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Radiohead

Defy reviews Com Lag

Mike writes in to tell us that Defy Magazine gave Com Lag a 3-1/2 star review. Here’s an excerpt-
“Some of the real highlights on this 10 track EP lie in the b-sides. ?Paperbag Writer? offers up a groovy bass line on top of chilling strings that would be perfectly suited as a backtrack for Dracula?s house party. ?I Am Citizen Insane? is more IDM experimentation from the band while long time concert intro music ?Where Bluebirds Fly? features indiscernible lyrics over whirlwind instrumentation. ?Gagging Order? is a tender acoustic ballad comfortable in Simon and Garfunkel?s respective living rooms. Yorke sighs as he sings ?Move along / there?s nothing left to see / just a body? with his wide-eyed and innocently knowing candor.
“As nice as it is to see Radiohead packaging their b-sides for fans of the band, there are a few complaints to be raised with our old friends. The EP feels glued together as a marketing ploy designed merely to coincide with the Japanese tour. The tracks on Com Lag have all been previously available on singles. Only the live rendition of ?2+2=5? is ?new? and even then it probably won?t placate salivating fans eager for every new piece of material the band trickles out. But with a compilation of b-sides Radiohead proves that their songs are above the plain of mediocrity ten fold. While other bands provide b-sides as an obligatory answer to the dreaded CD single, Radiohead treats them like the works of art they are, and for that fans shall be forever grateful of an often times difficult, yet somehow infinitely grateful band. Let?s face it, these boys are brilliant.
You can read the whole thing here.
(Thanks to Mike.)