Official RADIOHEAD thread

[Chest Rockwell]

There were multiple stores (locally owned, of course) here in Gainesville that had signs the day of saying they were closed because everyone was going to Radiohead. What a travesty of a day, first I can't go then everybody has to rub it in. Assholes...

[Stefen]

3. this couple sitting in front of me were talking really really loudly in spanish during Exit Music. i couldn't even hear over them. also they were clearly assholes who got in for free somehow because neither of them knew who was performing. finally i said "excuse me, i can't hear" and then the following exchange occured.

douche: so why don't you move?
me: no. (pause) why would i move?
douche: because you can't hear.
me: because you're talking.
woman: i was talking?
me: both of you.

then the woman just stared at me, looking extremely insulted. she kept staring directly into my eyes. i stared back. this went on for about another 20 seconds until the guy told her to turn around. a minute later the douche turned around again.

douche: if you ever talk to me like that again, i'll fucking kill you.
me: i can't hear the band.
douche: look, i apologize for talking.
me: .. ok.

and then he turned back and that was it. i thought it was hilarious how he threatened to kill me and then apologized right after.

These two (male and female) should have gotten an elbow to the face. If they're not looking for work, they're looking for a fight!

[cine]

HEDWIG

your av is the white, tranquil version of mine.

[Pozer]

no jigsaw. what the fuck! every rainbows track but jigsaw.

ouch.  the Rainbows track im looking forward to seeing live the most.  dont you hate when youre waiting for that one song when seeing a band live, and it never comes?  especially when therere two encores involved.  it's like they spit on your face some more.  stop whispering, Radiohead, start shouting.  ouch.

[tpfkabi]

no jigsaw. what the fuck! every rainbows track but jigsaw.

ouch.  the Rainbows track im looking forward to seeing live the most.  dont you hate when youre waiting for that one song when seeing a band live, and it never comes?  especially when therere two encores involved.  it's like they spit on your face some more.  stop whispering, Radiohead, start shouting.  ouch.

yeah, it's really weird to me that they're not playing the first single live.
should be interesting tonight to see what they bring out with a day's worth of vacation.

[idk]

I was lucky enough make it to the Charlotte show last night. The traffic was so effing ridiculous, i heard more than one person talking saying how Radiohead set a record for that venue for how fast the tickets sold out, (we were so proud). They failed to play jigsaw again, but we did get myxo.

thom said something about Obama but no one ive talked to could make out what he said, the video is on youtube but you still cant understand it.

[Pozer]

DC had best setlist (so far).  hope hbowl is like this..

All I Need / Jigsaw Falling Into Place / Lucky / 15 Step / Nude / Pyramid Song / Weird Fishes/Arpeggi / Myxomatosis / Idioteque / Faust Arp / Videotape / Paranoid Android / Just / Reckoner / Everything In Its Right Place / Bangers + Mash / Body Snatchers // Like Spinning Plates / Optimistic / Karma Police / Go Slowly / Planet Telex // Fake Plastic Trees / National Anthem / House of Cards

[tpfkabi]

no way they'd play PA/KP/PT/FPT all in the same show.
also they've averaged 24/25 songs per night.

they played great and the lights were amazing.
i was only disappointed as this was my third show at the same venue and other than hearing IR in full for the first time live, i only heard two 'new' songs - Optimistic and Planet Telex. according to someone else Houston was the first show on this tour to not debut any songs.

i haven't heard - go slowly/bangers/like spin pl/myxo (one of my favorites actually) / the tourist / bulletproof / airbag. all these were played at various shows recently, i just wish they'd replaced a few with these.

it ended up being good to not have gotten tics for Dallas. the only new one i would have heard would have been Bangers.

if you have never seen them though, definitely check it out. you will not be disappointed.

p.s. i got there for soundcheck. i suggest you do this, then after it's over go somewhere else until showtime (the houston venue is actually right beside a mall where you can park for free relatively close). when we got there they were in the middle of Portishead's The Rip from Third. they soundchecked Dollars and Cents which was not played later that night. also Thom soundchecked a new mellow song alone on guitar at the end. it's most likely new as no one recognizes it - making it unlikely a cover of any kind unless something pretty obscure.

