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The Cure's Robert Smith Blasts Radiohead for Allowing Fans to Set a Price

Do you ever feel like you're in a tug-of-war with two of your favorite rock groups because one of them disses the other? What about if the "disser" also takes a shot at you and everyone you know in the same breath?

Well, leave it up to Robert Smith, everyone's favorite aging rocker, who had more than just his usually bad hair day today.

In an interview with Music Radar, The Cure's frontman lashed out at Radiohead, saying he "disagreed violently" with their pay-what-you want model for their 2007 blockbuster release, In Rainbows. Smith said allowing fans to determine their own price to download the album was an "idiot plan."

"You can't allow other people to put a price on what you do, " Smith said. "Otherwise you don't consider what you do to have any value at all and that's nonsense. If I put a value on my music and no one's prepared to pay that, then more fool me, but the idea that the value is created by the consumer is an idiot plan, it can't work."

Not only is it just stupid to attack Radiohead fans - many of whom are probably Cure fans as well - but it's also stupid to talk like a diva when you're an aging rocker. Never mind that Smith spit on a growing movement that will only do more to allow the best, and the least greedy, musicians and groups to flourish creativity while expanding their fan base by offering a fair price for music. The old models are gone and they might leave musicians like Smith with them. It's been happening for a decade now.

Maybe it's hard to make any sense to someone who wears a bird's nest on his head. I think it would be awesome if Radiohead wrote a song in response called "Idiot Plan". It will definitely get plenty of attention, that's for sure.

Tell Me Why - Radiohead

Reckoner v2.0 (Diplo Train Wreck Remix) - Radiohead
Jigsaw Falling Into Place - Radiohead

Radiohead website
Radiohead MySpace

Listen to High-Quality 2008 Concert of Radiohead

If you are a RadioHead, listen to this transformational two-hour Radiohead concert broadcast recorded by NPR on August 28, 2008 at Santa Barbara Bowl. I was lucky enough to see Radiohead play in San Francisco during the Outside Lands Festival (in photo above, thanks to insdecelebs) two weeks after this featured show.

The SF show was the most amazing concert I've ever been to - well worth the chance I took to have my car towed to see Radiohead play in the fog drenched Golden Gate Park with tens of thousands of people.

NPR music critic Bob Boilen, in this concert review, (you also hear him on the broadcast) got it right. He compared the event as one of his favorite concerts since seeing Pink Floyd perform Dark Side of the Moon (who wouldn't have loved to have seen that one) decades earlier:

"What they [Radiohead] do better than any band is create a sonic adventure — a soundscape which, at its best, stretches time and allows the mind to wander and rejuvenate. I think of it as resetting the synapses. Creativity breeds creativity. When the music was over, I felt unboxed and changed and pretty darn happy. Drugs are overrated; music is underrated."

Labels: NPR Music, Radiohead, Radiohead in Concert, Robert Smith, San Francisco, The Cure

6:48 PM February 24, 2009 3 Comments

Playlist Challenge With Bradford Cox

In response to a playlist challenge to Deerhunter's Bradford Cox's previously published playlist mix, IRC is happy to offer you the following playlist featuring what we think are a great representation of songs of interest to Deerhunter, and non-Deerhunter, music lovers.

"Did You See The Words" - Animal Collective (photo, top) from the 2005 release Feels

"Carrot Rope" - Pavement from the 1999 release Wowee Zowee

"Weird Fishes/Arpeggi" - Radiohead from the 2007/2008 release In Rainbows

"Cello Song" - Nick Drake from the 1969 release Five Leaves Left

"Canadian Girl" - The Walkmen from the 2008 release You & Me

"Is There A Ghost?" - Band of Horses from the 2007 release Ceases to Begin

"Disarm" - Smashing Pumpkins from the 1993 release Siamese Dream

"Scythian Empires" - Andrew Bird from the 2007 release Armchair Apocrypha

"Float On" - Modest Mouse from the 2004 release Good News for People Who Love Bad News

"Knots" - Pete and The Pirates from the 2008 release Little Death

Download the ZIP for this playlist

What do you think of this mix? Use the comments section below.

