZSU is up to you. (PRO TIP: feel free to unsubscribe from the chatlist for a while if you feel another flame war coming on.)

FCC CLEAN

1. Midtempo, with lively percussion and strong basslines and deep, bone-rattling synth lines.
*2. Choppy beat with punchy vocals and blissful synth lines.
*3. Dark and moody with amazing layered percussion and sinister skittering electrics. A perfect marriage of all the stuff you liked about The King of Limbs plus all the relentless electronic prowess of The Eraser.
*4. Upbeat and driving with a killer beat and standout vocals from Thom.
5. Midtempo with sparse guitar noodling and bouncy percussion.
6. Exactly what you would expect this group to sound like: spotlight on the percussion and vocals, with Godrich lurking in the background and Flea not straying far from his comfort zone. The Fela Kuti afrobeat influence is undeniable on this one.
*7. Slow and brooding. Sparse with deep resonating percussion. A rather charming acoustic/electric hybrid which makes a lot of sense given the all-too-obvious (?) references to Hail to the Thief.
8. Midtempo, plucky guitar and pulsing bass with great crooning vocals and a cool synth meltdown at the end.
9. Upfront skippy percussion with layered echoey vocals and menacing synth.