[Pozer]

no way they'd play PA/KP/PT/FPT all in the same show.

well they did.  get some big ideas and google it.  maybe it was cuz of the rain.

[Stefen]

Hipster fight! I got $25 iTunes cash on the pale one!

[tpfkabi]

no way they'd play PA/KP/PT/FPT all in the same show.

well they did. maybe it was cuz of the rain.

if this was 1997, ok.
they have been going several nights not playing either KP or PA, so i didn't remember one night where both were played in addition to FPT and PT.
that is a rarity.
i doubt very seriously it will be repeated unless they change their song line up for the second leg of the US tour.

[MacGuffin]

Radiohead revels in newfound freedom

WASHINGTON -- The breakthrough for Radiohead on "Reckoner" - a song that underwent multiple incarnations on its way to "In Rainbows" - came by way of what Jonny Greenwood calls a "big percussion fest."

Recording in an English country house, all five members of the group make a loud, cathartic racket - a habit-busting trick the band has practiced since primary school, says bassist Colin Greenwood.

"And I'm happy to say that success hasn't changed us at all," joked Jonny Greenwood, who would rather leave the percussion to Phil Selway's drums and Thom Yorke's rhythm guitar.

Whether through the primal release of a "big percussion fest" or by severing ties with its record label, Radiohead is giving the distinct impression of a band that has exorcised something.

Since self-releasing "In Rainbows" as a pay-what-you-want digital download last fall, Radiohead has moved quickly with the tilt of innovation. They surprised fans with intimate webcasts; they offered one track, "Nude," in stripped down audio pieces for anyone to remix; they held a surprise concert so crowded that police insisted they move along.

On their seventh album, particularly on songs like the falsetto-rich R&B ballad "House of Cards" and the languorous "Nude," the music reflects the same sense of freedom. The prevailing tone of the new material is - gasp! - a melodic warmth.

And this is a drastic change for what many consider the gloomiest band on the planet.

Meet the born-again Radiohead.

In a recent two-part interview with the band - first with the Greenwood brothers and Selway, second with Yorke and guitarist Ed O'Brien - a lightness was unmistakable. Much funnier than you'd expect, the quintet bemusedly contemplate wearing Speedos while shuffling into a Washington, D.C. hotel room.

They had just performed in nearby Virginia, where torrential rain caused flooding and enormous traffic jams around the Nissan Pavilion. In the apocalyptic downpour, Radiohead functioned as a hearth, exuding their newfound glow.

Five shows into the first leg of their North America tour, they played confidently. At one point, Yorke urged the soaked crowd to "cuddle," an unthinkable prospect for a Radiohead concert.

Tuneful beauty has always been part of Radiohead songs (like the "rain down" climax in "Paranoid Android"), but such moments have seldom been allowed to linger. Asked the origins of the new mood, Yorke is as clueless as anyone.

"I don't know where it came from, to be honest," said the 39-year-old singer, laughing heartily. "I think (`In Rainbows') has its moments of fraught tension, like `Bodysnatchers' obviously. But it ends up in a good space. It starts off pretty anxious, but the end of `All I Need,' by that point, everything is like, `Ahhh' - getting it out of your system."

When the band completed 2003's "Hail to the Thief," they essentially got what O'Brien calls the "machinery" of the music industry out of their system. Their six-album deal with EMI Music Group expired and they declined all suitors for a new deal.

The band was at a crossroads and low on energy. They were disappointed by "Hail to the Thief," which they felt was unfinished.

"What was great about `Kid A' was that it heralded a new period and it meant we went off in some cool new places," said O'Brien, 40. "But the downside was that in the whole period up until the end of `Hail to the Thief,' we picked up some nasty habits."

