Radiohead – INDIE ROCK CAFE

View Radiohead’s ‘The Universal Sigh’ Newspaper On Your Screen, and Listen to ‘The King of Limbs’ via Spinner

Posted on 03/30/201112/18/2019 by Max Hammer

radioheadnewspaper — Thom Yorke and Stanley Donwood handing out The Universal Sigh outside of London’s Rough Trade record store on Monday. Photo courtesy of AtEaseWeb.com.

There was a bit of a debate about how much to play up Radiohead‘s newspaper – The Universal Sigh – release, since we’ve covered The King of Limbs quite extensively. One argument is that there are so many sweet new releases this week that publishing a post of Radiohead’s newspaper release unfairly overshadows the significant new albums out this week (Best New Releases for this week will be posted later tonight). But on the other hand, there’s the more weighty argument that you can’t possibly overplay a Radiohead milestone.

Once again, Radiohead push the envelope to show the rest of the music world what is possible if you just let your imagination wander a bit, pay attention to your fans, and embrace the technology of the day, whilst at the same time paying tribute to the older media that thrived before the age of the Internet. Thom Yorke and the band are marketing and promotion geniuses, and the sooner the larger record industry salutes their mastery marketing savvy, the better off they’ll be, and, so will music lovers. People want you to mix it up, record people, and be reasonable at the same time – surprise us, don’t jive us.

If you were not able to grab a physical copy of Radiohead’s newspaper at one of the 70-something vendors worldwide, don’t sweat it. You can view it on your computer, by clicking on the image below – requires Flash plugin to view. Plus, you can stream The King of Limbs in case you haven’t already heard it. You can download The Universal Sigh PDF here. Also, check out the details of the upcoming release of the special vinyl bundle of The King of Limbs.

Some of the Best Tracks of 2009: Radiohead, Girls, Sunset Rubdown, Flaming Lips, Deer Tick

Posted on 02/20/201012/18/2019 by Max Hammer

There have been literally hundreds, probably thousands, of blogger and mainstream music media “best of” lists of 2009 for indie and alternative rock and pop.

No list is right or wrong. However, we don’t pretend that we can put together a definitive ‘best of’ list for an entire year because it’s frankly too difficult, and perhaps pretentious. Plus, everyone has there own set criteria and personal tastes. This playlist mix is merely a representation of some of our favorite tracks of 2009 and also ones that all of you responded to the most when we originally posted them during 2009. You can also view hundreds of sweet songs from 2009 via the Ears To The Music playlist series.

“My Twisted Words” – Radiohead, single (2009)

“Hellhole Ratrace” – Girls from Album (2009)

“Apollo & the Buffalo and Anna Anna Anna Oh!” – Sunset Rubdown from Drayonslayer (2009)

“Pink Sabbath” – Dananananaykroyd from Pink Sabbath (2009)

“Quiet Little Voices” – We Were Promised Jetpacks from These Four Walls (2009)

“Roses in the Park” – Liechtenstein from Survival Strategies in a Modern World (2009)

“Silver Trembling Hands” – The Flaming Lips from Embryonic (2009)

“Know Better, Learn Faster” – Thao with the Get Down, Stay Down, single (2009)

“Easy” – Deer Tick from Born On Flag Day (2009)

“Bow Down and Die” – The Almighty Defenders from s/t debut (2009)

“Paralyzed” – Starlight Mints from Change Remains (2009)

Fantasy Nation – Kordan from Fantasy Nation (2009)

The Reading Leeds Festival 2009 Highlights: Radiohead, Arctic Monkeys and Kaiser Chiefs

Posted on 09/02/200912/18/2019 by Max Hammer

Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys at Reading Leeds Fest (photo: Gigwise.com)

The Reading Leeds 2009 Music Festival wrapped up on Sunday, but the buzz about the performances from the likes of Radiohead, Vampire Weekend, Kaiser Chiefs, Kings of Leon, Arctic Monkeys and many other indie rock heavyweights, is still lighting up the music blogs and social networks.