Labels: Andrew Bird, Animal Collective, Band of Horses, Indie Playlist Mix, Modest Mouse, Nick Drake, Pavement, Radiohead, Rogue Wave, The Walkmen

12:24 AM January 12, 2009 1 Comments

Best Indie Rock Songs of 2008, Vol III

Today's playlist featuring the best indie rock songs of 2008 arguably includes a couple of bands that are more 'mainstream'.

It's impossible not to feature Radiohead's In Rainbows. The veteran alt indie rockers' latest release has quickly become one of the most popular alternative/indie rock albums ever, and perhaps even more so because it was initially available as a free download worldwide.

Along with Radiohead, here is the latest playlist of the best indie songs of 2008 by less-known independent artists like Goh Nakamura, White Denim, Cassandra Castaway, Annuals and Love is Chemicals.

Listen to the songs by clicking on the titles. IRC supports and promotes great music by highlighting it for tens of thousands of people each month.

Please click on the link below to see IRC's MP3 policy.

"Tell Me Why" - Radiohead
"Suitcase" - Goh Nakamura
"Sitting" - White Denim
"Our Darkest Days and Nights" - Love is Chemicals
"Confessor" - Annuals
"Clytamnestra" - Cassandra Castaway

Check back for more playlists featuring the best indie rock songs of 2008 from now until the end of the year.

Related posts: Best Indie Rock Songs of 2008, Vol. I and Vol. II.

Labels: Albums: In Rainbows, Best Indie 2008, Best Indie Rock Songs 2008, Radiohead

4:20 PM November 6, 2008 0 Comments

New Remix of Radiohead's "Reckoner" from DJ Diplo

Some Radiohead fans will definitely take issue with the following remix of one of the biggest songs from In Rainbows - Reckoner. According to the deejay Diplo himself, he was asked by "the band" to do a remix, and apparently was given their blessing to go ahead and release it on his blog.

Listen or download the remix here:

MP3: Reckoner v2.0 (Diplo Train Wreck Remix) - Radiohead

Radiohead purists will find this remix a vast departure from the original on the history-making In Rainbows album, but the fact is that a whole new generation of Radiohead fans - especially all you ravers out there - will more likely find value in this remix.

What is your opinion, does this remix, hailed on some blogs, slammed on others, do Radiohead any justice? Give your opinion by going to this post link and then clicking on the 'Post Comment' link.

Labels: Albums: In Rainbows, Radiohead, Remixes

11:29 AM October 20, 2008 1 Comments

Major Music Festival in San Francisco Was Far Out, Man

The following is a report that was written after San Francisco's Outside Lands Festival, but was not published until now due to time constraints.

SAN FRANCISCO - The first major rock music festival to grace San Francisco's Golden Gate Park in nearly four decades was a huge success last month (August 22-24), drawing a crowd that organizers estimated at over 150,000 people.

Outside Lands celebrated its first year as the Bay Area's newest major rock festival with three days of music from artists and bands like Radiohead, Jack Johnson, Tom Petty, Beck, Andrew Bird, Widespread Panic, Wilco, Broken Social Scene, Rouge Wave, Manu Chao, Ben Harper, Primus and Rodrigo y Gabriela, among dozens of others.

Unlike most other summer rock festivals, there were no sun burns or cases of heat exhaustion at Outside Lands. San Francisco's famously reliable fog, that the city is known world-wide for, drenched Golden Gate Park's Polo Fields for most of the three-day music festival - probably not what the over-advertised Heineken vendors wanted, but what did they expect in August on the west side of San Francisco?

Believe it or not, Anchorage, Alaska has higher summertime temperatures, on average, than San Francisco, California (and it's not because of the hot air blowing from Sarah Palin's mouth).

But on the last day of the festival, Sunday August 24, the sun came out and blue skies replaced low-lying clouds and mist. Having been to plenty of outdoor concerts and festivals in the hot sun, it's easy to welcome and appreciate the cooling waves of continuous fog.

MP3s from Outside Lands lineup artists:

"KC Accidental" - Broken Social Scene
"Herectics" - Andrew Bird
"Sightlines" - Rogue Wave (check out the band's other music, they're awesome.)

When Radiohead took the stage late Friday evening, the lights surrounding the entire venue beamed up through the fog like lasers - a common site in northern California. Just ask anyone who has shone a flashlight or drove with their headlights on through the thick summer fog - you can literally cast a beam of light for as far as the eye can see.