The band, of whom all but O'Brien still live in their hometown of Oxford, had progressed steadily into more experimental territory after their 1993 debut "Pablo Honey" and the classic guitar rock follow-up, 1995's "The Bends." The unparalleled "OK Computer" (1997) elevated them to worldwide fame, but didn't tame them. 2000's "Kid A" and its companion piece "Amnesiac" followed.

The outwardly political "Hail to the Thief," something of a return to guitar-based rockers, was the first sign that Radiohead's path had become confused. Afterward, the band members occupied themselves with their families. Yorke released a solo album, "The Eraser" in 2006.

"We were going along in a certain trajectory and then suddenly with `Hail to the Thief,' it was: we can't carry along in that way anymore," said Yorke. "To me the hardest thing was finding a reason to carry on."

As unified as "In Rainbows" sounds, it took years to complete. The band began recording it with producer Mark Stent, the first time in years they didn't work with Nigel Godrich.

The attempt was futile and Radiohead set out on tour to help bring the new songs into shape. When they returned to the studio, they went back to Godrich, considered the unofficial sixth member because of his importance in helping refine the group's sound. (Colin calls his wealth of gear "like Aladdin's cave.")

"The key thing in actually propelling it forward was Nigel coming back into the process," said Selway, 41. "The reality when we got in there was it still wasn't good enough. We really had to raise our standards quite a lot."

Typically, songs begin with Yorke writing something on piano or guitar with vocals and fleshing it out with the multi-instrumentalist Jonny Greenwood. Then the band works together to find the right arrangement, a process that can be tortuous. "Videotape" underwent, Yorke jokes, hundreds of versions before finding the right minimalist sound.

"We still sometimes get overawed by the songs," said Greenwood. "We'll get very attached to a song as an idea in its very basic form, but we also know we can't really leave it like that. So that's what we spend our time talking about and planning and thinking about. Thom will sit and play `Pyramid Song' on piano, for example, and it's obviously not finished. It needs a rhythm to propel it along. But what do you do with it and yet not mess it up? So that's the sort of enjoyable pressure we like to be under."

Though the method of release overshadowed the music of "In Rainbows" somewhat, it's been almost universally hailed as a masterpiece. Yorke has been quoted as calling it "our classic album, our `Transformer,' our `Revolver,' our `Hunky Dory"' - a statement he said is a misquote: "I do talk some ... but I didn't say that."

His point, he said, is that they strove to make a similarly concise work as those albums.

"In Rainbows" may be a departure, but it's unmistakably Radiohead. Yorke is still singing about disconnection between people, which he cheerfully acknowledges: "It's part of my repertoire. It's what I do. Some people go and work at something they don't like, others talk about disconnection a lot."

But the album still feels apart from the old Radiohead story line. For the first time, they don't sound self-conscious. The band says it all starts with being free of a record contract. (The album was also released traditionally on Jan. 1 by ATO imprint TBD Records, topping the sales charts that week. The band has declined to release sales figures for the download.)

"When we weren't signed to EMI and didn't have a contract, that threw up all this mad(ness)," said Yorke. "In a way, your possibilities are endless and limitless and meaningless. You actually suddenly have - I don't know why, it doesn't make sense - but there was a complete lack of connection with our past."

The band has called the digital giveaway a "one-off" experiment, but they've also re-examined other ways they conduct business. They last year commissioned a report from the company Best Foot Forward to judge the carbon and ecological footprint of their touring.

Any adjustments are in the early stages, but the band has posted messages on their Web site urging fans to car pool to concerts. They caution that music is at the heart of any new endeavors.

"The truth of the matter is that none of those rethinking things would be occurring if we weren't vibed up on the fact that we finished something. The energy always comes from an excitement about what one has done."

And as might be expected for the ever forward-looking Radiohead, new songs are already in the works, though they are still just "on guitars," says Jonny Greenwood. He only hints that the songs explore "absurd musical ideas."

"When you hear Thom and Jonny in the soundcheck and they've come up with something and start playing it, it's good to hear," said O'Brien.

