Vitamin's string quartet tribute to
Radiohead should be sold as a package deal with
Strung Out on OK Computer, the label's dour chamber music dedication to that sea change LP. The String Quartet Tribute to Radiohead: Enigmatic doesn't feature any material from
Computer and only two songs from
The Bends. It draws mainly from Kid A and
Amnesiac, and nods to the
OK Computer era by including the Airbag EP's "Palo Alto." Performed on a fleet of violins, a viola, and a cello, Enigmatic highlights include "My Iron Lung" (complete with psychotic mid-song breakdown), the drifting, anxious "Idioteque," and the churning "National Anthem." Like
Strung Out, Enigmatic proves that the unsettling nature of many
Radiohead songs comes at least in part from the music itself, since vocals have been removed for these recordings. For
Radiohead completists only. ~ Johnny Loftus