Amok - Atoms for Peace

Track List:

1. Before Your Very Eyes...
2. Default
3. Ingenue
4. Dropped
5. Unless
6. Stuck Together Pieces
7. Judge, Jury and Executioner
8. Reverse Running
9. Amok

Running time: 44 minutes
Released: 2013

So after revisiting Radiohead, it is one of the things that Thom Yorke went on to do thereafter that follows. I do not recall really listening to this, picked up because it was Thom Yorke, at all. I have its genre recorded as "Odd" which suggests it was ripped without a straight face.

I have a feeling that Atoms for Peace includes some other famous musicians, but I cannot be bothered to look up whom they may be as their names did not stick once and they were not the cause of my purchase. Like Amnesiac this record is in the classic 40-45 minute range but the songs here are sightly longer since there are fewer of them. That could be a good thing or a bad thing... lets find out!

I am guilty in all my writing of overusing two things: ellipses and parentheses. The ellipsis on the end of the title of the opener feels similarly gratuitous. The song itself has a decent shuffle to it, and as Default starts I sense that a shuffling kind of rhythm is going to be a feature. I quite like that, not being averse to electronica... providing there is enough with it to provide structure and musical accompaniment. From the early numbers here there is probably just enough to keep things interesting. The beeps and clicks and whirring are offset by Yorke's ethereal vocal. All in all it evokes memories of Kid A and Yorke's solo album The Eraser but with a slightly more chilled edge - less urgent, more considered. Ingenue begins like it should be a Boards of Canada number, and continues much in that vein. This would make for a good sci-fi soundtrack, or maybe just the background music for a scene played out in a hipster hangout in a dystopian future. "This is how we get through the day."

Random imagery aside, I would not want to listen to this everyday, or in sequence. The effect will, I think, get too much by the end of Amok, which is not to say that I do not like it in small doses. I find the tracks to be well constructed, with just enough going on to maintain interest and a good contrast (though Dropped has too much of a hint of a Windows error message about it in places). However I worry that it all becomes a) much of a muchness, and b) overpowering after a while. There is definitely a groove here though, one to be enjoyed, but I am definitely erring on the side wishing each track was a touch shorter.

Unless seems to darken the tone, the drone seems to have taken on a sinister side, amplified by the vocal signalling disinterest - it commands to me an image of a violent crime just happened, ignored by all passers by; hopefully not the intention! I overcame the error chime thought to really like Dropped, but the tonal shift has me feeling really off about this track. I think there is more to it than a sudden click in of the prophesied boredom with the format, and it is unsettling enough a thought that I want to revisit the song later to check.  The darkness does not appear to pervade though, the overtone of threat is gone from the next track, but it is replaced with a distant uncaring air... a boredom. Me projecting, certainly; this is the prophesy kicking in, right?

I certainly feel there is now a disconnect between the music and me that goes beyond the coffee hit wearing off. I am not sure, but there seems to be less to later tracks - more space, less arrangement, more excuse for the mind to wander. It is really hard to tell whether that is my expectation of distance self-fulfilling or whether I am picking up on a genuine change in the construction of the tunes. Reverse Running reverses the slide a bit though, so I think there may be something to the thought. Incidentally, this is why this project is not about reviews; I am not putting it on my own head to listen again and again to be fair and accurate to what is there; it is going to take me long enough to listen to everything once just to capture the impressions it creates.

God, that sounded self-important given this a purely self-driven, self-rewarding activity. I am such an arse.

Oh, I liked that the last two tracks seemed to mix together. I am not sold by the opening of Amok, but the merge from the end of the previous tune was unexpected. It just needs to gain another layer or two to really get going but I am not convinced another layer is forthcoming. It hovers just under the threshold for full attention, which is really frustrating; as if there is a great tune there trying to come through but a layer of invisible blandness is actively stopping it from realising its potential.

That would be a really harsh note to end on, so here is another. Amok is a pretty good album, if a little indistinct to plough through in full. There was nothing unpleasant here but it only really hit high notes once. Nothing to be cut though, and not for sentimental reasons this time.