The popular three-day fest – commonly referred to as The Reading Fest – is one of the biggest outdoor music events in all of Europe, and regularly sells out only days after tickets are made available for purchase. In fact, the organizers are already promoting the 2010 festival.

Other notable artists and bands who performed at Reading 2009 include Bloc Party, Maximo Park, Kaiser Chiefs, New Found Glory, Placebo, Ian Brown, The Prodigy, Friendly Fires, The Rakes, Billy Talent, The Virgins, Crystal Castles, White Lies and dozens more.

The following are video and song highlights from the Reading Festival 2009:

In the video above, Radiohead briefly covers the Yeah, Yeah, Yeah’s track “Maps” as an intro to “Everything In Its Right Place.”

“All I Need” – Radiohead (via our friends at TheMusicSlut.com)

Arctic Monkeys performing “Crying Lightning” this past weekend at the Reading Festival. Courtesy of BBC Radio One. Folks in the UK can watch more of the Arctic Monkeys’ set at Reading on the BBC website.

“Crying Lightning” – Arctic Monkeys (via IGuessImFloating.com)

Kaiser Chefs performing “Ruby” last Saturday at Reading 2009 to an enthusiastic crowd. UK fans, let’s face it, are just much more energetic than fans you see at U.S. festivals; just watch the crowd in the videos if you’re not convinced.

View the Reading Fest’s homepage.

New Radiohead Song Leaked on Fan Forum

Posted on 08/13/200912/18/2019 by Max Hammer

The web and social networks have lit up in the past few hours on the rumor that a mysterious ‘new’, or previously unreleased, Radiohead song has been leaked. Apparently, the song appeared on an unofficial Radiohead fan site. The music blog Consequence of Sound has reported that the song, “These Are My Twisted Words,” showed up on the message board of the site At Ease earlier today without any explanation.

While there is no confirmation yet that the song is actually Radiohead, the track definitely sounds just like Radiohead. If it isn’t, someone has pulled off an elaborate, and believable, hoax.

On some P2P networks, the song is accompanied by a NFO file that contains the following note:

i just wanted to reassure readers
that following representations
seeking confirmation
that before your very eyes
behind the wall of ice
that the box is not under threat
however they are set to remove
other boxes
in fact i have the list in front of me
i went to a briefing on their plans
and challenged them to tell me
exactly what the cost would be
they spoke in broad terms

Could this actually be a clever reaction by the band to ‘reassure’ fans following the uproar frontman Thom Yorke ignited earlier this month when he said Radiohead may never record another album? Perhaps. If history is any guide, this ‘rumor’ is going to grow wings really fast.

The link to the MP3 – the same link that spread like wildfire across the world in the past 36 hours no longer works, so check out the YouTube version of the song:

Follow IRC on Twitter or grad the feed to find out as soon as we do whether Radiohead confirms this is a leaked song or not.

This possible new Radiohead song comes only one week after the band released a new tribute song in honor of the UK’s last remaining combat fighter from World War I, “Harry Patch (In Memory Of)” (yes, that was his real name).

You can purchase the song at waste.uk for one British Pound or $1.65 in U.S. currency. Proceeds from the song purchases will go to the British Legion, according to Yorke’s blog post on the official Radiohead website. Otherwise, you can stream it on the BBC’s website.

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

Posted on 02/25/200912/18/2019 by Max Hammer

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.”

Best Indie Rock Songs of 2008, Vol III

Posted on 11/07/200812/18/2019 by Max Hammer

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.

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

Posted on 10/20/200812/18/2019 by Max Hammer

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.

Major Music Festival in San Francisco Was Far Out, Man

Posted on 09/24/200812/18/2019 by Max Hammer

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.

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

Posted on 03/24/200812/18/2019 by Max Hammer

(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.

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

Posted on 03/08/200812/18/2019 by Max Hammer

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

Posted on 02/22/200812/18/2019 by Max Hammer

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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Category: Radiohead