Perhaps this is how Stars Wars director George Lucas, a native of northern California, came up with the idea for the famous laser weapons featured in the classic trilogy.

Anyways, the sets for good indie bands and artists - like Andrew Bird, Broken Social Scene, M. Ward, Rogue Wave - were too short, and the time delay between various acts were too short for such a huge place - literally four football fields from end to end. Next time they should also do something about the dust - that really surprised me since most of the park is lush and green (thanks to the fog and irrigation); dust is just not something you see in San Francisco.

(photo by thegatos08 on Flickr)

For many festival goers, it was the first night's headliner, Radiohead, that proved to be the highlight of the entire festival (not that big on Petty and Jack Johnson as headliners). Not only did they put on an amazing light show, but they sounded spectacular - better than on vinyl - which is hard for me to believe in a way, but it's true.

There were two brief sound outages, but the band apologized for that. As if. No apology needed Thom, you guys were so awesome, everyone already had forgotten about it. It's the only reason the performance gets an A instead of an A-plus.

Next year, assuming the fest will be held again (all indications are that the greedy promoters and investors made plenty of money) they should step it up have more real headlining bands (it is San Francisco, man), not try to cram so much on so many stages in three days and definitely invest more in facilities, and lower the three-day pass price.

Outside the parameters of the fenced off event were hundreds, if not thousands of people, who were presumably not ticket holders but had no problem hanging out in or under trees and on strips of grass soaking in the many artists - for free, and they didn't have to wait in the lines for the disgusting portable toilets.

Also, it'd be nice if they could come up with some innovative ways to protect the park more from environmental damage. I can't help but to feel a little guilty for the digging up of the grass (grass - not talking about that kind people - is a rare thing in SF) and how the loud music affected wildlife in and around the park.

Nevertheless, the festival was considered a success to most who attended. Those who were most dissatisfied were area residents who lived within an earshot of the music blaring above the trees and throughout adjacent neighborhoods. The fog actually helps carry sound, so at times residents blocks and blocks away felt almost like they were part of the festival.

Labels: Festivals, Outside Lands Festival, Radiohead, San Francisco Concerts

6:49 PM September 23, 2008 0 Comments

Lollapalooza 2008 Kicks off with Radiohead, Raconteurs, Bloc Party, Cat Power and Others

Lollapalooza 2008 kicked off today in Chicago's Grant Park. The event set for this weekend (August 1-3) features dozens of top indie artists and bands is expected to sell out of tickets, especially the high-priced three-day pass.

Friday's Lollapalooza 2008 line-up includes popular indie bands like Bloc Party, The Raconteurs, The Kills, Mates of State, Rogue Wave, Holy Fuk, Yeasayer, Gogol Bordello and Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks.For reasons unknown to IRC, Radiohead is not being webcasted during what is expected to be a nearly three-hour set.

Other artists performing on Friday (but not via the webcast) include Black Keys, The Black Lips, Cat Power, VHS or BETA, The Cool Kids, Manchester Orchestra, Louis XIV, Enemy UK, CSS and more.

If you've forgiven AT&T Blue Room for censoring Eddie Vedder (who called out Bush's ruinationof the world) at last year's Lollapalooza, then you can watch performances throughoutthe weekend (provided you have a beefy Internet connection and fast computer - and that AT&T has enough pipes set-up).

Saturday's Lolla line-up for the AT&T webcast includes The Gutter Twins, The Go! Team, DeVotchka,Explosions in the Sky, Broken Social Scene and Wilco. On Sunday, you can watch The Whigs, Office,G Love & Special Sauce, Blues Traveler, John Bulter Trio, Flogging Molly, Love and Rockets, The National.

Not featured on the Blue Room on Saturday are bands like Okkervil River, Battles, Brand New and for the hard rock fans, Rage Against the Machine. Sunday's Lollapalooza line-up also features The Weakerthans, What Made Milwaukee Famous, Iron & Wine, Nine Inch Nails, Love and Rockets and Kayne West.

All-in-all, the line-up is not as powerful as Lollapalooza 2007, but there's still enough power house rock and indie to keep fans entertained.

AT&T Blue Room webcast from Lollapalooza.

