What happens when you get a canon of universally renowned (some would say melancholic) songs, written by one of the world’s biggest rock band and mix them together with a group of avant-garde producers and artists from the urban & jazz worlds? In the case of 'Exit Music: Music With Radio Heads' (BBE's tribute to the work of Radiohead), you get a masterpiece worth more than the sum of its parts. Showing the huge esteem Radiohead are held in, the cream of worldwide talent such as Bilal, Waajeed, Matthew Herbert, Sia and Osunlade have come together to rework some of the band’s greatest tracks and breath new radical life into their back catalogue.

With some of the original tracks hailed as paragons of musical genius and as a huge Radiohead fan myself, I was filled with a mixture of concern and excitement on receiving the CD. But after hearing both early releases, Pete Kuzma feat. Bilal's cover of “High and Dry” and Mark Ronson’s “Just,” my trepidation was doused by the exceptionally high quality and variety of the product. I listened to the album three times back-to-back and I can honestly say I don't think I have ever heard a more complete and brave tribute. Even as a standalone release it is good enough to be included in most “album of the year” charts come December.

From the opening strains of Shawn Lee's excellent version of “No Surprises,” a hazy, reverbed reworking with new emotions squeezed from the turbulent words, it reeks of quality. The Randy Watson Experience's version of “Morning Bell,” imbued here with subtle beauty, is made completely new. Sa-Ra’s funky treatment of “In Limbo” takes the track to another planet as you would expect, yet retains reverence even name checking the band at the start. Pete Kuzma feat. Bilal's smooth lounge jazz take of “High and Dry” shows the brilliance of a caustic lyric and even gives it a free jazz break towards the end. Mark Ronson's loose limbed groovy remix of ”Just” builds layers of vocal and horns brilliantly into a wild and tight jam.

The tracks, then, take an eclectic route: An excellent ultra modernist re-rub of “Airbag” by RjD2, Herbert’s vocally shimmering and swaying “Nice Dream,” a funky “National Anthem” that really shows the potential of even the deepest of Radiohead's material and “Blow Out.” “Karma Police” is lightly fried in jazz then fully twisted by The Bad Plus before the epic “Paranoid Android” is shown respect in unique fashion by Sia. For me, the highlight of the project was Osunlade and Erro's version of “Everything In Its Right Place” - a masterstroke stretching the original and dragging it to the dancefloor brilliantly. Underplayed and irresistibly funky, this will be played from the bar to the beachparty to the sweatbox without a doubt. Waajeed as usual brings class and quality to the affair with his “Knives Out” cover making brilliant use of Monica Blaire's fantastic voice. Lastly, The Cinematic Orchestra flip the whole thing on its head with a complex and chilled, but rocking version of “Exit Music.” Multi faceted and moving, it perfectly tops off what is a very fine collection of tributes and covers.

Overall, this should be an essential release for people with or without previous knowledge of Radiohead’s musical place in the grand scale of things. It defines the idea of musical tribute and exemplifies just how great covers can shine through on record.