The process of finding the right instruments for the songs will soon begin. Greenwood would like to even throw a banjo into the mix, but said he gets "level looks" from his bandmates whenever he brings it out. "There's a ban on banjos," said his 38-year-old brother.

"What's interesting to me is very old technologies like orchestras and pianos and things and how they meet modern recording and treatment techniques," said Greenwood, 36, who also does classical work on the side, including the buzzing, unforgettable score to "There Will Be Blood."

Radiohead will tour Europe in June and July before returning for the second leg of their North America tour, which will kick off Aug. 1 at the Lollapalooza Festival.

In the meantime, Yorke - who said he still considers the album "the most satisfying format" - has already envisioned the next innovation to deploy when they have new music to release.

"Let's leave it on the street corner with a little sign," Yorke jokes as excitement sweeps over his face. "Now that's a good idea! I like that idea. With a little photo on the Web: `It's here.' A couple of clues. A little doggie bag."

[MacGuffin]

Radiohead to Prince: Unblock 'Creep' cover videos

After word spread that Prince covered Radiohead's "Creep" at Coachella, the tens of thousands who couldn't be there ran to YouTube for a peek. Everyone was quickly denied — even Radiohead.

All videos of Prince's unique rendition of Radiohead's early hit were quickly taken down, leaving only a message that his label, NPG Records, had removed the clips, claiming a copyright violation. But the posted videos were shot by fans and, obviously, the song isn't Prince's.

In a recent interview, Thom Yorke said he heard about Prince's performance from a text message and thought it was "hilarious." Yorke laughed when his bandmate, guitarist Ed O'Brien, said the blocking had prevented him from seeing Prince's version of their song.

"Really? He's blocked it?" asked Yorke, who figured it was their song to block or not. "Surely we should block it. Hang on a moment."

Yorke added: "Well, tell him to unblock it. It's our ... song."

YouTube prohibits the posting of copyrighted material. If the site receives a complaint from a copyright owner, it will in most cases remove the video(s). Whether the same could be done for a company not holding a copyright is less clear, but Yorke's argument would seem to bear some credence according to YouTube's policies. YouTube, which is owned by Google, declined to comment.

Prince also did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.

The dispute was an interesting twist in debates over digital ownership, held between two major acts with differing views on music and the Internet. Radiohead famously released their most recent album, "In Rainbows," as a digital download with optional pricing. They also have a channel on YouTube.

When Prince performed at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif., on April 26, he prohibited the standard arrangement of allowing photographers to shoot near the stage during the first three songs of his set. Instead, he had a camera crew filming his performance.

Prince, who founded NPG Records in 1993, has been innovative when it comes to music distribution, too. He released his 1997 album, "Crystal Ball," on the Internet and in 2006 was awarded a lifetime achievement award by the Webbys. In 2007, he gave away copies of his disc "Planet Earth" in a British Sunday newspaper.

But the Purple One has also shut down his official Web site and in September of last year said he would sue YouTube and eBay for not filtering unauthorized content.

Prince fans have organized to urge him to relent in his legal fights to control images and photographs of himself. As of Thursday, the most popular YouTube clip about Prince playing "Creep" is an expletive-laden rant from Sam Conti Jr., who describes himself as a "former Prince fan."

[john]

I was talking Radiohead, but you should load up that Brion anyways.

Intonation - sound board. Bea-uutiful. Used to be on fairfax-ave... now it's not.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/9gl4k4

[tpfkabi]

i was thinking how ironic the Prince thing since they did not allow Gondry to put his Knives Out video on his DVD compilation. i guess both cases were their actual song though.

i shall be buying this new DVD, so i'll finally have a full quality copy of one of my favorite videos.
i've also never seen all of Pop Is Dead, but i seem to remember Thom being carried around in a coffin and singing.

i wish they would have included that live in studio video of Idioteque.

(go ahead Pozer and quote the above statement and do the mark through thing and write 'We Suck Young Blood directed by PTA' if it makes you happy)