10 Bizarre Recording Techniques Used On Famous Records
2. OK Computer – Radiohead
If any modern band can claim to equal The Beatles in terms of marrying commercial success with sonic invention and progressive compositions, it must surely be Radiohead. Formed in the small town of Abingdon, near Oxford, UK, the group released two well-received albums, Pablo Honey (1993) and The Bends (1995) before wowing consumers and critics alike with 1997s astonishing OK Computer.
For this set, Radiohead began recording at their Canned Applause studio (a converted shed) before relocating to St Catherine's Court, an Elizabethan mansion house near the historic city of Bath. The group utilised the varying acoustic properties of different rooms within the house, from stone staircases to an empty ballroom in the early hours of the morning, to add nuance to the tracks.
Producer Nigel Godrich, who would also work closely with the band on subsequent projects, is responsible for much of the invention, using novel synths and editing techniques, but it is St Catherine's Court itself which shapes the character of the album.
As bassist Colin Greenwood recalls: “One of the things that makes this record different is the fact that we managed to capture these old sorts of 15th through the 18th century rooms that we recorded a lot of the album in.”