Tweet

Album Details

• Artist: Chrisopher O'Riley
• Album: Hold Me to this: Christopher O'Riley Plays Radiohead
• Label: World Village
• Year of Release: 2005
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: patchen on 2005-06-02

Pianist O'Riley checks in with a unique take on the rash of covers that have flooded (infected?) pop music in the last few years. The attitude surrounding covers has followed a trajectory from reverent and lucrative (1950's-60's) to sarcastic (70's-80's, especially w/punk bands) to, more recently, and slow creeping back to the reverent. O'Riley's covers are unique in the sense that they don't seem like a comment one way or the other on the original tunes, but rather are an exploration of the moods the songs of Radiohead created for him. Radiohead has had its share of emotionally riveting music; no better tribute to the individual effect music can have on a listener is found on Hold Me To This. O'Riley applies his considerable skills to making manifest his take on the inner world of songs like "There There", "2+2=5". Especially complex are takes on "Like Spinning Plates" and "How I Made Millions."
O'Riley, who has released work playing Stravinsky and Beethoven, sure does love his Radiohead. This is his second release of covers of the band (the other was 2003's True Love Waits) and he is also releasing a book of his transcriptions of the two tribute records. That is a lot of digging into the music of one band. This is a deep, rich record the enjoyment of which will depend on how much you like solo piano.

User Reviews and Comments

Log In or Register to Rate Albums