Christopher O'Riley Covers Nick Drake
Cover loving classical pianist Christopher O'Riley is set to release the fourth in his series of reinterpreting rock oriented arists; his first two records tackled the Radiohead catalogue, which he followed with a collection of Elliott Smith tunes. Next in his series of reworking artists with rabid fan bases, Christopher offers Second Grace - The Music Of Nick Drake. Here's his take on a Drake classic:
Christopher O'Riley - "Rider On The Wheel" (MP3)
Don't mean to make this a clash of the reinterpreting pianists (of course we do), but the freakishly talented Brad Mehldau has also brought his touch to Nick Drake, reworking the masterful "River Man" (you can hear about it at NPR). And just like O'Riley, Mehldau covers Radiohead, although what Brad does to "Exit Music (For A Film)" (YouTube) is really beyond comparison. Granted they're coming from different schools, with O'Riley being an acclaimed classical pianist and Mehldau being some sort of jazz-informed virtuoso alien, but they've covered enough common ground to draw comparison. Choose your champion.
Posted at 2:02 PM in MP3
Tags: Brad Mehldau | Christopher O'Riley | Nick Drake
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Brad Mehldau is a friggin' genius.
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brad's take on radiohead's "paranoid android" is pure genius. i keep playing it over and over. dare i say better than the original...
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Chris O'Riley notoriously HATES Mehldau, by the way. So I can't help but cringe for O'Riley when the two of them are brought up together.
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Chris O'Riley notoriously makes much worse arrangements than Brad Mehldau.
Mehldau's great. Chris O'Riley is a gimmicky chump.
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frankly, o'riley can't really compare. mehldau makes brilliant arrangements that really add to the originals, and his compositions are great too. o'riley simply plays what's already there with zero artistic creativity.
mehldau's "live in tokyo" is one of my favorite albums and that version of "paranoid android" is as good of a solo piano performace as you'll ever hear. thelonious monk would be proud.
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why would stereogum make this a competition? Christopher has the Nick Drake album coming out, not Brad (who, by the way IS freakish, but he's DEFINITELY not more talented than Chris!)
I've listened to both versions of Paranoid Android and exit music from both artists and in my opinion and most everyone else's that I've encountered, Chris's is BEYOND COMPARISON (thank you very much Stereogum)
Chris's versions are much more virtuosic and he makes a much more beautiful sound on the piano. his interpretations make me cry sometimes.
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apples and oranges, guys.
and Mehldau'a a supergenius.
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i haven't heard Mr. O'Riley so it's hard for me to make an educated comparison, but having grown up on Mehldau, and taken piano lessons from his former teacher, i can say that the man is head and shoulders above most of the pianists that i've ever heard. he's in a class with Monk and Bill Evans. His live performances are captivating and his Radiohead renditions give entirely new life to those songs. Brilliant man. Underrated release: "Elegiac Cycle," his all solo disc.
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O'Riley is the man! I'm a fan of both, but I enjoy listening to O'Riley much more.
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"Choose your champion." - a meaningless endeavor, a
waste of time, esecially with musicians as different as O'Riley and Mehldau. I applaud both for tapping into contemporary song as a source of inspiration. Personal taste, thank god, is indeed personal.
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Interesting comments above. Whatever your taste, one thing is maybe worth pointing out: If you look at the chronlology, Mehldau got there first: Covered Radiohead, Nick Drake and Elliot Smith (I used to see him play Elliot Smith Tunes all the time in LA, also saw him play a set with the late Elliot Smith and Jon Brion at a club called Largo) before Mr. O'Riley. O'Riley lived in LA for a while - it's a bit of a coincidence that he happens to hone in on those 3 particular songbooks, no? If he "notoriously hates" Mehldau, it's probably more out of jealousy...
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