Labels: Festivals, Lollapalooza, Lollapalooza Lineup, Radiohead, The Raconteurs

6:40 PM August 1, 2008 1 Comments

Lollapalooza 2008 Line Up is Official: Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails, RATM, Wilco, Kayne West, MGMT, BSS and More

Looks like there will be a lot more lollas than loozas for Lollapalooza 2008. While there are some great artists set to play, Lolla 08 doesn't match up to the powerhouse lineup for Lollapalooza 2007. (PDF file). Here's our report from Lollapalooza 2007.

Stay tuned for Lollapalooza 2008 lineup artist and group profiles, MP3s and streams, links, photos and more Lolla 07 videos.

The official line-up for Lollapalooza 2008 is out thanks to an early leak from The Chicago Sun Times. The Lollapaloozer's organizers 'official' line-up announcement set for today at 8 a.m. EST.

Here's the poster we made up in like 15 minutes after hearing the announcement Sunday night (I know Lolla's is better, but ours was first) : |

Other artists and groups confirmed for Lolla 08 (not listed in the unofficial Lollapalooza poster above):

The Raconteurs
Mark Ronson
Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings
Brand New
Gogol Bordello
Dierks Bentley
Amadou & Mariam
Blues Traveler
John Butler Trio
Girl Talk
Your Vegas
Eli "Paperboy" Reed & the True Loves
Steel Train
Jamie Lidell
Bang Camaro
Butch Walker
Tally Hall
Spank Rock
White Lies
Brazilian Girls
Magic Wands
Chromeo
Electric Touch
Duffy
Innerpartysystem
The Postelles
The Parlor Mob
Bald Eagle
Mason Jennings
Krista
Ha Ha Tonka
Grizzly Bear
We Go To 11
Sofia Talvik
Booka Shade
Santogold
Dr. Dog
Nicole Atkins & the Sea
The Ting Tings
Kid Sister
Office
Does It Offend You, Yeah?
Foals
Uffie
Cadence Weapon
Ferras
De Novo Dahl
Noah and the Whale
Margot & the Nuclear So and So's
K'NAAN
Serena Ryder
Newton Faulkner

Check back for profiles of Lollapalooza's 2008 line up artists and groups, plus videos, MP3s, news, stage and location information, schedules, maps, Lolla links and more.

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Labels: Lollapalooza, Lollapalooza 2008, Lollapalooza Lineup, Lollapalooza Tickets, Nine Inch Nails, Radiohead, Rage Against the Machine, Wilco

1:21 AM April 7, 2008 1 Comments

EW's Top 25 Indie Albums; Does Radiohead Really Deserve No.1 Spot?

Entertainment Weekly’s editors feature the 'Indie Rock 25', profiling albums from 1984 (apparently the ‘beginning of indie’) to present, including classics from The Hold Steady, The Replacements, Yo La Tengo, The Pixies, Spoon, Pavement, Built to Spill, and The White Stripes to name a few.

Some of the choices are questionable, not for being selected, but for their position in the ranking. For example, why is Radiohead's In Rainbows given the No.1 spot on the list? (Modest Mouse's stunning Lonesome Crowded West release is buried in the list at No. 12, just to name one aberration).

Afterall, Radiohead's In Rainbows has been out less than six months, the band pissed off a lot of fans back in October for what was considered a dubious 'first release' and there are many other albums on this list that are well-oiled classics - truly landmark albums that have etched themselves in to the history of 'indie rock' - and beyond - to a greater degree than In Rainbows has or ever can.

Lastly, Radiohead has become so commercialized as an entity in the past year that I would argue they no longer fit into the 'indie rock' genre to begin with.

Nevertheless, there are still some good choices on this list, just their position on the list is highly question, even head-scratching.

1 - Radiohead – In Rainbows (2007) Stream: Radiohead's MySpace page

2 – Spoon – Ga Ga Ga (2007) – MP3: Eddie’s Ragga

3 – The Hold Steady - Boys and Girls in America (2006) MP3: Stuck Between Stations (Live)

4 – Bright Eyes – I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning (2005) MP3: Lua

5 – Arcade Fire – Funeral (2004) MP3: Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)

6 – The White Stripes – Elephant (2003) Stream White Stripes

7 – Interpol – Turn On The Bright Lights (2003) MP3: Obstacle 1

8 – The Shins – Oh, Inverted World (2001) MySpace: Turn Me On

9 – Yo La Tengo - And then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out (2000) MP3: None from this album, but there are eight free MP3s from Yo La Tengo

10 – Sleater-Kinney – The Hot Rock (1990) MP3: Get Up

Here's the entire 'Top 25 indie albums' list from EW's website.

