Supercollider / The Butcher

"Supercollider" and "The Butcher" are songs by the English rock band Radiohead, released as a double A-side in April 2011 for Record Store Day and June in North America. Radiohead worked on both songs during the sessions for their eighth album, The King of Limbs (2011).

History

The Radiohead singer, Thom Yorke, first performed "Supercollider" solo on 6 June 2008 at Malahide Castle, Dublin. Radiohead worked on it during the recording of their eighth album, The King of Limbs, but did not finish it until March 2011, one month after the album's release. It features a "calm electronic pulse".

"The Butcher" was recorded and mixed during the King of Limbs sessions, but Radiohead decided it did not fit the album. It features "stuttering" drums and a one-note bassline.

Release

"Supercollider" and "The Butcher" were released on a double A-side single on 12-inch vinyl on 16 April, 2011, for Record Store Day. On 18 April, Radiohead released download versions to customers who had ordered The King of Limbs from their website.

Reception

Rolling Stone described the songs as "superb electro ballads" that would have fit the "moodier second half" of The King of Limbs, and awarded the single 4 out of 5. The Guardian wrote that "Supercollider" had a "a lovely rise and fall", and particularly praised Yorke's falsetto. However, the Vulture critic Marc Hogan felt that "The Butcher" had "impressively rumbling percussion, but, by Radiohead standards, not too much more".

In 2021, the Stereogum writer Chris Deville wrote that "Supercollider" was "the kind of epic that can work as an album’s centrepiece and spine", and that "The Butcher" combined dance beats with "Radiohead’s most dirge-like tendencies in fascinating ways". He speculated that The King of Limbs would be a fan favourite had it included the songs along with "The Daily Mail" and "Staircase", also released that year.

Track listing

Charts

References

External links

• Radiohead official website