Radiohead: Parts Ready For Reassembly

Enlarge Sebastian Edge

The Nottingham DJ known as Lone tackles Radiohead's tricky "Feral," in the process capturing an air of discovery.

Sebastian Edge

The Nottingham DJ known as Lone tackles Radiohead's tricky "Feral," in the process capturing an air of discovery.

Sure, Radiohead's new remix album vacillates in quality — remix albums do that as a rule. So does The King of Limbs itself, and anyway, TKOL RMX 1234567, as the double-disc set is known, makes the album seem as much like parts ready for reassembly as a fully grown total work. Nearly all of the album's eight originals are remade more than once; "Bloom" is reworked five times. Perhaps because the rhythm is so tricky that revamping it seems like more trouble than it's worth — or because its floating dub feel makes it hard to abstract any further — "Feral" was only picked up once, by Matt Cutler, the Nottingham rave-throwback prince known as Lone.

Lone's recent work has emphasized the innocent feel and air of discovery that marked early-'90s British rave, as well as fraying, hazy production reminiscent of Boards of Canada. He slows the rhythm down to a hypnotic sway and his usual overlay of sunset-melancholic synth melodies and obviously fake harp trills. His "Feral" remix could have fit onto either Emerald Fantasy Tracks and Echolocations, his album and EP released last December and March, respectively — which is far from a small compliment.