Check back to the site later today or tomorrow (3/31) for a zip file of the MP3s above, including some bonus tracks.

Labels: Best Indie Albums, Best Indie Artists, Classic Indie Releases, Interpol, Modest Mouse, Radiohead, Sleater-Kinney, Spoon, Top 25 Indie Albums, Yo La Tengo

10:22 PM March 30, 2008 2 Comments

Beck, Wilco, BSS, Andrew Bird and Devendra Banhart Added to Outside Lands Lineup

(click image for official festival poster in PDF)

Organizers of Outside Lands, San Francisco's three-day music festival taking place in Golden Gate Park this August, are beefing up the lineup for the west coast's newest outdoor music festival.

Today's new additions to the SF Outside Lands Festival include Beck, Wilco, Andrew Bird, Broken Social Scene, Drive-By Truckers, M. Ward, Cold War Kids, Two Gallants, Black Mountain, Devendra Banhart, Ben Harper, Galactic, Widespread Panic, Primus, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, Bon Iver, Nellie McKay, Little Brother, Manu Chao, Regina Spektor, The Coup, The Cool Kids, Steel Pulse, Lyrics Born, Café Tacuba and the Felice Brothers.

Here's a few featured artists and groups:

MP3: Wilco - Muzzle of Bees
MP3: Radiohead - Jigsaw Falling Into Place
MP3: Andrew Bird - A Nervous Tic Motion Of The Head to Left
MP3: Galactic - Bongo The Dog
MP3: Broken Social Scene - Anthems for a 17-Year-Old Girl

The latest lineup news for Outside Lands 2008 lineup adds to previous confirmed performances from headliners Tom Petty, Jack Johnson and Radiohead. More news updates as they come in.

Labels: 2008 Line Ups, 2008 Music Festivals, Outside Lands Festival, Radiohead, San Francisco

11:00 AM March 24, 2008 0 Comments

Lollapalooza's 2008 Line-up Rumors, Fakes and Speculation

(Above: This is a fake that has been circulating the Internets for the past month; it is not the official Lollapalooza lineup poster for 2008 - notice the poor Photoshop work on the "8" - somebody couldn't find the correct font match.)

Festival organizers for Lollapalooza have yet to officially announce one artist for the August 1-3 annual rock fest in Chicago's Grant Park.

But that hasn't stopped the rumors, speculation, "wish lists" and flat out fabrications for Lollapalooza's 2008 lineup.

Just this past week, the amps were turned up on the rumor machine with magazines like Paste and Rolling Stone newspapers like the Los Angeles Times and the The Grand Rapids Press announcing that artists and bands like Rage Against the Machine, Wilco, Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails are 'rumored' to be headliners for Lolla 08.

The Lollapalooza message boards have been lit up for weeks containing topic threads and replies for "Wanna Make a Band Suggestion?" and various other messages of "hopefuls" that are updated almost hourly with eager fans pumping out some enticing, but again totally wishful, line up schedules.

Here are a couple of tracks from the 'best-bet' rumored artists set to perform at Lolla 2008:

In the meantime, flashback to approximately 18 months ago: Wilco playing "Heavy Metal Drummer" at Lolla 06. Enjoy. If you are waiting for the lineup to be announced before buying your tickets, please use the comments section below to say so and why. (I'm curious.)

Labels: Festivals, Lollapalooza, Lollapalooza Lineup Rumors, Nine Inch Nails, Radiohead, Rage Against the Machine, Wilco

12:24 PM March 17, 2008 2 Comments

Chicago Tribune's Wishy-Washy Report of 'Headliners' for Lollapalooza 2008 Lineup Feeds Rumor Mill

Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails are reported to be two of the "headliners" at Lollapalooza 2008, according to a wishy-washy report published by The Chicago Tribune last night.

The Tribune article seems to play in to the non-stop rumor game - not a good thing for a journalism organization.

