The Late Movies: Radiohead Covers

After the Beatles, Radiohead may one day rank as the most-covered band of all time. It seems like everyone wants to take a crack at recreating the odd rhythms and melodies the band is famous for (even if most vocalists can't match Thom Yorke's distinctive wail), and over the years a very diverse group of artists have tried their hand at bits of Radiohead's body of work. Here are some of the most interesting I've found. (PS, we'll be mixing it up a bit on this edition of "late movies," with a few sound clips in addition to film clips.)

Easy Star All-Stars - "Karma Police"
The Easy Star All-Stars are known for their dub-style covers of entire albums. They've done three thus far: Dub Side of the Moon, a cover of the legendary Pink Floyd album its title so clearly echoes, RadioDread, from which this track is culled, and most recently, the Lonely Hearts Dub Band, a really interesting reinterpretation of Sgt. Pepper's.

Pianist Christopher O'Reilly is famous for reinterpreting Radiohead songs. Here's his take on "Exit Music for a Film."

O'Reilly isn't the only pianist with a yen for Radiohead, though. Renowned jazz artist Brad Mehldau has also tackled "Exit Music," and I thought it would be interesting to pair their piano arrangements back to back. Whose do you like better?

I've always loved Gillian Welsh, and apparently she's always loved Radiohead. Here's Gillian and the multitalented David Rawlings covering "Black Star."

Few singers have the range to do Yorke's voice justice, but Cee-Lo Green (of Gnarls Barkley fame) is someone who does. Watch him hit the high notes on "Reckoner."

John Mayer's acoustic version of "Kid A."

Jaydiohead is a mash-up of Jay-Z and Radiohead. (You can download the whole album for free

here

.) One of the more successful tracks, in my opinion, is "Lucifer's Jigsaw."

I'm no huge fan of Korn, but I find it interesting that they chose to do this "unplugged" version of "Creep."

This French quartet does a really nifty version of a song from Amnesiac.

To end with, here's a really pretty version of "No Surprises" from Christopher O'Reilly.