The headline of the article itself implies Radiohead will headline Lollapalooza, the opening paragraph of the story states they are "expected" to perform at Lolla and the following paragraph states Radiohead has been "confirmed" and in the same paragraph the Tribune's catch word of the day - "expected" - appears again.

That's not just lousy journalism, but the hype comes suspiciously close to the implication that the Tribune is trying to pump some life into a local festival that some readers of this blog have 'written off' for 2008. Lollapalooza was canceled in 2004 after weak ticket sales, but came back strong in 2005 with some 65,000 tickets sold.

All I Need - Radiohead from In Rainbows

Isobel - Bjork (2007 Lollapalooza headline artist)

Listen to past Lollapalooza performances from archive.org

Furthermore, aside from the fact (despite the Tribune's rumor-mill reporting) that not one artist or group has been officially confirmed to perform at this year's Lollapalooza Festival, the Tribune makes no mention of the usually costly tickets (ranging from $65 a day up to $195 for a three-day pass in 2007, a 30% increase from the previous year's price of $150).

Lollapalooza 2008 is set to take place in Chicago's Grant Park August 1-3. Early bird tickets go on sale March 25th. Apparently, the early bird tickets that went on sale this week were gone in a matter of hours with many potential ticket buyers complaining about the reliability of the online early bird purchasing process.

According to the Tribune (and obviously you'll have to take this with a grain of salt), Lollapalooza festival organizers will release the entire lineup sometime in the 'next few weeks.'

Let's just hope that the long wait will be worth it in the end, although it would be nice if they held the event in any other month but August (got to sell those drinks to make the vendor unions happy).

If last year's lineup at Lollapalooza is any indication of the lineup for 2008, then it's safe to say there's going to be a lot more lolla than looza.

Here is an article about last year's Lollapalooza, including videos of the performers.

If you didn't hear about last year's controversy regarding AT&T's censoring of Pearl Jam, check out the link to read about it.

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Labels: 2008 Music Festivals, Lollapalooza, Lollapalooza 2008, Radiohead

1:36 PM March 8, 2008 1 Comments

Radiohead Will Headline Two Nights at All Points West Fest, "Coachella East"

For the first time in major music festival history, one band - the iconic Radiohead - will headline two of the three nights of the All Points West Festival, commonly referred to as APW and "Coachella East".

Get the full story (released on 2/21), plus the full lineup, ticket sale dates and prices, transportation and the whole skinny at a new site ironically called CoachellaEast.com.

+ Radiohead - House of Cards

+ Radiohead - Videotape (Mojib Remix)

Radiohead 2008 Tour Dates:

05-05 West Palm Beach, FL - Cruzan Amphitheatre
05-06 Tampa, FL - Ford Amphitheatre
05-08 Atlanta, GA - Lakewood Amphitheatre
05-09 Charlotte, NC - Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
05-11 Bristow, VA - Nissan Pavilion at Stone Ridge
05-14 St. Louis, MO - Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
05-17 Houston, TX - Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
05-18 Dallas, TX - Superpages.com Center
06-06 Dublin, Ireland - Malahide
06-07 Dublin, Ireland - Malahide
06-09 Paris, France - Bercy
06-10 Paris, France - Bercy
06-12 Barcelona, Spain - Parc del Fòrum
06-14 Nimes, France - Arenes
06-15 Nimes, France - Arenes
06-17 Milan, Italy - Civica Arena
06-18 Milan, Italy - Civica Arena
06-20 Neuhausen ob Eck, Germany - Southside Festival
06-22 Scheeßel, Germany - Hurricane Festival
06-24 London, England - Victoria Park
06-25 London, England - Victoria Park
06-27 Glasgow, Scotland - Glasgow Green
06-29 Manchester, England - Lancashire County Cricket Club
07-01 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Westerpark
07-03 Roskilde, Denmark - Roskilde Festival
07-04-05 Werchter, Belgium - Rock Werchter Festival
07-06 Arras, France - Main Square Festival
07-08 Berlin, Germany - Wuhlheide

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Labels: 2008 Festival Line Ups, 2008 Indie Releases, All Points West Festival, APW Festival, Coachella East Festival, Festival Tickets, Festivals, Jack Johnson, New Releases, Radiohead

5:59 AM February 22, 2008 0 Comments

Radiohead's Mass Distribution of In Rainbows Continues to Fuel Its Historic Success

With the #1 album in the U.S. and other markets around the globe, Radiohead has probably received more attention from the mainstream music press and the music blogs worldwide than any other band in the past six months. And it was no accident.

Radiohead broke out and totally embraced rock fans in a revolutionary way, initially having released their classic album In Rainbows on the Internet last fall and allowing fans to decide how much they were willing to pay for and download it. (However, now you have to buy the album, but it is arguably worth it.)

Through such innovative marketing and distribution techniques, like free and name-your-price offerings of its music, specially packaged disc sets by the band members (and not a major label) and live webcasts (such as last evening's London webcast at radiohead.tv).

In addition, by setting up and regularly updating pages on various social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, Radiohead has made In Rainbows not just one of the most important albums of 2007 and 2008, but perhaps one of the decade's best albums of all.

Not only is the band remaining relevant 15 or so years after rising to fame with releases like Creep, The Bends and OK Computer, band members Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar), Ed O'Brien (guitar, vocals), Jonny Greenwood (guitar), Colin Greenwood (bass), and Phil Selway (drums) are pursuing all kinds of multimedia projects using the Internet and pushing the envelope in ways to reach fans and attract new fans as well.

But at the end of the day, the evidence is in the music. If In Rainbows sucked, it wouldn't have mattered how much the band and their two new labels promoted it. The band decided to sign on with TBD and XL Records, ditching EMI after a failed reunion with their former label.

Thom was so enraged by "lies" about what went on 'behind the scenes' that led to the rift with Radiohead and EMI, and wrote this semi-rant on the band's blog right after Christmas (left all of Thom's own writing style):

we did not ask for a load of cash from our old record label EMI to re- sign. that is a L I E.
The Times in the UK should check its facts before it prints such dirt.

whAT we WANTED WAS some control over OUR WOrK and how it was used in the future by them-that seemed REASONAblE to us, as we cared about it a great deal.

Mr Hands was not interested. So neither were we.

We made the sign of the cross and walked away. Sadly.

We are extremely upset that this crap is being spread about.

To bedigging up such bullshit, or more politely airing yer dirty laundry in public,
seems a very strange way for the head of an international record label to be proceeding.

On a happier note we took no 'BRead-HEAd' advances at all from both independent labels XL and TBD for our new record.

So judge for yourself.

AND we are really excited to be working with them. SHock!

AT least they do not behave like confused bulls in a china shop.

much love - Thom

However, the release is historic - on the level that The Bends was - and not only put Radiohead back on the rock map, it also has made their music available to a new generation of fans around the world.

It seems like every other day the band is releasing some new material, reworked and remastered recordings, announcements of concerts, alerts of new videos and live webcasts, such as the one the band performed last evening.

There was some confusion from fans in London who showed up at the Liverpool area Rough Trade shop for live, first-come, first-serve performance only to find that the location had been moved next door to the venue 93 Feet East.

Here's what Thom wrote on the RH blog about the change:

On the advice of the police and the local council, it was decided to change the venue to the larger one in the interests of public safety and due to the size of the crowd that turned up for the event. Rough Trade and the band apologise for any inconvenience caused.

While there is no official word yet on whether the webcast from last evening will be replayed, or available in full anywhere on the web, here are some great links to RH music, videos, news and more. As soon as we find the webcast, you will too. If you're not subscribed via a feed reader, choose one now or pick the ATOM or RSS plain feed.

Also, news is coming up soon about Radiohead's 2008 concert and festival tours. While no specific dates have been set, some of the 20 or so U.S. cities include Chicago, Boston and New York and San Francisco. (really!?!)

More Radiohead Links:

Contest: Contribute to Radiohead's BuzzNet rainbow and enter to win a special edition of In Rainbows.

Watch: Radiohead play In Rainbows via the AT&T BlueRoom concert and festival series.

Visit: In Rainbows website put together by Radiohead and their new official TBD Records label

Coming Soon: Music Choice will be airing the Best of Radiohead on cable from January 21 to February 3, 2008 in a tribute to the band. For more information on how to tune in, check out the Music Choice website.

Watch: Check out this YouTube clip of "Videotape" from the recent Scotch Mist performances.